Germanauf keinen grünen Zweig kommen
Meaning: To fail to achieve success or prosperity, to make no progress in life or a project.
Literally: To not come onto any green branch
Example: “Mit drei verschiedenen Ideen im Jahr kommt er auf keinen grünen Zweig.” — With three different ideas a year, he never gets off the ground.
English equivalent: Not to get off the ground
Equivalents in other languages
English: not get off the ground
Origin: A green, sprouting branch is the image of growth and prosperity, so never reaching a green branch is never getting anywhere. Redensarten-Index notes that the phrase is recorded from the 15th century and may also recall an old legal custom: the seller of land handed the buyer a piece of turf with a twig stuck in it, both taken from the property. A passage in Luther's Bible about the wicked whose "branch shall not be green" (Job 15:32) may have reinforced it.
More German idioms
- grün vor Neid Consumed with jealousy or envious feeling.
- Hinz und Kunz Any ordinary person; everyone; the man in the street; used to refer to people indiscrimin…
- was das Zeug hält with maximum intensity or speed; to the absolute limit of one's capacity.
- die Zelte abbrechen to move away or leave a place; to abandon one's position.
- bei der Stange halten to keep someone obedient, loyal, or in line through discipline or pressure.
- keine zehn Pferde nothing could force or move one; obstinate refusal or immovable determination.
Explore another collection: Untranslatable Words
Words that capture a feeling or idea English needs a whole sentence for.
- Weltschmerz The weariness and sadness you feel when the world as it is falls painfully short of the w…
- Torschlusspanik The anxious fear that time is running out — that the gates of opportunity, youth, or life…
- Kummerspeck The weight you gain from emotional eating — the extra pounds that accumulate during heart…
Keep exploring