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What is your country's "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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[–] 5 points 2 years ago (3 children)

That’s interesting, because “the apple doesn’t/didn’t fall far from the tree” is a known Anglophonic saying that basically means that a child turned out a lot like a parent (gender not necessarily specified). I wonder if one is a calque of the other.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    The above poster isnt really correct. We have an actual saying that is the literal translation: "Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm ". And it means exactly what you suggest, a child being very much like one of their parents in one way or another.

    Like father, like son exists as well, "Wie der Vater so der Sohn".

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago*

    You're right, I forgot about the fact that there's a literal translation. But besides being gender-neutral, both sayings mean the same, no?

    My main point was that many Germans now regularly use the pear-tree malapropism, however.

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