this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024
152 points (98.1% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26977 readers
1276 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

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."

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] bus_factor@lemmy.world 17 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

In Norwegian we say "helt sylta" ("completely pickled") when we have a very stuffy nose. I tried using that idiom when calling out of work in the US once, and was informed that I had just told them I was too drunk to go to work!

[–] Holyhandgrenade@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago (3 children)

I love the Norwegian "helt Texas" or "completely Texas", which means something's totally crazy. Probably a reference to Westerns.

[–] Susaga@ttrpg.network 6 points 8 months ago

I feel like it's accurate to say Texas is completely Texas.

[–] bus_factor@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

A classic! I don't know how I forgot to mention that one, I even coincidentally explained it to someone earlier today!

[–] BaardFigur@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

We also have:

"Ta ein spansk ein"
"Take a spanish one"

Doing a half-assed solution

[–] Aremel@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Cubans have the antonym to that:

Aserlo como los blancos "Do it like white people"

Do it properly 😜

[–] Lmaydev@programming.dev 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yeah it's common in English that saying "I'm Xed" means drunk.

Fucked, twated, trollied, muntered, cunted, steamed etc.

[–] bus_factor@lemmy.world 13 points 8 months ago (2 children)

According to John Oliver you can use any noun, like for example "gazeboed".

[–] Skyhighatrist@lemmy.ca 8 points 8 months ago (2 children)

That's generally true, but there are some exceptions. For instance. "I'm pissed" can either mean "I'm drunk" or "I'm angry" depending on where you are and the context.

[–] ABCDE@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

UK would always be drunk, in my experience.

[–] Skyhighatrist@lemmy.ca 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, that's one of the geographical differences I was alluding to. In Canada it can mean either depending on context.

[–] ABCDE@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

That's interesting to know. I guess there has been some cultural spillover in the UK so some may use it the American style, I just haven't heard it.

[–] bus_factor@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Yeah, some nouns are already taken, that's fair. Like "shafted".

[–] Lmaydev@programming.dev 7 points 8 months ago

100% people in the UK would know what you meant straight away.