Dear blog readers!
Here is number two of the series Sayings and Expressions. This week we combine a rooster with the alphabet. How? Through saying and expression. Just read on, you will find out. Let’s start with the saying!
For other sayings and expressions in this series, click here.
Wie A zegt, moet ook B zeggen
You cannot say A without saying B (in for a penny, in for a pound)
This saying basically says that when you take a first step, you have to pursue and take the next- Finish what you started. There are different explanations for its origin.
The most common is the reference to the alphabet. A, the first letter of the alphabet, symbolizes the first step. The next logical step is the next letter – the B. So who says A, has to say B, because it is logic to finish what you started.
A second one, from Germany, says that the river Aa was known as the dirtiest river of Germany in the late Middle Ages. Bäh is an expression of disgust, and thus it was clear for everybody: who says Aa has to say Bäh, which then turns into A and B. However, this does not explain the meaning of the saying.
A third explanation goes to the German justice system. After a claim, the claimant can face a counterclaim, and in that case also has to answer to it. In the German system, this is called besagen, which sounds like B sagen – to say B. This does not explain the A, but does explain saying B – it can be unpleasant and hard to answer to such a counterclaim, which somebody might want to avoid.
Use
It is especially used in situations where the person is reluctant to take the next step, because it is unpleasant or difficult. In basically all kinds of situations. Example:
De nieuwe baas heeft een project gestart, maar nu vindt hij het te moeilijk, omdat hij er veel tijd aan moet besteden. Wie A zegt, moet ook B zeggen!
The new boss has started a project, but now he finds it too difficult, because he has to spend a lot of time on it. In for a penny, in for a pound!
Haantje de voorste zijn
To be rooster the first (to be the first one in everything)
Haantje de voorste is the person who always wants to be first. The first to enter the fun park during a school trip, the first to say something in class, the first to take on a job. The rooster, the haan(tje) is the “leader” of his chickens. He wants to have everything in control, and be first with everything. So that is what this expression refers to.
Use
Haantje de voorste seems quite a positive thing, because it has characteristics of a doer, a confident leader. However, this expression often comes with a negative, sometimes even envious connotation. Especially when somebody does it all the time, people can get annoyed. Example (with some irritation!):
Hans is alweer de eerste die het pretpark in wil! Hij is altijd haantje de voorste!
Hans is again the first one that wants to enter the fun park! He is always the first one in everything!
Haantje de voorste – he is the first to take a step! (Image by dorena-wm at Flickr.com)
The connection between the two: Somebody that wants to be haantje de voorste can be somebody that is very quick in doing something, even without really thinking it through. If then difficulties arise this haantje oversaw, he has to deal with those too: wie A zegt, moet ook B zeggen!
Do you have an equivalent in your language? Have you heard of these before, or do you use these yourself? Let me know in the comments!
