Multilingual folks: what are some odd idioms in your language(s)?
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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Spanish, but only from my region:
"You are worth dick": You are worth nothing
"You are not worth dick": You are worth nothing
So basically to be worth dick and not be worth dick is the same.
We also have some variation like
"You are [not] worth three trip strips of cock": same meaning.
A bonus, not related to genitalia:
"Go get your hair brushed by a donkey": Stop pestering / go fuck yourself.
As an English speaker I would naturally interpret "You are worth dick" and "you are not worth dick" in the same way.
Central America? Those kind of "click" for me if I retranslate them to Spanish with verga.
The "basic" insult also works in Portuguese with "caralho":
- vale um caralho (worth a dick) = worth nothing
- não vale um caralho (not worth a dick) = worth nothing
“Go get your hair brushed by a donkey”: Stop pestering / go fuck yourself.
This sound hilarious. How is it phrased in the original? "Anda que un burro vos cepille el pelo" or something like that?
South america!
I didn't know that also works in Portugese!
The original is: "Vaya a que lo peine un burro". Bit of a hard translation and also is always formal (usted).
I think it's hilarious how often different languages use genitalia in their idioms. These feel like they'd work really well, even in English.
Oooh as a non native speaker, these are fun! Are the first two something like no vales polla or no vales ni polla?
Quite close! But we use another word, polla is mainly use in spain.
"[No] vales [ni] [tres tiras de] verga/mondá"
But if you use ni you necesarly need the no at the begining of the sentence.
Mondá is a slang word, very regional. Is also a bit more agressive.