How do you say “Water under the bridge” in German?
The closest natural German equivalent is Schnee von gestern, which literally means “Snow from yesterday”. English speakers use water under the bridge to mean something unpleasant that happened in the past and is no longer worth worrying about. Very natural, though slightly more dismissive than the English: it says the matter is old news. It is informal and common in everyday German.
Closest natural German
Schnee von gestern
/ʃneː fɔn ˈɡɛstɐn/
- Literal meaning
- “Snow from yesterday”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
90 out of 100
What a native German speaker would actually say
English uses a river carrying the past away; German uses snow that has already melted. Both mean the matter no longer counts.
If your intention is to forgive rather than to dismiss, "Schwamm drüber" or "das ist längst vergessen" lands better.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone4 out of 5
- Context4 out of 5
- Literal similarity1 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
What are other ways to say it in German?
Das ist längst vergessen.
Literally: “That has long been forgotten.”
Warmer, better when you are actually forgiving someone.
Darüber ist Gras gewachsen.
Literally: “Grass has grown over it.”
Emphasises the passage of time.
Schwamm drüber!
Literally: “Sponge over it!”
Cheerful and conclusive, let's wipe it away and move on.
Don't translate it literally
Wasser unter der Brücke
Not an idiom in German. It will be heard as a literal statement about a river.
Word-for-word versions like these are understood as literal statements in German, not as expressions.
In context
English
That's all water under the bridge now.
German
Das ist alles Schnee von gestern.
English
We had our differences, but it's water under the bridge.
German
Wir hatten unsere Differenzen, aber Schwamm drüber.
Related expressions
- What “Water under the bridge” means in English
- A blessing in disguise, A misfortune that turns out well.
- Burn your bridges, To cut off any way back.
Last reviewed 2026-09-11