viel Feind, viel Ehr

German

Etymology

Literally: “many foes, much honour”. The forms viel Feind for viele Feinde (“many foes”) and Ehr for Ehre (“honour”) reflect early modern German apocope, which was a general phenomenon in most dialects, but only partially established itself in the written standard.

Proverb

viel Feind, viel Ehr

  1. the more enemies one has, the more honour one is due (for example, because it proves one to be independent and upright)
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