Interesting foreign phrases.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by mindseye
Recently I came across "it's all swings and byways" which seemed to mean "six of one, half a dozen of the other."

Is this a Britism, Cockney, or Oz-speak? Anyone know what the "swings" refer to?

I believe in British English the phrase is more often:

'swings and roundabouts'- the kind of entertainment found in municipal parks and gardens for tiny tots or lager louts.

"give someone the Spanish archer"

I confess, duke o' york, I have never heard that phrase.

If I'm not mistaken, the "french disease" (syphilis) is called the "English disease" in france too.

alva


I think our lovely neighbours refer to it as the Italian or Spanish disease- 'twas French armies campaigning in northern Italy that allegedly introduced the new more virulent variety to France.

The French do have 'le vice anglais' though- as well as 'le style anglais', so there must be some love in there somewhere...


Here are some Biblical idoms from the King James Authorized Version :

'the apple of his eye'

'the salt of the earth'

'cast pearls before swine'

'new wine into old bottles'

'to kick against the pr!cks'

'rule with a rod of iron'

'to suffer fools gladly'

'the strait and narrow'

'the skin of my teeth'

'(a wolf) in sheep's clothing'

'the root of the matter'

'a lamb brought to the slaughter'

'if the blind lead the blind'

'out of the mouths of babes'

[duke o' york]

Spanish archer is "el bow". A ridiculously weak pun, I grant, but one I've heard used.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by duke o' york
Spanish archer is "el bow". A ridiculously weak pun, I grant, but one I've heard used.

Amply illustrating the saying punning is the lowest form of wit. Although I'd rather say 'punning can be', because with the right authors or painters, verbal or visual puns can be amusing or revealing.

Some Shakespearean idioms:

' [it] beggars all description'

'at one fell swoop'

'more in sorrow than in anger'

'to the manner born'

'to make a virtue of necessity'

'a tower of strength'

'it's [all] Greek to me'

'[to] play fast and loose'

'hoist with [their] own petard'

'brevity is the soul of wit'

[Zoid]

Some swedish proverbs/idioms:

"Sweep first before your own door, before you sweep the doorsteps of your neighbors." (meaning mind your own #¤%& business)

"Good day, axe-handles." (Usually said when someone says something that is totally off topic. The proverb originates from a story about a deaf man who used to sit outside his house, making axe-handles. Not hearing what people said he had learnt by heart the answers to what people usually asked him/said to him. Most people passing by would simply greet him and then ask him what he was making. But one day a stranger came along and asked him for the way to town, and so the answers turned into nonsense.)

"Walk like the cat around hot porridge." (equivalent to "Beating around the bush.")

"You don't miss the cow until the stall is empty"

"'Sour' said the fox about rowanberries" (From a story about a fox that wants to eat some rowanberries that he can't reach because they're high up in a tree. A crow lands in the tree and starts eating the berries. When the crow asks the fox if he wants some, the fox replies "No, they're sour". The proverb can be used to state that you think someone really wants something the person claims they do not.)

"Don't sell the fur until the bear has been shot." (eq. to "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.")

"Reflect on beforehand." (Meaning "think through the consequences before you act". The proverb is also somewhat of a word game, since the Swedish expression for "reflect" litterally is made up of the words "think after" and "on beforehand" litterally is "before", rendering the sentence "think after before".)

And the swedish word "lagom" (meaning "just enough") is often referred to as a truly swedish word that has no correspondence in other languages. But according to Wikipedia this is false, it claims japanese also has such a word.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Dr Zoidberg


"You don't miss the cow until the stall is empty"

Also in English in this song:

Never miss your water, water
Till your well run dry
Never miss your water, water
Till your well run dry
You know you never miss your little woman
Until she says goodbye..

Lightnin' Hopkins

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by Dr Zoidberg

"Good day, axe-handles." (Usually said when someone says something that is totally off topic. The proverb originates from a story about a deaf man who used to sit outside his house, making axe-handles. Not hearing what people said he had learnt by heart the answers to what people usually asked him/said to him. Most people passing by would simply greet him and then ask him what he was making. But one day a stranger came along and asked him for the way to town, and so the answers turned into nonsense.)

Love this one, think I'm going to start using it.

[Dauphin]

The French expresson for 'window shopper' translates directly as meaning windowlicker.

(?)

[duke o' york]

Meaning something entirely different in English.

French has "truc" as a sort of generic term for an item, but English has loads:
Whatsit/whatsisname
Thingummy/thingumajig
Doobridge, to name a few.

[Zoid]

Originally posted by Lul Thyme


Love this one, think I'm going to start using it.

Be my guest.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Dauphin
The French expresson for 'window shopper' translates directly as meaning windowlicker.

Yup yup. It's actually "window shooping" that becomes "lèche-vitrnies", ubt it's precisely the same spirit

[Dauphin]

FYI, in English, windowlicker is a rather derogatory term for the mentally handicapped.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by duke o' york
Meaning something entirely different in English.

French has "truc" as a sort of generic term for an item, but English has loads:
Whatsit/whatsisname
Thingummy/thingumajig
Doobridge, to name a few.

Watch-ya-mar-call-it.

Hyphens added to help pronunciation.

[Footie Mad]

Eget beröm luktar illa = Self praise smells badly.

This one is a bit funny, and can be witty since it's so quick and can really stop someone in his tracks when bragging.

Genvägar är senvägar = Shortcuts are slowcuts

(I know there's no such thing as a slowcut). Basically saying that hard work is the only way to go and if you try to cheat you'll only end up getting slowed down.

Man skall inte spilla krut på döda kråkor = You shouldn't waste your gunpowder on dead crows.

Måste böjas i tid det, som krokigt ska bli. = Bent in time, that which crooked shall become must be.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Footie Mad
Eget beröm luktar illa = Self praise smells badly.

This one is a bit funny, and can be witty since it's so quick and can really stop someone in his tracks when bragging.

Blowing your own trumpet.

[Footie Mad]

For some reason that instantly speaks to me as a sexual remark.
"Then you can blow your own trumpet tonight!!"