Share some favorite idioms

In My Humble Opinion
1

I was listening to an interview with an author named Jag Bhalla on NPR today who has written a book entitled I’m Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears and Other Intriguing Idioms From Around the World. Interesting interview; I may pick up a copy at some point as I love idioms, especially the “obscure but dead on” kind, or the origins of idioms in our own language.

From the interview, a couple of international idioms (in English translation):

Arabic: “The camel can’t see his own hump”. (About hypocrisy and namecalling, roughly equal to “the pot calling the kettle black” or the biblical splinter/plank in the eye.)

The title: “I’m not hanging noodles on your ears”- Russian, and meaning “I’m serious” or “I’m not pulling your leg”.

He also gave the origin of “let the cat out of the bag”: when live piglets were sold at market “back in the olden days” they were usually given to the customer in a bag, and dishonest merchants would sometimes (or at least once, or at least in legend once did) switch the pig with a cat. (How a live cat would let you do this without having fits is what puts this one into the realm of the dubious). He didn’t mention that the practice of selling live piglets in bags is also the origins of ‘buying a “pig in a poke”’ (i.e. site unseen- trusting somebody you shouldn’t).

Of course in America there are regional idioms. The south has “that dog don’t hunt” and “I ain’t got no dog in this fight” (on hiatus since the Michael Vick affair) and lots of other ‘folksy’ ones.
I once heard an old New Hampshirite with a stock repertory company (or Farmer Smurf) New England “ayup” accent say “Nice to know but it won’t help ya cross the river”, though I’m told this one’s not that common.

What are some of your favorite idioms? (If foreign, please translate and if necessary explain.)

2

Uugghhhhh… I was raised in Texas and my middle aged sister still says “Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!” when perturbed. Do I have to list them all?
How about–

“Raised on red beans and rice” (when humble or, ironically, when filled with hubris about one’s allegedly humble existence.)

“In tall cotton” (when experiencing success.)

“Can’t dance, too wet to plow…” (said to accept an offer to drink or as you pull out a bottle. I’ve also heard it said as someone got up to help someone, but I think that they were saying it tounge in cheek.)

“That dog won’t hunt.” (“The person in question is uniquely unqualified for the task at hand.”)

“As happy as a cat covered in shit.” (BTW, “shit” has one syllable here. It only has three syllables when used as a complete sentence.)

“Blue Norther” (a good strong cold front.)

“He beat him like a rented mule.” (far less offensive than the “red-headed stepchild” variant.)

“It’s so dry, the trees are bribing the dogs.”

“He thinks he’s ten foot tall and bulletproof” (when drunk.)

“All hat and no cattle.” (All style/talk and no substance.)

“As crazy as a peach orchard boar.”
FYI, Googling around for others, I found:

. “Well, he’s peeing on my leg, but it’s warm and it feels good.”

I have no specific frame of reference for the phrase, but it pretty much fits here.

3

The opposite- one that can be used by anyone who’s trying to put on airs or is way out of their depth but that I’ve usually heard applied to social climbers, is “he’s trying to shit higher than his asshole”.

4

Okay, I’m intrigued. How can “shit” have three syllables? Thinking it’s my own accent blocking the obvious, I’ve tried altering my speech into every southern and western accent I can muster, and just can’t make it work. I can force it into two (e.g. “well, sheee-it”) if I lay on the southern pretty think… but three?

5

We’re in Fat City (life - or immediate situation - is good).

6

Shuh-yee-it.

I like “he’s got enough money to burn a wet mule” although it’s not really an idiom I reckon…

“got buzzard’s luck” - in other words, “can’t kill nuthin’, and nuthin’ won’t die”.

“snake-bit” is kind of like jinxed.

“crazy as a…” road lizard, betsy-bug, run over dog.

“don’t let your alligator mouth overload your hummingbird ass”.

7

You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. (Pandora’s Box type situation: once the idea/words/actions are done, there’s no going back.)

8

Ahh, thanks NinetyWt. I can hear it now.

9

These things keep popping in my head, now. Thanks a LOT Sampiro !

“hornier than a two-peckered billygoat”.

10

"Scared’er than a one-eyed rabbit in a cactus patch."

Yeh, I’m not sure how authentic that is, but my friend said that to me once when we were kids, and it cracked me up.

11

“Echando putas como cabaret en bancarrota”

translation:

“Throwing out whores like a bankrupt cabaret”

explanation:

Going very very fast (as in a car or running).

