# Is there a German equivalent to the phrase “teach your grandmother to suck eggs”? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 28, 2022, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397 "2022-09-28T15:38:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/1 "2022-09-28T15:38:38Z")
This is a purely curiosity-driven question arising from a silly conversation at work. In English, we have the phrase “teach your granny to suck eggs” meaning “explain to someone how to do a task they already understand very well.” What would be the German-language equivalent, and it’s literal English translation? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/2 "2022-09-28T15:58:38Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > teach your granny to suck eggs A direct translation would apparently be “Bring deiner Oma bei, Eier zu lutschen”, but I have no idea if there is a comparable German idiom for that phrase. BTW, I have never heard that expression before. Is it regional? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/3 "2022-09-28T16:09:02Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > In English, we have the phrase “teach your granny to suck eggs” meaning “explain to someone how to do a task they already understand very well.” 🤔 We do?? :: goes off to Google for awhile :: Yecch! People slurp raw eggs through a hole in the eggshell? Why??? :: shudder :: ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/4 "2022-09-28T16:17:16Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > What would be the German-language equivalent No clue, but in this old thread someone offered a supposed _French_ equivalent: > [@Why is Grandma so good at sucking eggs?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-grandma-so-good-at-sucking-eggs/76156/7): > > The French equivalent, as far as I am aware, is ‘The goslings want to lead the geese to pasture’. My copy of ‘Brewers Dictionary Of Phrase & Fable’ fails to give the origin, but my money is on \*Eric Cantona. . . . \*Former Manchester United soccer legend, now a big cheese in beach football. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/5 "2022-09-28T16:25:53Z")
PONS offers the following: > **[ei will kluger Henne - Deutsch-Englisch Übersetzung | PONS](https://de.pons.com/%C3%BCbersetzung/deutsch-englisch/Ei+will+kl%C3%BCger+Henne)** > > Übersetzung Deutsch-Englisch für ei will kluger Henne im PONS Online-Wörterbuch nachschlagen! Gratis Vokabeltrainer, Verbtabellen, Aussprachefunktion. Google says the direct translation of “Das Ei will klüger sein als die Henne” is “The egg wants to be smarter than the hen!” ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/6 "2022-09-28T16:52:47Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > 🤔 We do?? > > :: goes off to Google for awhile :: Yeah, I have never heard such an expression, or anything close. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/7 "2022-09-28T16:56:57Z")
I like this expression, and use it at home a lot, but I never expect others to know it. Its honestly a great idea. “Mansplaning” is the same idea, only mire stringly gendered. (I would argue there’s a genedered component to the original, sonce the image is a little boy who thonks he knows better than borong old grandma) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/8 "2022-09-28T16:58:51Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > In English, we have the phrase “teach your granny to suck eggs” meaning “explain to someone how to do a task they already understand very well.” This makes no sense to me at all. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/9 "2022-09-28T17:16:26Z")
The phrase about [Sucking eggs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_grandmother_to_suck_eggs) dates back to the mid 19th century. I’ve been aware of this phrase and its meaning since I was a kid in the 1960’s. ---
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/10 "2022-09-28T17:29:10Z")
Clearly we live and learn. I thought that the phrase was universal. I’m British, so maybe it’s a regional thing. It’s almost always used in the sense of “I don’t want to teach Granny to suck eggs, so stop me if you know this” - in other words “I don’t want to patronise you”. Thanks all. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/11 "2022-09-28T18:09:10Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > I’m British, so maybe it’s a regional thing. Could be. I first ran across the phrase in Zombies Run\*, a British video game. \*. It’s kind of a video game, but mostly a running game. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/12 "2022-09-28T18:24:53Z")
American, never heard the phrase. I’ve heard/read “go suck an egg”, but that meaning is more like a polite “fuck off.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/13 "2022-09-28T19:46:19Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > I thought that the phrase was universal. I’m British, so maybe it’s a regional thing. Southern California native. I’ve heard it. I’d always assumed it was a Southernism. > [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > In English, we have the phrase “teach your granny to suck eggs” meaning “explain to someone how to do a task they already understand very well.” I hadn’t heard the ‘bad teeth’ explanation Qadgop linked to. My personal interpretation of the phrase is that Grandma already knows how to suck eggs, and that it’s a rather gross way to eat them (most people preferring them cooked). Grandma may have fallen for the prank as a child, but she know better than to suck eggs now. So basically it’s the same as described in the OP, only adding that Grandma knows better than to suck eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/14 "2022-09-28T19:56:03Z")
[Reverso](https://context.reverso.net/traduction/anglais-allemand/to+suck+eggs) gives two translations: > Will das Ei etwa klüger sein als die Henne (Does the egg want to be smarter than the chicken) and > Versuchen dem Hund das Bellen beizubringen (Try to teach a dog to bark) The first one at least seems to be a real saying. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/15 "2022-09-28T20:10:32Z")
> [@Tusculan](#): > > The first one at least seems to be a real saying. Native German here. Never heard of it, which of course doesn’t mean that this phrase doesn’t exist, but at least it’s very uncommon. And I’m racking my brain for an equivalent saying in German, but I’m drawing a blank. I thought of “Einem alten Hund bringt man keine neuen Tricks bei”, but that seems to be an adaption of the English saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/16 "2022-09-28T20:27:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > My personal interpretation of the phrase is that Grandma already knows how to suck eggs, and that it’s a rather gross way to eat them (most people preferring them cooked). I had my grandma teach me how to get a hollow egg shell by making holes on each pole and then blowing the contents out. She’d then use the eggs in cooking and I’d make fancy lightweight decorated easter eggs with the shell! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/17 "2022-09-28T20:28:13Z")
We did that once in elementary school. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/18 "2022-09-28T20:38:18Z")
I knew the English phrase (patting myself on the back here 🙂 ), but I don’t think there is a German (or Spanish, for that matter) equivalent. There is _Eulen nach Athen bringen_, which is like the English “to bring coal to Newcastle” (or the Spanish _llevar putas a París_ or _llevar café a Colombia_), which is somewhat related. But not the same. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/19 "2022-09-28T20:57:43Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > _llevar putas a París_ Does “putas” mean what I think it means? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397/20 "2022-09-28T20:58:08Z")
Yes, it does. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-german-equivalent-to-the-phrase-teach-your-grandmother-to-suck-eggs/972397.md?page=2)