So much meat, and here I am with no teeth!

So here we are in thew middle of autumn, which is all about plentiful supplies of fruits and grain being harvested from the land. A tenuous link, I know, but it seemed as good as any to bring you some food idioms from around the world.

It's interesting to note the different themes that crop up from country to country. The agriculturally-minded French manage to bring a vegetable into practically every sentence. The Dutch have a bit of a thing about dairy produce. And can you take a wild stab at the Germans' food fixation?

He is a big vegetable (French) Interesting how we English find a man-made "big cheese" impressive whereas the French compare their VIPs with huge turnips or other large examples of nature’s bounty.

She's playing the insulted liverwurst (German) Yep, you guessed it. The Germans are always banging on about sausages. Pardon the pun. This means: "She is being very touchy."

He fell with his nose in the butter (Dutch) For some reason, this means: “He is very fortunate” though this doesn’t sound like my idea of a lucky day.

He is making like a leek (French) He is standing around doing nothing. Possibly wearing his best green suit and smelling of onions.

So much meat, and here I am with no teeth. (Spanish). Water, water everywhere…..I know it doesn't fit in, but I threw this one in because I liked it and it makes a great title.

Everything has an end: only the sausage has two (German) Weird. What about bits of string, phone lines, motorways….nope, just the sausage. This means: All good things must come to an end.

Don’t stand in the sun with butter on your head. (Dutch) Good advice. I'll get in the shade straight away. Though why people who live in glass houses should think of throwing stones either is another mystery.

This post is getting a bit long so I'll add more of these tomorrow if it's all the same to you.