I wrote a post the other day on idioms using the word “tongue.” It got me thinking of the strangeness of idioms and how I really didn’t have another language to compare our idioms with. Well, a quick google search brought me this article in The Guardian and this amazing list of idioms in other languages.
1. To seize the moon by the teeth: attempt the impossible (French).
I know that we take the bull by the horns, which actually has a slightly different connotation. It means to tackle a project directly. I can’t even imagine biting into the moon, especially if it’s made of cream cheese 🙂
2. To reheat cabbage: to rekindle an old flame (Italian).
Now this is as un-romantic as anything I can imagine. It gives the concept of a cabbage roll a whole new meaning 🙂
3. When the crayfish sings in the mountain: never (Russian).
Much more graphic then – in a month of Sundays or when Hell freezes over.
4. Cleaner than a frog’s armpit: to be poor, broke (Spanish).
Probably nicer than “not having a pot to pee in.”
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| Heads of straw – Hollow men – a poetic insult |
5. To think one is the last suck of the mango: to be conceited (South American Spanish).
Now I have heard conceit referred to as “the cat’s whiskers” or “the cat’s meow.” Then again mangoes don’t grow in England so we wouldn’t naturally have this fruit as a reference point. Somehow “the last suck of the apple” doesn’t really translate.
6. Onions should grow in your navel: a mild insult (Yiddish).
I am speechless – make that wordless. I can’t think of an insult using a vegetable. Please post any you may know. The best I could do is – You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear.
7. Brew tea from dirt under another’s fingernails: to learn a bitter lesson (Japanese).
I’m not sure what is worse – this drink or eating crow.
8. Belch smoke from the seven orifices of the head: to be furious (Chinese).
I’m still confused. I can’t seem to find 7 orifices in the head. Maybe one gets so angry that they really blow their top!!
Have a day of compliments!!