# Equivalent expressions in different languages **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 23, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670 "2023-01-23T16:36:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/23 "2023-01-24T14:31:47Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > In Britain we say “That’s my cup of tea” (“my” can be any pronoun) to mean that something is pleasing or suitable for me (or whatever pronoun). In German, a popular expression meaning the same as “that’s not my cup of tea” of course is “Das ist nicht mein Bier”, “this isn’t my beer”, so both terms indicate the national beverage of the respective country. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/24 "2023-01-24T14:43:41Z")
@am77494 Those are great! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/25 "2023-01-24T14:53:41Z")
How could I forget my Chinese? A couple of examples come to mind (the first is rude): In British English, to say that something is very good, a standout example, we might say that it’s _the dog’s bollocks_. In Mandarin Chinese, an equivalent is 牛逼 _niubi_, meaning the cow’s vagina. It’s not a 100% equivalence, as niubi is frequently just used alone, meaning just “Great!” or “Cool!” or whatever, but still. Another example might be the phrase _Use a little elbow grease_ meaning that you just need to use more physical force or physical effort. It’s…quite a weird expression when you think of it. In Chinese, there’s a very frequently used expression 加油 _jiayou_, literally “add oil”. In this case, the “oil” being alluded to is gasoline / fuel though. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/26 "2023-01-24T15:25:48Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > In Mandarin Chinese, an equivalent is 牛逼 _niubi_, meaning the cow’s vagina. 😲 🐄 > [@Mijin](#): > > In Chinese, there’s a very frequently used expression 加油 _jiayou_, literally “add oil”. In this case, the “oil” being alluded to is gasoline / fuel though. We might say, “Step on the gas!” These are great! ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/27 "2023-01-24T15:35:22Z")
In Urdu the equivalent of “six of this, one half dozen of the other” is “difference between nineteen and twenty” In Chinese “thick skinned” is similar to “thick skinned” in English, but has a much more negative connotation. Basically “shameless”. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/28 "2023-01-24T15:37:29Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > In Chinese, there’s a very frequently used expression 加油 _jiayou_, literally “add oil”. In this case, the “oil” being alluded to is gasoline / fuel though. I thought this was used as a term of encouragement in a sporting context. Like “forza!” in Italian. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/29 "2023-01-24T16:02:48Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > In British English, to say that something is very good, a standout example, we might say that it’s _the dog’s bollocks_. > In Mandarin Chinese, an equivalent is 牛逼 _niubi_, meaning the cow’s vagina. That’s the bee’s knees. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/30 "2023-01-24T16:12:17Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > I thought this was used as a term of encouragement in a sporting context. Like “forza!” in Italian. It is; the meaning encompasses both I’d say. So you can cheer your team on with _jiayou_. But you can also say _jiayou_ to someone out of breath while hiking, say. Or someone with a lot of work to do. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/31 "2023-01-24T16:18:47Z")
It’s the cat’s meow! ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/32 "2023-01-24T19:16:39Z")
There was another posting on a slightly different subject, but @EinsteinsHund mentioned a German (or Austrian?) proverb “_Beim Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen_”, with the direct translation of 'At need, the Devil eats flies". I suppose in English we’d more likely say that desperate circumstances call for desperate measures, more cliche than proverb. I’ve learned enough German to recognize a detail missing from the English translation; the verb _fressen_ specifically means eating done by animals, and would only be used to refer to a person if you wanted to start a fight. That is, the Devil don’t get no respect (to use an American colloquialism). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/33 "2023-01-24T20:02:02Z")
> [@Civil\_Guy](#): > > I’ve learned enough German to recognize a detail missing from the English translation; the verb _fressen_ specifically means eating done by animals, and would only be used to refer to a person if you wanted to start a fight. That is, the Devil don’t get no respect (to use an American colloquialism). That’s exactly true. The use of “fressen” for a person is always in a disparaging or mocking context, for instance “He eats like a pig” would be expressed as “Er _frisst_ wie ein Schwein”. Also the verb “to overeat” is almost always rendered as “überfressen”, as in “Ich habe mich total überfressen”. ETA: small nitpick: the correct proverb is “In der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2023, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/34 "2023-01-25T01:01:19Z")
