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

submitted 8 months ago by alquicksilver@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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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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[-] mumblerfish@lemmy.world 53 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

In Swedish there is

"Now the boiled pork is fried", meaning sometging has gone too far

" be on the cinnamon", to be drunk

"Put the legs on your back", to run

"You are out biking", you are missing the point

"Pay[back] for old cheese", to get revenge

" bear-favour", is a favour that gives bad results

"Now you'll see other buns", things will get rough

" there are no children being made here", nothing is happening/its boring/lets go

"Satan and his aunt", all kinds of people/everyone

"Good day, axe-handle", something like saying "yeah, you dumbfuck" after getting a nonsense repley from someone

"In only the brass", to be naked

"Show where the cupboard will stand", to firmly make a decision

"You cupboard", miss the point, being stupid

" shit in the blue cupboard", to make a mistake

Edit: forgot a good one:

"Get your thumb out of your ass", to stop doing nothing and start doing something

[-] alquicksilver@lemmy.world 22 points 8 months ago

I thought "be on the cinnamon" was going to be my favorite, but the list just kept getting better. I think you ended on the best.

[-] logos@sh.itjust.works 16 points 8 months ago

björntjänst bear-favor: From a French fable (L’Ours et l’Amateur des jardins by Jean de La Fontaine) in which a tame bear wants to do his master a favor by hitting the fly who sat down on the master's forehead, but hits the fly so hard that the master too is killed.

Interesting

[-] bus_factor@lemmy.world 12 points 8 months ago

Some Norwegian politicians have completely ruined this expression, and now use it to mean "a really big favor".

It's almost as annoying as when Americans say they "could care less" when they mean the opposite.

[-] crispy_kilt@feddit.de 1 points 8 months ago

Not as annoying as when they say Caucasian and it means European-looking people, not people from the Caucasus.

[-] lemmylommy@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago

Bärendienst in German.

[-] lvxferre@mander.xyz 9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

" there are no children being made here", nothing is happening/its boring/lets go

My sides went into orbit. How else would someone entertain themself, when this expression was coined? TV is a recent invention, after all...

[-] crispy_kilt@feddit.de 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

" bear-favour", is a favour that gives bad results

Almost the same in German, "Bärendienst" means a bear's service, means a bad service or one which did much more damage than help, usually unintentionally

[-] Alto@kbin.social 5 points 8 months ago

Ikea is starting to make more sense with all this cupboard talk

[-] Drusas@kbin.social 2 points 8 months ago

Interestingly, English has the same exact expression ("get your thumb out of your ass").

[-] stoy@lemmy.zip 2 points 8 months ago

If you are ever visiting Öland, and stop by Solliden, our King's summer retreat, you can go into a café and they have the toilets in a room you enter through a blue cupboard.

So yes, I have shat in the blue cupboard at the Kings summer retreat

[-] cikano@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Forgot: "Fastnat med skägget i brevlådan" Literal meaning being: "Stuck with your beard in the mailbox" which is basically saying you've fucked up and are getting caught in the act

[-] BruceTwarzen@kbin.social 1 points 8 months ago

There are no children being made here made me laugh so hard when i tried to imagine to translate it and use it randomly

this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024

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