Dutchknollen voor citroenen verkopen
Meaning: To swindle or defraud someone by passing off something worthless as valuable.
Literally: To sell turnips for lemons
Example: “Die verkoper probeerde ons knollen voor citroenen te verkopen met een kapotte laptop.” — That salesman tried to sell us a bill of goods with a broken laptop.
English equivalent: To sell someone a bill of goods
Equivalents in other languages
Spanish: Dar gato por liebre Literally: To give cat instead of hare
Croatian: Prodavati maglu Literally: To sell fog- Spanish: vender la moto Literally: To sell the motorcycle
English: sell someone a bill of goods
Origin: Turnips were cheap and common, lemons rare and costly imports from the south. Stoett records selling someone turnips for lemons from the 16th century, alongside the cruder paardekeutels voor vijgen (horse droppings for figs) and appelen voor citroenen (apples for lemons). French has faire prendre des vessies pour des lanternes for the same kind of trick.
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