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.”

  • Holyhandgrenade@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Icelandic is full of fun idioms:
    “He’s totally outside driving” = he’s very incorrect about something, possibly crazy
    “It’s hard to grab his horns” = He’s very headstrong and stubborn
    “A wave rarely comes alone” = If something bad happens, usually a lot of bad things happen at once
    “He hasn’t peed into the salty sea” = he’s young an inexperienced
    “He has unclean flour in the corner of the bag” = he’s untrustworthy
    “I totally come from the mountains” = I’m out of the loop, unaware of recent developments

    • Poiar@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      “He has unclean flour in the corner of the bag” = he’s untrustworthy

      Danish has this also, just phrased like “He’s not got clean flour in the bag”

      Maybe it’s from common heritage

    • Skyhighatrist@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      A wave rarely comes alone

      An equivalent idiom in English for this one might be “When it rains, it pours”

      • cabillaud@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        ‘Les merdes volent en escadrille’ = ‘shits fly in a squadron’ (famous expression coined by former President Jacques Chirac)

      • wjrii@kbin.social
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        8 months ago

        There’s also the very nerdy Shakespeare version of the same sentiment: “when troubles come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.”

    • ABCDE@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      “I totally come from the mountains” = I’m out of the loop, unaware of recent developments

      Similar to ‘Have you been living under a rock?’.