There’s another Chinese one, “niu bi,” which is some pretty vulgar slang meaning that something is really awesome. It means “cow cunt.” I can’t figure that one out. How does cow cunt=awesome?
Maybe they know something I don’t know…
These sort of do translate okay but are fun anway. In Thai, chuck wow literally means “to fly a kite” but is also slang for male masturbation, due mainly to the tugging action on the string. They even have a little song for it, about how the kite rises and such.
Kep dawkmai literally means “to pick flowers” and is slang for female urination, meaning that is what a girl does when she squats down.
Ying kradai is “to shoot a rabbit” and is slang for male urination.
Some Spanish ones, particular to Spain, as far as I know:
**
Como una cabra**. “Like a goat.” To be crazy. “Don’t pay any attention to her, she’s like a goat!”
De pata negra. “Black foot.” Something really, really good; the best. The breed of pigs that the best Spanish ham comes from are called “pata negra.” What’s funny is that guys trying to pick up girls frequently refer to themselves as “de pata negra.” So you’re comparing yourself to ham? That’s…persuasive.
Como Manolo con la guitarra. “Like Manolo with the guitar.” Always with someone/something. “She’s so obsessed with her new boyfriend. She’s like Manolo with the guitar.” Who’s Manolo? I have no idea.
One I read about, but have never actually heard anybody say:
No me frias huevos a mi. “Don’t fry eggs at me.” Don’t make tsking sounds at me.
The same person who le pone el cascabel al gato, hangs a bell on the cat. I understand this one comes from an ancient fable, where the mice, tired of being hunted down by the cat, had a general meeting and, after much toing and froing, decided to hang a bell on the cat so they’d hear her coming. But then someone asked, “ok, so who will do it? Who will hang a bell on the cat?”
The cat still doesn’t have a bell, and the idiom refers to facing a scary person (for example, telling the boss that “uh… we’d all like to take off early on Christmas Eve if that’s ok, I mean, we don’t wanna be a bother but it would be nice…”).
Related to one of Pyper’s, Spanish is full of expressions relating sex or attraction to food. In Pe’s first movie, Bardem “eats her tits” (not literally!) saying “this one tastes like potato omelette… and this one, like ham”. A good-looking guy está como un pan de kilo (is like a big baguette, and no, it’s not a reference to his third leg), if you love someone a lot te lo comerías a besos (you’d eat them with kisses). Oral fixation anybody?
We have the same fable and the same expression in English: “who shall bell the cat?”
That surely must be a misunderstanding between you and her (or she pulled your leg, or she set you up - see below).
Ich bin fremd hier = I am a stranger here (more commonly: Ich bin nicht von hier)
Ich gehe hier fremd = I am committing infidelity here (from verbal phrase fremd gehen = to cheat on one’s SO)
The literal meaning is “You dear little bit” but the ‘you’ is not another person - it’s an expression of astonishment or mild dismay, like ‘Oh dear.’
Courtesy of Google’s counter-part in China, this idiom comes from Mongolians who rely on inflating ox skin into some sort of inflatable boat to cross rivers. Hence ‘blowing the cow’. Somehow it comes to refer to boasting.
Hmmm, I don’t know how either. Blowing hot air, maybe? :dubious:
The last song of Mary Poppins must have a very different meaning there.
The French, “I’m falling in the apples!” meaning, “I’m fainting!”
Israeli idioms:
On my cock - I don’t give a shit.
Cock in the eye - like hell.
My cock is broken - I’ve had enough.
Non-cock related Israeli idioms:
Grabbed ass - thought too much of himself.
Show him where the fish pisses from - show him what’s what.
Go look for your friends… because pal, you ain’t got any here.
In addition to “tomber dans les pommes”, there’s “haut comme trois pommes”, “tall as three apples”, which means short. (Not that I hear it used often; The Smurfs is the only place where I actually saw this expression used.)
Crisse-moi patience – leave me the fuck alone. Literally, “Christ me patience” (yes, “Christ” is a verb in this sentence; Quebecois is fun that way. Sacre has been described in extenso elsewhere, so I will just add one of the many verbs meaning “not to give a shit”: s’en contre-saint-ciboiriser, literally “to anti-holy-ciborium-ize yourself of it.” The ciborium is the dish used to store the Host. “Contre” is an intensifier here. Such an elaborate expression is probably used more as a comical expression of extreme frustration than a serious imprecation.)
J’en ai ma claque – I’ve had it up to here. Literally, “I have my stroke/blow/punch with it.” There’s also J’en ai mon voyage, “I have my voyage with it.”
péter une coche – to lose your temper. Literally, “to burst (actually, to fart) a check-mark.” Don’t ask me why.
I think “coche” should be interpreted more as a holding point or peg in this context. As in the sense that it’s the only thing holding back your anger, so when it breaks, it starts spilling around. I’m not sure if I’m expressing myself correctly.
Hm, that does make more sense.
The English equivalent might be “to blow a fuse”, which when you think about it, doesn’t make much sense. Isn’t blowing a fuse supposed to prevent explosions?
ETA: I’ve also heard the equivalent “sauter une coche”.
Well, the fuse blows when the circuit is overloaded, and it generally causes a startling reaction (all the lights go out).
Yes, of course. It’s just that I find it funny to take the expression completely literally.