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Negative traits attributed to others | ||
Tags: Cultural Identity | Idiom | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
 Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5850 days ago 5460 posts - 6006 votes  1 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish Personal Language Map | Message 33 of 74 26 March 2011 at 1:43pm | IP Logged |
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Some examples from German:
- "hinter schwedischen Gardinen sitzen" = to be in prison / to be in jail - "das ist getürkt" = that's a fake - "das sind für mich böhmische Dörfer" = this is unknown to me - "das kommt mir Spanisch vor" = this seems strange to me - "eine englische Woche" = a week with a double amount of football matches - "den französischen Abschied nehmen" = to disappear without giving notice Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 26 March 2011 at 6:50pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5850 days ago 5460 posts - 6006 votes 1 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish Personal Language Map | Message 34 of 74 26 March 2011 at 6:48pm | IP Logged |
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And now some examples from my "Nederlands Spreekwoordenboek" in Dutch:
- "Hij kent evengoed Frans als een koe Spaans". = He doesn't know anything about it. - "Daar is geen woord Frans bij." = This is meant exactly as it is. - "Het zijn daar Amerikaanse toestanden." = The situation is exaggerated. - "Hij is zo dronken als een Zwitser" = He is very drunk. - "Dat is een rare Chinees." = That's a strange person. - "Dat lijkt wel op de Chinese muur." = That's a task which is difficult to achieve. Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 26 March 2011 at 6:49pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Djouks Bilingual Pentaglot Newbie France Joined 4995 days ago 23 posts - 32 votes Speaks: French*, Breton*, Serbo-Croatian, English, Spanish Studies: Turkish, Kurdish | Message 35 of 74 27 March 2011 at 3:32pm | IP Logged |
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Hi, I'm new on this forum :-)
I have some phrases to share also: French - Partir en juif (To leave like a Jew)= Leave without saying anything, it is similar to "Filer à l'anglaise" - C'est du serbo-croate (It's serbo-croatian)= it's ununderstandable, similar to "C'est du chinois" - Bourré comme un polonais (bourré is the slang word for drunk, "Drunk like a Pole") - A jewish mother is a mother that is very present in her children's life, in a negative way - "Pédé comme un Grec" (pédé is slang for "homosexual", "Homosexual like a Greek") - "Travail d'Arabe" ("Arab's work")= The work is done fast but is of bad quality - "Trimer comme un Turc" (Trimer is slang for "work", To work like a Turk)= To work very hard - Serbian Pušiti kao Turčin (To smoke like a Turk)= To smoke a lot Just for the fun, in french we say "Fumer comme un pompier" (To smoke like a fireman) which is equivalent to the above. Maybe I'll remember some other expressions later :-) 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5456 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 36 of 74 27 March 2011 at 4:13pm | IP Logged |
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Norwegian:
arbeide som en tyrk = work like a Turk = work very hard russisk rulett = Russian roulette det er gresk for meg = it's Greek to me engelsk syke = English disease = rickets sveiser = Swiss = dairyman ta en spansk en = take a Spanish one = cut corners Edited by tractor on 27 March 2011 at 8:23pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5229 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese | Message 37 of 74 12 May 2011 at 6:28pm | IP Logged |
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Spanish (not all negative):
-Sex: un francés = a French job = oral sex un griego = a Greek job = anal sex -Work: trabajar como negros = to work like niggers = to slave at something trabajar como chinos = to work like the Chinese = to work a lot trabajo de chinos = a Chinese work = a very careful/detailed/demanding work piece -Others: puntualidad británica = British punctuality hacerse el sueco = to play Swede = to pretend not to understand gimnasia sueca = Swedish exercising = hard but pointless/incomprehensible physical activity ducha polaca = Polish shower = splash some water on your armpits while washing your hands me suena a chino = sounds Chinese to me = sounds Greek to me 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| mashmusic11235 Groupie United States Joined 5502 days ago 85 posts - 122 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Cantonese | Message 38 of 74 11 June 2011 at 7:21am | IP Logged |
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I've never heard this used, but supposedly "to smoke like a Turk" is used in English, meaning to smoke a lot/to be a chain smoker perhaps.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6585 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 39 of 74 11 June 2011 at 11:11am | IP Logged |
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Hey, fun! We're doing this again! Here's a favorite of mine, from Cantonese:
鬼佬涼茶 (gwai2 lou2 loeng4 caa4). It takes some explanation. 鬼佬 is a version of the famous "foreign devil" (番鬼佬). It refers to westerners in general (this would mean Englishmen during most of Hong Kong's history, of course). 涼茶, literally "cool tea" is not necessarily of cold temperature, but refers to cooling energy as in Chinese medicine. It's a kind of herbal tea often enjoyed during hot summer days. So an attempt of a literal translation would be "Englishman's herbal tea". The idiomatic translation? Beer. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Dreadslinger Newbie United States Joined 4896 days ago 18 posts - 30 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian | Message 40 of 74 07 July 2011 at 6:28am | IP Logged |
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Here in America a popular game amongst children is to give "Indian Burns". This is when one wraps both hands around someone else's arm and twists in opposite directions, turning the skin bright red. It also happens to hurt like hell. lol
Also, to say that something is "out in B.F.E" (or "Bum F***, Egypt") means that it's out in the middle of nowhere. There is also "jerry-rigged". "Jerry" is a derogatory term for Germans, so if something is "jerry-rigged", it's held together with little more than hope, string, and possibly duct tape. Few people (here, anyway) remember where the term "jerry" originated anymore, but the expression is still commonly used. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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