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Multilingual folks: what are some odd idioms in your language(s)?

What are some (non-English) idioms, and what do they mean (both literally and in context)? Odd ones, your favorite ones - any and all are welcome. :)

For example, in English I might call someone a "good egg," meaning they're a nice person. Or, if it's raining heavily, I might say "it's raining cats and dogs."

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  • Fun question! There's an abundance in Vietnamese. Usually used by parents and/or old folk (I can hear it now...)

    Mèo khen mèo dài đuôi — Literal translation "cat praises cat's long tail." A way of expressing narcissism.

    Uống nước nhớ nguồn — Literal translation is "drink water, remember roots." So you'd pause, reflect, and remember where you came from.

    Gieo gió gặt bão— Literal translation is "sow winds, weather storms." A way of saying "you reap what you sow."

    Có công mài sắt có ngày nên kim — Literal translation "Perseverance grinds iron some day into needles." Used like "practice makes perfect."

    Trời có mắt — Literal translation "Heaven has eyes." Usually used when someone's wronged, but don't worry - heaven is watching.

    Gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì sáng — Literal translation "near the ink it blackens, near the lamp it lights." You're influenced by those you're around.

    Nuôi ong tay áo — Literal translation "raise bees in shirtsleeve." As in "to nurture a snake in one's bosom," kindness will be met by betrayal.

    • I really like these. They all seem very poetic, at least in English. I think my favorite is "near the ink it blackens, near the lamp it lights."

  • Catalan:

    Enfilar-se per les parets — To be climbing the walls — To be very angry and / or nervous.

    Ficar-se de peus a la galleda — To get one's feet in the bucket — To say or do something inconvenient and / or embarrassing.

    N'hi ha per llogar-hi cadires — [Roughly translated] You could rent chairs for this — Refers to something very noteworthy or interesting.

    (Anar a) canviar l'aigua de les olives — To (go) change the olives' water — To (leave for a quick) piss.

    Descobrir la sopa d'all — To discover garlic soup — To believe you've discovered or come up with something that's commonly known (except, apparently, to you).

    (Estar) tocat del bolet — (To be, or have been) touched/hit on the mushroom — (To be) insane.

    Fer figa — To do or make fig (literally, the fruit, or figuratively, the vulva) — To become weaker, unable to perform one's intended function.

    Fer el préssec — To do or make the peach — To put yourself in a ridiculous situation.

    Fer uns ulls com unes taronges — To open one's eyes like oranges — To look very surprised or interested.

    Fer pinya — To make (like a) pinecone — To work together for a common cause.

    Partir peres — To split up pears — To break up a relationship (sentimental, professional, or otherwise).

    Remenar les cireres — To mix up the cherries — To be the person who makes the decisions, to be in control (in a partnership, organisation...). Also, Tallar el bacallà — To cut up the cod. Also, Tenir la paella pel mànec — To hold the pan by the handle.

    Somiar truites — To dream of omelettes — To believe things that will hardly be possible to be possible. And, by extension, Somiatruites — Omelette dreamer — Someone who regularly does that; an extremely unreasonable optimist.

    Suar la cansalada — To sweat (the) bacon — To do very hard tiring work or exercise.

    Aixecar la camisa — To lift (someone's) shirt — To scam, misdirect, or lie (to someone).

    Això són figues d'un altre paner — These are figs from a different container — This is a completely different matter (than what we were talking about).

    Bon vent i barca nova! — Good wind and a new boat! — Farewell to someone or something you'd rather never see again.

    (Això és) bufar i fer ampolles — (This is) (like) blowing and making bottles — Refers to something that's very easy to do or achieve. Can be used literally or ironically.

    Caure-hi de quatre potes / peus — To fall in with all four legs / feet — To fall for a scam or lie.

    (Ser) cornut i pagar el beure — (To be a) cuckold (literally, to have horns) and pay for the drinks — To voluntarily sacrifice for others who take advantage of you.

    (Donar) gat per llebre — (To give) a cat pretending it's a hare — To lie, scam, or misdirect. To substitute a lower quality product for what you agreed to provide.

    El més calent és a l'aigüera — The hottest stuff is in the sink — Work hasn't even started yet on whatever endeavour we're talking about.

    En un tres i no res — In a three and nought — In a very short time.

    La mare dels ous — The mother of the eggs — The main cause or reason (of/for something).

