# An apple a day keeps the doctor at bay



## sakvaka

Hello,

Do you have this phrase in your culturæ*/languages? Thanks!

*English*: _An apple a day keeps the doctor away / at bay._
*Finnish*: _Omena päivässä pitää lääkärin loitolla._

*Or should it be the ablative ending: _in culturīs_...?


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## Tjahzi

*Swedish*: Ett äpple om dagen håller doktorn borta.

Ablative singular?


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## sakvaka

General remark: This is heavily off-topic, if you're sensitive to it, please avoid reading these words.

_Cultūra in Latin belongs to the first declension and in dative/ablative plural, its suffix is -īs, isn't it? Cultūrā would be ablative singular.
_


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## nooij

I've been taught the English phrase and have never heard the Dutch one being said by anyone. The English version is probably more popular because it rhymes.  But still, here is the Dutch translation:

_"Een appel per dag, houdt de dokter weg."_

In German it'd be: _"Ein Apfel pro Tag hält den Arzt fern."_


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## lulutour

I've heard this same saying in Spanish:
_“una manzana al día mantiene al doctor fuera de tu vida”_
which has a certain rhyme.


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## nooij

lulutour said:


> I've heard this same saying in Spanish:
> _“una manzana al día mantiene al doctor fuera de tu vida”_
> which has a certain rhyme.


 
It's really nice that the expression rhymes in Spanish too. It seems to be the only language in which it does so, besides English.


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## Frank78

It doesn't exist in German but nooji's translation is right.


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## Montesacro

nooij said:


> lulutour said:
> 
> 
> 
> I've heard this same saying in Spanish:
> _“una manzana al día mantiene al doctor fuera de tu vida”_
> which has a certain rhyme.
> 
> 
> 
> It's really nice that the expression rhymes in Spanish too. It seems to be the only language in which it does so, besides English.
Click to expand...


Yes, the expression exists in Italian (and it is also frequently used):

_una mela al giorno toglie il medico di torno._
una méla al gi*ó*rno tòglie il mèdico di t*ó*rno

And it rhymes as well


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## apmoy70

In Greek it rhymes also:
«Ένα μήλο την ημέρα το γιατρό τον κάνει πέρα»
'ena 'milo tin i'mera to ʝa'tro ton 'kani 'pera
lit. "an apple a day keeps the doctor away"


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## rusita preciosa

This phrase does not exists in Russian, and, translated literally, it would be complete nonsense.


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## Tjahzi

I meant to suggest that the singular should be used (rather than the plural).


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## Maroseika

rusita preciosa said:


> This phrase does not exists in Russian, and, translated literally, it would be complete nonsense.



Why not? I heard this one: 
Яблоко на ужин, и доктор не нужен  [yablaka na uzhin y doctar ni nuzhin]. - An apple for supper and a doctor is not needed.
The cost of rhyme - "every day" changed to "supper". It can be also interpreted though as only an apple for supper.


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## rusita preciosa

Maroseika said:


> Why not? I heard this one:
> Яблоко на ужин, и доктор не нужен [yablaka na uzhin y doctar ni nuzhin]. - An apple for supper and a doctor is not needed.


Never heard of that one.


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## bibax

This phrase does not exist in Czech.

However we have another much "stronger" phrase:

Jeden prd lepší deseti doktorů.

_One fart is better than ten doctors._


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## Maroseika

bibax said:


> Jeden prd lepší deseti doktorů.
> 
> _One fart is better than ten doctors._



Sounds quite Schveikian...


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## bibax

This "folk wisdom" is probably much older than Švejk. It succinctly says that it is not good for your health to hold winds.


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## OneStroke

Cantonese: 一日一蘋果，醫生遠離我　(One day, one apple, the doctor stays away from me.)


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## OneStroke

I forgot to say that it rhymes too! (In Cantonese, the 'oo' sound is part of the consonant, unlike Putonghua.)


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## Encolpius

Not in *Hungarian *culture.


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## Saluton

Maroseika said:


> Why not? I heard this one:
> Яблоко на ужин, и доктор не нужен  [yablaka na uzhin y doctar ni nuzhin]. - An apple for supper and a doctor is not needed.


Completely unknown, like any other translation of the proverb, though.


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## mataripis

not existing in Tagalog but there is a saying " Pag may kasapatan sa lahat , karamdaman ay di marapat lumapat"  (when there is sufficiency in everything, no need to be sick). In Dumaget this is "  Be te masampat ta Mapyon a nabolan, alayu man on owram."


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## 涼宮

There are two other ways to say this expression in Spanish and Italian that don't look like the English one. Personally, I love and prefer these versions, but they aren't commonly used .

Buon vino fa buon sangue.
(El) bueno vino cría buena sangre.

Lit. Good wine engenders good blood.


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## 810senior

We would say in Japanese; 薬より養生_kusuri yori youzyo_ = Recuperation is better than the medicine.

Besides we can also say this way translated from English idiom.
一日1個のリンゴで、医師いらず _ichinichi ikko no ringo de ishi irazu
_An apple a day makes you need no doctor.


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## ger4

810senior said:


> We would say in Japanese; 薬より養生_kusuri yori youzyo_ = Recuperation is better than the medicine. [...]


German has a similar idiom: _Vorbeugen ist besser als Heilen_ - lit. 'Prevention is better than curing'

Of course an idiomatic expression like this one...



涼宮 said:


> Buon vino fa buon sangue.
> (El) bueno vino cría buena sangre.
> 
> Lit. Good wine engenders good blood.


... would be unimaginable in German...


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## 涼宮

Because it's wine and not beer?


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## ger4

Exactly


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## WestFevalia

In French, _une pomme par jour éloigne le médecin_. (_an apple a day keeps the doctor away_). Or _une pomme par jour éloigne le médecin pour toujours _(an apple a day keeps the doctor away for ever) if we want to make the two parts of the sentence rhyme.


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## ilocas2

Maroseika said:


> bibax said:
> 
> 
> 
> This phrase does not exist in Czech.
> 
> However we have another much "stronger" phrase:
> 
> Jeden prd lepší deseti doktorů.
> 
> _One fart is better than ten doctors._
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sounds quite Schveikian...
Click to expand...


Hi Maroseika, the sentence written by bibax is written in archaic grammar and for many native speakers it would be unintelligible. It has only 1 result in Google besides this forum. We say the most commonly Lepší jeden prd než deset doktorů.


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## ger4

A North German version: 
_
Ein Apfel am Tag hält den Doktor in Scha*ch* - _lit. 'an apple a day keeps the doctor *in check*'
It only rhymes in northern Germany where -a- in Tag is a short vowel and syllable-final -g tends to be pronounced as -ch [x]


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