Learning Croatian sayings and phrases – #7

Is the Croatian language hard to learn? If you ask most people new to the language they would say it definitely is. 

But that does not mean you still can’t impress locals and make a few people laugh by learning some well-known Croatian sayings or phrases.

In this series we will teach you commonly used sayings in Croatia which are not typically found in language learning material.

Today’s saying:

Bog je prvo sebi bradu stvorio – pronunciation [Bog-year-prvor-sebee-bra-do-stvor-rioh]

English: The saying ‘Bog je prvo sebi bradu stvorio’ is used for people who take care of number one – themselves – first. The type of people who might eat that last piece of chocolate or take the best seat in the place when out with friends. 

The literal translation is: ‘God first created his own beard’ and basically has the same meaning as ‘helping yourself first before you help others’.

Words/conjunctions meanings

bog – god

prvo – first

sebi – oneself

bradu – beard

stvorio – created

Learning Croatian sayings and phrases – #1

Learning Croatian sayings and phrases – #2

Learning Croatian sayings and phrases – #3

Learning Croatian sayings and phrases – #4

Learning Croatian sayings and phrases – #5

Learning Croatian sayings and phrases – #6