Φέρνω νερό στο μύλο κάποιου
Meaning: Unwittingly help someone achieve their own goals while thinking you're working against them.
Language: Greek
Literally: Bring water to someone's mill
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Grounded in the everyday mechanics of a genuine watermill: without a steady flow of water to turn its wheel, a mill simply couldn't grind grain at all, a dependency preserved directly in the related Greek proverb "δίχως νερό ο μύλος δεν αλέθει" — without water, the mill doesn't grind. "Bringing water to someone's mill" treats any contribution, action, or resource that advances a person's goals the same way a mill owner would treat water delivered to their wheel: a direct, practical assist toward getting the intended result. The idiom's now-common ironic edge — helping an opponent's cause while believing you're actually working against it — extends that same image into a sharper, more self-defeating context.
More idioms — Daily Life
- att köpa grisen i säcken — To make a purchase or agreement without inspecting or understanding what you're actually…
- det är inte värt ett öre — Something is completely worthless or valueless.
- dar um jeito — Find a creative solution or workaround, often bending rules pragmatically.
- رمى بنفسه في التهلكة (ramā bi-nafsihi fī at-tahluka) — Someone deliberately puts themselves in danger or a hopeless situation through recklessne…
- 傍若無人 (Bōjaku-bujin) — Behaving without regard for others' feelings or presence around you.
- 一期一会 (Ichi-go ichi-e) — Treasure each encounter as unique and irreplaceable in life.
More Greek idioms
- Τα έκανε θάλασσα — He made a complete mess of it.
- Μου άναψες τα λαμπάκια — You made me furious.
- Τρώω κουτόχορτο — To be gullible and easily fooled.
- Μου έφυγε το καφάσι — I was utterly shocked.
- Άλλα λόγια ν' αγαπιόμαστε — You're dodging the point or talking nonsense.
- Κάνω την πάπια — To feign ignorance; to play dumb.
From our untranslatable words
- Magari — One word doing the work of 'if only', 'I wish', 'perhaps' and 'you bet' — the tone decide…
- Sprezzatura — The art of making something difficult look wholly effortless, hiding every trace of the w…
- Dietrologia — The conviction that the official account is never the real one — that some hidden motive…