Going fast is called “echando putas” for obscure reasons.

12

I dont know how accurate his ideas are for the rest of the idioms but he’s got it totally wrong about the origin of the saying “Letting the Cat out of the Bag”(Though the story sounds like it might be about buying a "Pig in a Poke)
In the old Royal Navy the punishment for serious crimes was to be flogged with a “Cat o’ Nine Tails”,this was a nine stranded,quite short,whip always especially made for the occassion and kept in a bag until used and then thrown away afterwards.

Letting the Cat out of the Bag was opening your mouth about something you shouldn’t in front of someone in authorityand thus bringing a punishment on to somebody.

The flogging would usually be administered by a Bosuns mate,who always laid in with a will because if he was suspected of trying to go easy on the person being flogged he would take his place.

After the punishment the wounds were washed with sea(salt)water as a method of sterelisation which arose to the saying of2 rubbing salt into the wound",though the meaning has been three sixtied.

13

She’s so frugal she can “pinch a penny 'til it screams”.

The budget was “tighter than dick’s hatband”.

If you’re doing some activity with “no future in it” you might as well be “pounding sand down a rat hole”.

14

Too many Scottish ones to name, here’s a couple:

(S)he had a hard paper round - Used to describe an extremely haggard and world-weary looking person.

Tannin’ the bevvy - Drinking heavily

A kent yir faither - Bit like tall poppy syndrome, it means ‘I knew your Dad’ - I know where you’re from and what you’re about, so don’t get to cocky.

You’ll have had your tea then? Piss-taking phrase describing the mean-ness of Edinburgh and / or Aberdeen folk.

Casser du sucre sur le dos de quelqu’un

trans To break sugar on someone’s back

French expression meaning to gossip about someone behind their back (I think!)

15

Thanks, NinetyWt. I’ve heard it said as Psshhh-eeee-yut!
I think (could be wrong) that there’s a Mexican phrase “a todos emes”, which translates as “at all mothers” (emes = m’s = mothers) and basically means “at full speed” or the US phrase “like a motherfucker”

16

A cat can have kittens in an oven, but that don’t make 'em biscuits.
Appearances can be deceiving, or putting on airs doesn’t change origins.

Tighter than bark to a tree.
Frugal

Get your butt off your shoulders.
Stop being petulant

I’m sure I’ll think of more but I’m Southern, and idiom is the rule rather than the exception … hard to separate it out.

P.S. You could probably have an entire thread on colorful ways to say “stupid,” i.e., A few bricks shy of a load.

17

Well, I’ll be a monkey’s bare-assed uncle!

18

I have become notorious for bursting out laughing when people use very ordinary expressions just because I have never heard them before. On the other hand, I have gotten credit for being quite clever (or sometimes odd, it all depends) because of my lazy habit of saying things in dutch but with english expressions – I said “nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs” in dutch last week and the folks I was talking to thought it was terrific.

Anyway, here are a couple that spring to mind, though I cannot say they are favorite, just recent (and apologies if needed for the translations, I do my best):

Even if it is raining pigs, you won’t get a brush from it (You can’t profit from doing nothing, even if times are good)

The best helmsmen are on the shore (back seat drivers and monday morning quarterbacks)

To know where Abraham buys his mustard (to know what you are talking about)

Like an angel pissing on your tongue (delicious)

slow as a snail on a barrel of tar

butter with the fish (payment at time of purchase usually but can be used for any action without delay)

A donkey does not trip on the same stone twice (suggests that a person does)

To make a long nose (to not be bothered by what others think)

To have something on your liver (to feel guilty about a secret)

get your chest wet (prepare yourself)

Crazy/nutty as a door (no really, that’s what they say. I still don’t know what is crazy about a door)

Ant-fucker, to fuck ants (to be occupied with details, miss the big picture)

To stand there with a mouth full of teeth (to be very surprised, struck dumb)

19

“Perdido como turco en la neblina”

Translation “Lost as a turk in the fog”

“Seco como pastel de polaco”

Translation “Dry as a polack’s pie”

I dont know why turks easily lost direction in the fog or polacks like their pies dry, but according to popuplar wisdom, they do :).

20

Yer preachin’ to the choir. (convincing the already convinced) :slight_smile:

No bigger than a minute (quite small)

Common as hen’s teeth. (quite rare)

Mad as a wet hen/jay bird.

Good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise.

These are from songs:
Hotter than a two dollar pistol.
Deeper than a holler.