Eine Nadel im Heuhaufen suchen
Meaning: To search for something you have almost no chance of finding, because the thing is tiny and the place holding it is vast.
Language: German
Literally: To search for a needle in the haystack
Category: The Absurd
Origin: Heuhaufen is a heap of hay, the closest of these to the modern English haystack. The same three components — a needle, a mass of hay, a hopeless search — recur across European languages, which points to a shared medieval image rather than one language borrowing from another.
Equivalents in other languages
- English: Look for a needle in a haystack
- French: Chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin — literally: To look for a needle in a bundle of hay
- Spanish: Buscar una aguja en un pajar — literally: To look for a needle in a haystack
More idioms — The Absurd
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
- C'est comme pisser dans un violon — A completely pointless effort.
- Da steppt der Bär — It's going to be a great party.
- Ich glaub mein Schwein pfeift — I can't believe it! That's outrageous!
- Estar como una cabra — To be completely crazy.
- Fare il diavolo a quattro — To raise absolute hell; to cause a huge scene.
More German idioms
- Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof — I don't understand anything at all.
- Tomaten auf den Augen haben — To be oblivious to what's right in front of you.
- Um den heißen Brei herumreden — To beat around the bush.
- Schwein haben — Getting unexpectedly lucky — rooted in medieval tournaments where the last-place finisher…
- Da liegt der Hund begraben — That's the crux of the matter.
- Die Daumen drücken — To wish someone good luck (like crossing fingers).
From our false friends
- Smoking — Actually means 'tuxedo' or 'dinner jacket'. The verb (smoking cigarettes) is rauchen.
- Eventuell — Actually means 'possibly' or 'perhaps'. Eventuell komme ich = Maybe I'll come — not 'I'll…
- Mist — Actually means 'manure' or 'dung'. Foggy mist is Nebel or Dunst.
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