But that's part of the fun in learning other languages. My language is dutch and yes there are some difficult things in german but so there are in dutch and english. We germans know that german is a difficult language. Fortunately, Germany changed over to something more readable in WW2.ĭeutsche Sprache, so schwere, makes you swear. Really? Hard as is hard to learn, or hard as in hard on the ears?Ĭertainly that gothic typeface (Fraktur?), which looked as it one's pen was leaking, was very hard to read. Really? Is that what Germans think of their own language? Literally, 'German language, hard language.' Its like 'first in - first out' in logistics. And the Miller served the farmer fist wo came at first in the morning. Here is the story: in the old days the farmers carried their corn to the mill.

Ouch! 'mahlen is an old word for eating' ouch ouch ouch.

To me, 'who comes first eats first' makes little metaphorical sense. ~ Kalki 12:42, (UTC)Īs an English speaker, 'first come, first served' is certainly the accepted equivalent proverb in my context.

Though this is the English Wikiquote, and a primary aim is collecting English versions of famous statements, having the orignal statements that have been made in other languages, as well as good translations into English, is one of the goals that have been established here. We certainly welcome anyone who can perform translations in different languages. About the only rules that I think universally apply to any good activity anywhere is: Be honest and fair, and try to be as helpful as you can while being so. I think that the best people remain very reserved in making or asserting any rules. About rules: Good wiki's and good societies, often make their rules very gradually, slowly, and carefully. 'Who comes first eats first.' makes much more sense in English than the previous version. If I wasn't supposed to change anything then please change it back. I don't know if it was ok that I just changed it, but at least here is an explanation why I did it. I'm not familiar with wikigroups or anything similar and I didn't bother to read the rules which I now, thinking about it, regret. It comes from the word 'Mahl' which can be translated as dinner. Since 'mahlt' is 3rd person singular from 'mahlen' which is an old word for 'eating'. Translation: 'Who comes first eats first.'.Translation: 'Who comes first grinds first.'.It's similar to 'spoilt for choice', referring to the difficulty one sometimes has choosing between two or more options. There's no exact equivalent I know of in English. Another similar English proverb is 'With great power comes great responsibility.' Bhugh 07:22, 22 December 2005 (UTC) Reply Though 'He who has a choice has a torment' is not too bad. But I almost think the best, certainly the most idiomatic, would be 'worry': 'He who has a choice has a worry'. Possible close matches would be something like 'torture', 'torment', 'anguish', or 'agony'. It's rather archaic sounding and most people wouldn't even know what it means. 'dolor' is definitely not a commonly used English word. so, going by this I would translate the proverb as follows: 'Who has the choice, has the dolor.' I don't know if dolor is a commonly used word in english but this is the closest translation for the word that I can think of. My dictionary translates 'qual' with 'dolor' for am. and has nothing to do with responsibility or power or influence whatsoever) (Explanation: The original is about the difficulties of choosing sth. But better no translation than a wrong one I guess. I don't know a more fitting english proverb though. I deleted the two englisch proverbs (English Proverb: 'Heavy is the head that wears the crown' or 'With great power comes great responsibility.') cause their meaning differs clearly from the german one. Also note that instead of 'a', 'the' should be used. 'Qual' could maybe translate to 'great pain', but it is not restricted to physical pain which could sound strange, but to intellectual pain. I can't find an exact translation but if I translate 'problem' back to german 'Problem' I don't find it fitting. 'problem' is IMO not a stupid translation.

Also, the introductory statement is a bit obtuse - I was lacking inspiration, but someone else might have an inspired way to a choice, has a problem.' The formatting is a bit clumsy, however I tried to make it consistent with the rest. I added a section up the top explaining a way of referring to proverbs in German, as I found this a useful way of bringing such proverbs into an argument/essay/discussion.

The rain trainslation to german