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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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[-] tubbadu@lemmy.kde.social 11 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

In Piedmontese (northern Italian dialect):

"To be mounted over squared ball bearing" = to be really strange, not as other people

"Horse brand" = a product of an unknown low quality brand

"To beat the goat" = throw a tantrum

[-] kpaniz@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago

Italian here (Veneto) How do you say it in your dialect? The ball bearing one. I really can't translate it myself into something that could make sense to me.

[-] tubbadu@lemmy.kde.social 13 points 8 months ago

"esse montà 'n sle bije quadre", and the literal translation in italian is "essere montato sulle biglie (cuscinetti a sfera) quadre"

[-] SkippingRelax@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

Also from Piemonte I've never heard the horse brand one but "three hens brand" was used regularly when I was a kid.

My favourite though is "Coma na barca ant el bòsch", like a boat in the woods

this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024

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