Boiling soup on a rock
Posted 02/05, 2024
Here's another weird danish expression: "At koge suppe på en sten". Meaning "To boil [make/cook] soup with/on a rock". Usually it's said like: "Don't cook soup on [with] a rock", which means "don't make a big deal out of a small thing"?
This one is confusing to me. I always thought it meant "Oh well.. You're poor. You can't cook soup with a rock, so fuck it". Some people insist that it's "To cook soup on a nail", others that it is "To cook soup on a sausage-stick", which originates from H.C. Andersen's fairy tail "Soup on a sausage-stick" (1858 - Danish link).
I haven't been able to find a straight forward answer for this one.. Danish is weird.