# Misfortunes never come singly



## Encolpius

Hello, how do you say that in your language? Thanks. 

*Hungarian*: A baj nem jár egyedül. 

[a (article), baj (misfortune), nem (not), jár (walk), egyedül (singly)]


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## Awwal12

*Russian*:
беда не приходит одна (bed*a* ne prikh*o*dit odn*a*)

беда - misfortune, trouble (f.)
не - not
приходит - comes
одна - alone, one (f.)


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## Frank78

"Ein Unglück kommt selten allein."

a misfortune comes seldom alone (lit. + German word order)


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## apmoy70

In Greek we have a similar proverb:
«Σαν σού ’ρθει ένα κακό, περίμενε και άλλο»
san 'surθι 'ena ka'ko pe'rimene ce 'alo
something like "when a misfortune befalls you, wait for another"

[θ] is a voiceless dental non-sibilant fricative
[c] is a voiceless palatal plosive


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## ThomasK

Dutch: "Een ongeluk komt nooit alleen."


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## Outsider

*Portuguese*: Uma desgraça nunca vem só.

Essentially a word for word translation.


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## phosphore

Serbian:

"Nesreća nikad ne dolazi sama"=literally "Misfortune never comes alone".


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## enoo

French : Un malheur n'arrive jamais seul. (misfortune never comes alone)


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## Prima Facie

Las desgracias nunca vienen solas (misfortuneS never come alone)


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## 810senior

In Japanese, there are much to differently say:
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一難去ってまた一難 ichinan satte mata ichinan
The one danger comes after the one danger

弱り目に祟り目 yowari me ni tatari me
Times of weakness and of curse

踏んだり蹴ったり fundari kettari
lit. stamping and kicking off (it actually means *being stamped and kicked off*)

虎口を逃れて竜穴に入る kokou wo nogarete ryuuketsu ni hairu
Getting out of the mouth of tiger, coming into the dragon's cavern c.f. out of the frying pan into the fire (English)


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## Armas

Finnish

Ei vahinko yksinään tule. = Misfortune does not come alone.


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## M Mira

Chinese:

禍不單行
huò bù dān xíng
misfortune NEG single walk


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## marco_2

In Polish: *Nieszczęścia chodzą parami. *(MisfortuneS / troubles walk in pairs). We also say: *Jak się wali, to się wali *(literally: _When something crumbles, it crumbles /completely/_, similar to "It never rains but it pours").


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## zxcvbn

Another Russian version: пришла беда - открывай ворота. (when a trouble has come, open the gate; the meaning is, for more troubles to come).


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## catlady60

In English: _When it rains, it pours._


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## Radioh

We have a proverb "Phúc bất trùng lai, họa vô đơn chí". My translation "A fortune never happens twice, misfortunes happen one after another."
R.


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## ilocas2

Czech:

Neštěstí nechodí nikdy samo. - Misfortune never walks alone.

but another saying about misfortune is much more frequent - 

Neštěstí nechodí po horách, ale po lidech. - Misfortune doesn't walk on mountains, but on people.


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## KalAlbè

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread]
In English, this idiom/proverb means difficult things always happen at the same time.

Example: I lost my job, then my girl left me. _When it rains, it pours.
_
How would you express this in your language(s)?


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## rusita preciosa

Russian:
Беда не приходит одна /beda ne prikhodit odna/  - Trouble/misfortune does not come alone
Пришла беда – отворяй ворота /prishla beda otvoryay vorota/  - [When one] misfortune comes - [you better] open the gate


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## spindlemoss

*Welsh*: _Ni ddaw helynt ei hunan_ "Trouble doesn't come on its own"


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## bibax

KalAlbè said:


> In English, this idiom/proverb means difficult things always happen at the same time.
> 
> Example: I lost my job, then my girl left me. _When it rains, it pours.
> _
> How would you express this in your language(s)?


In Czech we say in such situation:

- a bookish (decent) variant:

*„Čert vždycky na větší hromadu klade.“* = _The devil always heaps on the bigger heap._

- colloquial (and vulgar) variant:

*„Čert vždycky sere na větší hromadu.“* = _The devil always shits on the bigger heap._

I found an English equivalent:

*„The devil always tips at the biggest ruck.“
*
And in Deutsch:

*„Der Teufel scheißt immer auf den größten Haufen.“

„Der Düüvel driiß emmer op der jrühßte Houfe.“*_ (Köln)_


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## Encolpius

Wow, Bibax, wonderful phrases. Well, I haven't ever heard them. Do you think I should memorize them?  The thing is they might often come in handy.
Your sentences got me into a website where I found Hungarian examples:

A kutya is a dombra szarik. (sounds very bucolical but I have never heard it)


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