    Lligar els gossos amb llonganisses — To tie up the dogs with sausages — To be wealthy.

    Fer mans i mànigues — To do/make hands and sleeves — To put as much effort as possible into something.

    Fer un riu — To make a river — To piss.

    Veure el llautó — To notice the brass — To notice the concealed truth behind appearances. (Literally, it refers to noticing something is made of a poorer quality metal than it's claimed to be.)

    Tenir mà esquerra — To have (sic) left hand — To be good at diplomacy.

    Un orgue de gats — An organ (musical instrument) made out of cats — A very noisy and chaotic room or place.

    And there's plenty more, but I've already spent more time than I could afford typing these.

    Oh, but also, not exactly an idiom, maybe, but something I've always thought says a lot about Catalan worldview: the Catalan word for pigsty is cort. Which is exactly the same word (and with the same meaning) as the Catalan word for court. As in royal court.

    Maybe that's where Orwell got his idea for Napoleon & co to be pigs..?

  • Irish: Ar muidne muiche.

    Literally "on the pigs back" and means "doing great" for example in response to "how are you?"

  • My favorite in Macedonian: My dick hurts. Translation: I don't give a fuck. Also, the opposite is true, like if someone says "My dick doesn't hurt at all about so and so", it also means the same thing: I don't give a fuck. Go figure 🤷 😂.

    • This is hilarious 😂 Is it something those of us without dicks would also say? (In English, I might still tell someone to "suck my dick," despite not having one.)

      • Yeah, girls say it around here too sometimes 😂, but some also tend to replace the dick oart with pussy, so girls would say "my pussy hurts" or "my pussy doesn't hurt all" 😂.

    • This makes me think about the French "je m'en bats les couilles" (litt. "I beat my balls with it"). Some girls say it too, others say they beat their ovaries instead.

    • We do "my dick sweats", for the same thing, which I now realize sounds super gross.

      • Yeah, it is 😂.

        We also have a phrase "dick dangles in cold water" which basically means nothing's happening or something is irrelevant 😂.

    • In English, over time, “I could care less” has come to have the exact same meaning as “I couldn’t care less.”

      Some people get wrapped around an axle (i.e. irrationally angry) about it, but i just mentally fill in some context myself: “I could care less… i suppose… if i really tried… but that’s not going to happen.”

      There’s no governing body for English. If you communicate the meaning and social cues that you intended, then it’s “right.” Of course, communicating social cues is sometimes where you can get in trouble using newer linguistic constructions.

      • Yeah, I think the negation part in Macedonian was added later on, in newer generations because it sounded more "cool" I guess. But the phrase has been around for a very long time, probably like 70, 80 years, maybe even longer.

  • My Egyptian ass be like: My time has come. Let's see...

    Turn the pot on its mouth, the girl turns out like her mother (no idea why it's like this, literally no purpose other than that it rhymes). Used when a girl is like her mother, basically what it says on the cover. The guy version is "This cub from that lion", which can't be used for girls because lioness is an insult for some reason (kinda like removed but stronger).

    The winds come with what ships don't want: Not everything happens as we want it to.

    Going around and spinning: To try to trick someone or dodge a subject by making the conversation go in circles and not touch an important point. Speaking of spinning,

    To spin around oneself: To be in trouble and really busy/not know what to do.

    To pretend to be from Banha (a place in Egypt): To pretend you have nothing to do with what's going on.

    A black (sometimes blue or white) day or night: An unpleasant time/experience. Used as both a statement and a threat (like "your day will be black today" after your parents catch you doing something you're not supposed to).

    Have them for lunch before they have you for dinner: Attack before you're attacked.

    The monkey would've benefited himself: When you ask someone for something they would've done for themselves if they could.

    Kahka with sugar: Zero (on exams). Kahk is an Egyptian biscuit-like sweet eaten on Eid, and it's circular like a zero.

    A pot with a hole is emptied on the one that lifts it: If you do something dumb you suffer the consequences.

    Edit:

    To get spanked: To fail.

    To slam (your ass): To make up something (probably incorrect) in the moment. Comes from the idea of slamming your ass onto an exam paper and leaving whatever comes up as the answer.

  • Having pigs in the forest - to be hiding something.

    The tax man would go from farm to farm back in the old days and count the number of pigs. The farmers would be taxed accordingly. Naturally, when you heard the tax man was coming, you'd send some pigs into the forest so that you'd be taxed less. Norwegian. :)

162 comments