So the Sun Shines Tomorrow

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Mark Stitchen from Wisconsin.

Hey, Mark.

How you doing? Welcome to the show.

Oh, I’m doing great. Thank you for having me on.

Our pleasure.

What would you like to talk with us about?

Well, my mom was a good cook and she was from German heritage.

And one of the things, the saying she would have when we’re eating at the table, we ate at five o’clock and meat and potato type of dinners.

And if there was food left, when everyone has eaten and had in seconds, small amount of mainly the main course, the meat, and she would say, somebody has to finish that up so the sun shines tomorrow.

And I was just wondering about that saying.

That’s outstanding.

So sweet.

Wait, you said German heritage.

Did she speak German, perhaps?

Some German.

Her parents spoke more German.

And actually, her grandparents are the ones that came from Germany.

You know what?

I got something for you, Mark.

I bet she got it from her German heritage.

Because this expression, to tell a child to eat their food so the sun will shine tomorrow, exists in German.

There’s a variety of versions of it.

For example, Kinder ist auf, dann gibt es morgen gutes Wetter.

Which basically means, children, go ahead and eat.

Then there’ll be good weather tomorrow.

And some of them actually kind of have a little bit of a double pun.

Like there’s one that’s, is dein entele leer, dann gibt es morgen gutes Wetter.

And basically what it’s saying is, I mean, this is not a literal translation.

This is, you know, kind of a full-spirited translation.

Eat all your food.

There will be good eating again tomorrow.

Basically saying there’s no reason to hold back.

We’ll have plenty more when the morning comes.

And so you’ll find a wide variety of these in German going back at least 150 years.

So that’s probably where she got it.

And she just translated it into English.

I bet, yes.

There was other sayings, but I can’t think of them off the bat.

But that one I particularly remember she would say it a lot.

And she didn’t like the leftovers.

And there was always plenty more the next day.

Nice.

And so you found it persuasive, Mark?

Did it work?

Yeah.

Yes.

It was, okay, I’ll have the rest of that beef roast or whatever.

And finish that all up.

So you helped the sun come out.

Good for you.

Yes.

Gosh, that’s great.

That’s a lot more colorful than what I was told.

I was just told, you want to be a member of the Clean Plate Club.

And I was thinking, whoa, what is this club I’m not a member of?

Right, does it need to be a secret handshake?

I want the decoder ring.

Yeah, who are the other people in the Clean Plate Club?

And when are they coming over to help me finish my lima beans?

Yeah.

Well, if you didn’t finish everything, sometimes someone would say, you don’t have a happy plate.

You don’t have a happy plate?

You don’t have a happy plate.

Oh, my.

Well, Mark, we appreciate your continuing to finish those meals because the sun has continued to come out all these years.

So we’re personally grateful to you.

Well, you’re very welcome.

Thank you for having me on.

I love the program.

Oh, yay.

Take care.

Thanks, Mark.

Thanks, Mark.

Bye-bye.

All right.

Bye now.

One of the variations on this, the Wetter kind of sounds like another word in German, which can mean back.

And so that’s kind of where you get this double meaning.

It’s not just about…

Oh, like Wetter?

Yeah.

Yes, exactly.

It’s not just about the weather.

It’s about everything will come back.

Good things will come back.

The food will come back.

Sweet.

Yeah.

That’s nice.

Cool, right?

Yes.

Yes.

So it’s funny to see this exist across languages, and here it is.

Yeah.

I forgot to ask him if he told his children this.

Yeah.

Maybe he did.

Yeah.

Generations of it.

We love these family expressions, and we’d love to hear yours.

So call us, 877-929-9673, or send them an email to words@waywordradio.org.