In Italy, if you get a little discount, you can definitely use the Italian idiomatic expression “Tutto fa brodo!“. If you translate it literally it means “everything makes broth” but obviously isn’t a cooking reference: its meaning is similar to “it’s all grist to the mill“, so it is a nice idiom to say that every little helps.
Its origin dates back to the Middle Age, when people used to eat broth every day: a kind of soup which cooked for hours and was made adding any food people could find.
Here you have some useful examples!
| Italian | English |
| Oggi il cameriere mi ha fatto 2€ di sconto. Tutto fa brodo! | Today the waiter gave me 2€ discount. Every little helps! |
| Dato che non ho frequentato il corso, se puoi dammi i tuoi appunti per preparare l’esame, tutto fa brodo. | As I didn’t attend the course, if you can give me your notes to prepare the exam, it’s all grist to the mill. |
| Questo mese ho risparmiato un po’ di soldi per comprare la macchina, non è molto ma tutto fa brodo. | This month I saved some money to buy a car, it’s not much but every little helps. |
Would you use a similar idiomatic expression in your language?
Comments