"in der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen" meaning in German

See in der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

IPA: /ɪn dɛɐ̯ ˈnoːt fʁɪst dɛɐ̯ ˌtɔʏ̯fəl ˈfliːɡən/ Audio: De-in_der_Not_frisst_der_Teufel_Fliegen.oga
Etymology: Literally, “when in need, the devil will eat flies”. Etymology templates: {{m-g|when in need, the devil will eat flies}} “when in need, the devil will eat flies”, {{lit|when in need, the devil will eat flies}} Literally, “when in need, the devil will eat flies” Head templates: {{head|de|proverb}} in der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen
  1. beggars can't be choosers; desperate times require desperate measures (in times of need one must do and accept things one otherwise would not)
    Sense id: en-in_der_Not_frisst_der_Teufel_Fliegen-de-proverb-yjEPKFNe Categories (other): German entries with incorrect language header, German proverbs, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "when in need, the devil will eat flies"
      },
      "expansion": "“when in need, the devil will eat flies”",
      "name": "m-g"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "when in need, the devil will eat flies"
      },
      "expansion": "Literally, “when in need, the devil will eat flies”",
      "name": "lit"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Literally, “when in need, the devil will eat flies”.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "proverb"
      },
      "expansion": "in der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "German",
  "lang_code": "de",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "German entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "German proverbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              105,
              140
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1879, Wilhelm Raabe, Alte Nester:",
          "text": "Bis auf den Griff am Spaten mußt du dort als deutscher Ackerknecht von frischem in die Lehre gehen. Aber in der Not frißt der Teufel Fliegen, und by degrees machte sich die Sache ganz gut.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "beggars can't be choosers; desperate times require desperate measures (in times of need one must do and accept things one otherwise would not)"
      ],
      "id": "en-in_der_Not_frisst_der_Teufel_Fliegen-de-proverb-yjEPKFNe",
      "links": [
        [
          "beggars can't be choosers",
          "beggars can't be choosers"
        ],
        [
          "desperate times require desperate measures",
          "desperate times require desperate measures"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɪn dɛɐ̯ ˈnoːt fʁɪst dɛɐ̯ ˌtɔʏ̯fəl ˈfliːɡən/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "De-in_der_Not_frisst_der_Teufel_Fliegen.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/44/De-in_der_Not_frisst_der_Teufel_Fliegen.oga/De-in_der_Not_frisst_der_Teufel_Fliegen.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/De-in_der_Not_frisst_der_Teufel_Fliegen.oga"
    }
  ],
  "word": "in der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "when in need, the devil will eat flies"
      },
      "expansion": "“when in need, the devil will eat flies”",
      "name": "m-g"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "when in need, the devil will eat flies"
      },
      "expansion": "Literally, “when in need, the devil will eat flies”",
      "name": "lit"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Literally, “when in need, the devil will eat flies”.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "proverb"
      },
      "expansion": "in der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "German",
  "lang_code": "de",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "German entries with incorrect language header",
        "German lemmas",
        "German multiword terms",
        "German proverbs",
        "German terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Requests for translations of German quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              105,
              140
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1879, Wilhelm Raabe, Alte Nester:",
          "text": "Bis auf den Griff am Spaten mußt du dort als deutscher Ackerknecht von frischem in die Lehre gehen. Aber in der Not frißt der Teufel Fliegen, und by degrees machte sich die Sache ganz gut.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "beggars can't be choosers; desperate times require desperate measures (in times of need one must do and accept things one otherwise would not)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "beggars can't be choosers",
          "beggars can't be choosers"
        ],
        [
          "desperate times require desperate measures",
          "desperate times require desperate measures"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɪn dɛɐ̯ ˈnoːt fʁɪst dɛɐ̯ ˌtɔʏ̯fəl ˈfliːɡən/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "De-in_der_Not_frisst_der_Teufel_Fliegen.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/44/De-in_der_Not_frisst_der_Teufel_Fliegen.oga/De-in_der_Not_frisst_der_Teufel_Fliegen.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/De-in_der_Not_frisst_der_Teufel_Fliegen.oga"
    }
  ],
  "word": "in der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen"
}

Download raw JSONL data for in der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen meaning in German (1.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable German dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-20 using wiktextract (3dadd05 and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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