As to the “It’s all Greek to me” map in post #2 … I don’t speak German, but I took it in both HS & college. I’ve had little chance to use it in real life since (cough) years ago. So a major grain of salt is offered along with the story. … One of our textbooks introduced the idea of idioms varying by language by saying the corresponding German saying to “It’s all Greek to me” was “Das sind mir Borhmeisher dorfer.” 45 years later I’m not recalling the exact spelling of “Borhmeisher”, but any real German speaker can enlighten us. In direct word for word translation: “Those are to me Bohemian villages”. Meaning something inscrutable and baffling. Damned Bohemians & their baffling villages. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2023, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/35 "2023-01-25T01:09:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > One of our textbooks introduced the idea of idioms varying by language by saying the corresponding German saying to “It’s all Greek to me” was “Das sind mir Borhmeisher dorfer.” 45 years later I’m not recalling the exact spelling of “Borhmeisher”, but any real German speaker can enlighten us. “Das sind böhmische Dörfer für mich”. Right, that’s the equivalent to “It’s all Greek to me”. I don’t know where it comes from, but I suspect it comes from the historical fact that Bohemia sometimes belonged to what was later called “Germany” and sometimes not, during the Holy Roman Empire, so it was an Eastern outpost and not very well known in the German main lands. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/36 "2023-01-25T01:10:27Z")
I’ve heard that, in at least one Chinese language, the equivalent of “bullshit” is “dogfarts”. I like it: When someone blames the odorous emissions on the dog, that’s, well… ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/37 "2023-01-26T22:45:46Z")
Once, while I was having a bit of fun wandering around Wikipedia, I came across the entry for a Chinese warlord from centuries ago named Cao Cao. The entry indicated that the Chinese equivalent of “speak of the devil” is “speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives.” ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/38 "2023-01-26T23:09:04Z")
Don’t beat around the bush = 开门见山 = Open the door, see the mountain Kill two birds with one stone = 一石二鸟 = One stone, two birds…yeah the same. You can also say kill two hawks with one arrow. BTW chinese idioms are usually 4 characters (which equals 4 syllables) like this. Guess it has a nice rhythm. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/39 "2023-01-28T23:44:53Z")
Oh, and apparently, what one says to Russian warship might be more literally translated as “go sit on a dick”. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/40 "2023-01-29T04:21:48Z")
My favourite foreign translation of “all hat and no cattle” would be “all ringing bells and no popsicles”, _pura tilin tilin pa’ na’ de paletas_, a South American Spanish slang expression evoking an ice cream truck attracting customers by making noise, but with nothing to sell them. Interestingly “selling coals to Newcastle” and “taking owls to Athens” (_noctuas Athenas ferre_) have many equivalents, including some interesting English ones (expressing futility): - buttering bacon - gilding gold - _porter de l’eau a la rivière_ (taking water to the river, in French) - pushing an open door - putting lipstick on a pig - pepper to Hindustan (Arabic) - enchantments to Egypt (Hebrew) - giving apples to Alcinous (Latin, _alcinoo poma dare_, to a Phoenician king with a big garden) - adding stars to the sky (_sidero caelo addere_) - taking timber to the forest (Latin) - _Yekhat v Tulu so svoim samovarom_ (Russian, taking your samovar to Tulu) - taking saffron to Cicilia (Latin) - pouring water in the sea (Latin) - selling snow to Eskimos ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/41 "2023-01-29T06:12:02Z")
And, in case you are rusty on samovars… > **[What Is a Russian Samovar? Cultural Significance](https://www.thoughtco.com/russian-samovar-4771018)** > > Learn about the origins and history of the Russian samovar and its usage in the past and in modern Russia. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670/42 "2023-01-29T15:50:06Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > be “all ringing bells and no popsicles” I LOVE this! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-expressions-in-different-languages/978670.md?page=3)