separate the wheat from the chaff

Etymology
The figurative sense is by extension from the literal sense, which is threshing. Because threshing has been an important activity for humans for thousands of years, it is well represented both in folk wisdom and (relatedly) in the bible; for example, Matthew 3:12.

Verb

 * 1)  To select only that which is of value.

Translations

 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: 分清良莠
 * Czech: oddělit zrno od plev
 * Danish: skille klinten fra hveden
 * Dutch: het kaf van het koren scheiden
 * Finnish:
 * French:
 * German:
 * Greek:
 * Hebrew: לָבוּר אֶת הַבָּר מִן הַתֶּבֶן
 * Hungarian: elválasztja/szétválasztja az ocsút a búzától
 * Icelandic: skilja hismið frá kjarnanum
 * Italian: separare il grano dalla pula, separare il buono dal cattivo
 * Japanese: もみがらから麦をより分ける, 良いものと悪いものを分ける
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål:
 * Polish: oddzielać ziarno od plew,
 * Portuguese: separar o trigo do joio,
 * Russian: отделя́ть зёрна от пле́вел, отдели́ть зёрна от пле́вел,, отдели́ть а́гнцев от ко́злищ
 * Spanish: apartar el grano de la paja, separar la paja del trigo, separar el trigo de la paja
 * Swedish: