As a superstitious person, I’m inclined to search for the nearest piece of wood when entering a room, just in case someone says something that requires touching wood (or knocking on wood) to avert otherwise certain bad luck.
To discourage others from making these slips of the tongue, I revert to throwing around idioms in any language I can muster. My favorite is the German “Mal den Teufel nicht an die Wand,” which literally translates to “Don’t paint the devil on the wall.” In true idiomatic fashion, the actual meaning is less abstract and is closer to “don’t tempt fate.”
In English I prefer “Don’t count your chickens ’til they hatch.” However, my current situation requires some Dutch equivalent of this message. Really, I need such idioms more than you can imagine, as the Dutch are constantly tempting fate with such naive statements as “Oh, I’m sure it will be lovely weather tomorrow,” a statement which has led to 700 years of continual rainfall.
Finally, I have my first Dutch idiom to combat these situations. I’m sure there are better idioms out there that include cheese, tulips and dikes, but until someone lets me in on those all of my energies will go into learning and repeating “Je moet de huid niet verkopen voordat de beer geschoten is.” Again in true idiomatic fashion the literal translation “Don’t sell the skin until you shoot the bear” is only very vaguely related to the actual meaning of “not tempting fate” or “speaking too soon.” So, until I can find a better one, this will be my favorite phrase for the next time those Dutchies decide to casually go about jinxing me… or the weather.
