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Funny Idioms/Phrases in your TL(s)/ NL(s) | ||
Tags: Idiom | Multilingual | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| silverpolyglot Diglot Groupie Canada silverchallanges.wor Joined 4695 days ago 42 posts - 72 votes  Speaks: English*, Somali Studies: French, Swedish, Mandarin | Message 1 of 3 03 April 2012 at 2:50am | IP Logged |
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I recently thought about the Somali word for graduating: Qalin Jibis, which in English
translates to "breaking the pencil" which I thought was hilarious. What funny idioms or phrases have you stumbled upon in your studies or in your native language? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| onurdolar Diglot Groupie TurkeyRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4433 days ago 98 posts - 147 votes Speaks: Turkish*, English Studies: Italian, German | Message 2 of 3 03 April 2012 at 10:11am | IP Logged |
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Well kalemi kırmak is the Turkish phrase used for death sentence which in English means "breaking the pencil" it's not really hilarious in this context but rather weird how different meanings can words have in different cultures.
That term originates from a common practice where judges used to break the pencils they used in cases which results in death sentence as a symbolic gesture that shows hope of never having to give a death sentence ever again.( before it was abolished ) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Kenney90 Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5653 days ago 24 posts - 39 votes | Message 3 of 3 04 April 2012 at 3:45am | IP Logged |
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In Pashto, the verb 'to get some fresh air' (هواخوري کول) literally means 'to eat air'. The verb 'to bargain' (چنه وهل) literally means 'to beat chins', which is the exact same as in Persian from what my classmate has told me.
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