How do you say this?

[Rvanbergen]

In the Netherlands (where I live) there's a saying: Onkruid vergaat niet (basically, Ill weeds grow apace); when we say it, we mean that bad things (people, objects, etc) don't go away easily. It's usually used in stories (though it doesn't have to); sometimes, we mean it as an insult. "I should have known you weren't dead. Onkruid vergaat niet." Other times, we mean it as a semi-joking reassurance that someone we love to hate is going to survive the bad situation they are in. "Don't worry, he'll be fine. Onkruid vergaat niet, after all."

But I can't for the life of me find the English equivalent of this saying. I don't think it actually IS "Ill weeds grow apace", because A: I've never heard that one before I looked it up, and B: it seems to only be related to gardening, from what I can find. I don't even know if there is an English equivalent to this saying. Does anyone know?

Edited October 12, 2017 by Rvanbergen

[montky]

an excellent question;

I've sent a long-form reflection via NMM mail hehe apologies in advance!

 

the phrase itself transliterates as "Weeds |are| forgive not"

 

the closest I can think of would be "Forgiven and not forgotten", or a simile

"They're like weeds - you can't kill them, or they don't stay gone for long".

 

In terms of the Sorites Paradox, Hydra Paradox etc, the term might be seen as a

'universal idiom', as Joseph Campbell, Marshall Rosenberg and Shannon&Weaver allude to.

 

I will be interested to see if there are more proximate transliterations,

and, thanks for asking an awesome question!

[soupdragon1234]

Heh. Nice idiom. There is no direct equivalent that I can think of but thats true of many phrases there are plenty in English that have no direct equivalent I'm sure

[Deleted1205226User]

The closest I could think of, depending on the context, could be something like "tough as nails" or "evil last forever"

[BlackRampage]

"A bad penny always turns up" would be the most fitting english equivalent, I think. At least, that's the saying I tend to use when want to use an english equivalent to onkruid vergaat niet.