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I'm looking for a German saying that embodies the idea that if you check something (a program, a device, a work etc.) and you find one obvious mistake/problem, then further mistakes/problems/errors will follow.

Something like Where there's smoke, there's fire. Or The fish rots from the head. But these are not really right in this context.

The concept is so common, there must be something.

Since it came up in comments, I'll explain why I think this concept is common:

There're solid logical reasons why there would be correlations in terms of error frequency between different programs. Say, two programmers write an app. One is good, one is bad. You test both blindly. If you find one mistake quickly, you'll have a high chance of testing the bad one, which means more mistakes are going to come along. This is basic Bayesian thinking. A fun manifestation is the German tank problem

Cornelius Roemer
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    "There must be more where that came from..." – Peter - Reinstate Monica Feb 15 '21 at 12:47
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    I don't think either of your suggestions are quite right. The English equivalent that comes to mind is: "There's never just one cockroach". – Kaz Feb 15 '21 at 15:51
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    @Kaz Ah, nice one (yuck)! Related from the animal kingdom: Can of worms, hornets' nest. But I can't think of a cockroach equivalent in German -- bummer, it's very fitting. – Peter - Reinstate Monica Feb 15 '21 at 19:11
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    @Peter-ReinstateMonica That's because there aren't many cockroaches in Germany. Not the right climate I think. – kutschkem Feb 17 '21 at 11:16
  • @kaz You're right, my English sayings were rough approximations - I wasn't aware of the right English saying either. – Cornelius Roemer Feb 17 '21 at 14:09
  • One of my favorite jokes in programming: "Nach unserem Wissensstand enthält die Software keine unbekannten Fehler." – Peter - Reinstate Monica Feb 17 '21 at 14:54
  • I can not remember the whole thing :( but there is a phrase "ein [???] fühlt sich einsam" It could be, that it is meant for alcohol, but I think it was another context... "ein Bug fühlt sich einsam" would be an interesting wording with a second meaning... – Allerleirauh Feb 17 '21 at 16:15

5 Answers5

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Try

ein Fehler kommt selten allein

(Note the saying is actually with "Unglück", which could be used as well if you don't mind a more unspecific translation)

tofro
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    Ah that's good! Repurposing a known saying for a new use by switching out a word. Sweet! – Cornelius Roemer Feb 14 '21 at 12:09
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    We have the same saying in Danish - "en ulykke kommer sjældent alene" (an accident rarely comes alone) which is the same word as Unglück - but it has been a while since I've heard it used. – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen Feb 14 '21 at 23:19
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    In Dutch too - "een ongeluk komt zelden alleen". – J W Feb 15 '21 at 17:25
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    @RobbieGoodwin, there is an English saying about bad luck / accidents / trouble coming in threes. – J W Feb 15 '21 at 17:28
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    @RobbieGoodwin if you doubt the assertion of commonality, comment unter the questioner's post where it was actually made – Leif Willerts Feb 16 '21 at 03:57
  • @JW There is but without a wholly inappropriate, largely off-topic debate at least chapters long, in what way do you think that relates to the Question? What comes in threes would still have nothing to say about "When you find one mistake, the second is not far…" even if that was a recognised English phrase. – Robbie Goodwin Feb 17 '21 at 00:09
  • @LeifWillerts If you think Comments must come only unter the questioner's post where it was actually made, please ask Stack Exchange to change the rules to accommodate you.

    Failing that, why not either ignore or address the issue?

     – Robbie Goodwin Feb 17 '21 at 00:12
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    @Roobie Goodwin I can't address the issue, because I can't move your comment the question post, where the person claiming the concept to be common is more likely to find it and respond, and where the discussion belongs instead of below a random answer. – Leif Willerts Feb 17 '21 at 00:48
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Das ist wahrscheinlich nur die Spitze des Eisbergs: The visible part indicates the presence of a larger, not yet discovered part.

Peter - Reinstate Monica
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One could say

Manchmal zieht ein Programmierfehler einen (ganzen) Rattenschwanz an weiteren Problemen nach sich.

Rattenschwanz meaning generally a series of negative consequences resulting from a problem. But that does not exactly reflect your idea.

A further quite usual and more or less unidomatic way to say what tofro means is

Wo ein Fehler ist, da finden sich (auch) noch weitere

in many variations:

Wo ein Fehler ist, da sind auch noch mehr / da findet sich gewiss / bestimmt auch ein zweiter or hat man erst mal einen Fehler gefunden, werden die nächsten nicht lange auf sich warten lassen / braucht man nach den nächsten nicht mehr lange zu suchen / braucht man auf die nächsten nicht mehr lange zu warten.

Anyway, tofro's answer is the best.

Ralf Joerres
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    Talking about coding: 'Der gefundene Fehler ist nicht der gesuchte Fehler' – TaW Feb 14 '21 at 20:53
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    Well. as you say yourself: The Rattenschwanz indicates consequential errors, not independent ones. I suppose the OP did not (necessarily) mean that the suspected additional errors were a consequence of the first one; but rather that the first one indicated a general state of affairs (sloppiness etc.) which made more errors likely. – Peter - Reinstate Monica Feb 15 '21 at 09:21
  • I didn't interpret Rattenschwanz as being consequential errors, but more, somehow related ones. It's more like a rabbit hole in meaning, isn't it? – Omar and Lorraine Feb 17 '21 at 16:22
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I don't think it is the German phrase you are looking for, but "There's never only one cockroach" works.

Nick
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The concept that where you find one mistake there must be others, isn't common. In fact that is a dysfunctional mindset and found in many psychological disorders.

  • The key word here is "obvious", which is not in the title, but in the body of the question. – Jann Poppinga Feb 16 '21 at 14:38
  • I don't think it's a disorder -- we are surrounded by evil that's just waiting to lay hands on us! – Peter - Reinstate Monica Feb 17 '21 at 09:35
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    That doesn't devalue the question. There are ALWAYS mistakes and errors in code, always, whether you find them or not. Finding obvious mistakes is a good indicator that there are other less obvious problems to be found in that general area of code. It is a common concept, even if it were to be false and biased. – kutschkem Feb 17 '21 at 11:17
  • Sorry, this is wrong. There're solid logical reasons why there would be correlations in terms of error frequency between different programs. Say, two programmers write an app. One is good, one is bad. You test both blindly. If you find one mistake quickly, you'll have a high chance of testing the bad one, which means more mistakes are going to come along. This is basic Bayesian thinking. You can also have a look at the German tank problem. It's fun to think about! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_tank_problem – Cornelius Roemer Feb 17 '21 at 14:16