What's a fun idiom that you've learned recently?

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Re: What's a fun idiom that you've learned recently?

Postby Dragon27 » Wed May 03, 2023 11:26 am

marcher au radar/être au radar - go/run on autopilot

quand je te vois débarquer dans la cuisine… marcher au radar vers ton bol de chocolat…

Daniel Pennac, Kamo et moi
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Re: What's a fun idiom that you've learned recently?

Postby vonPeterhof » Wed May 03, 2023 11:56 am

Kazakh: оның асығы түгел (onyñ asyǧy tügel) - he/she is well-off (lit. his/her asyk is intact).
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Re: What's a fun idiom that you've learned recently?

Postby tommus » Thu May 04, 2023 11:42 am

het nodige stof opwaaien (caused quite a stir)
In Dutch, it literally means "to stir up the necessary dust".
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Re: What's a fun idiom that you've learned recently?

Postby Ogrim » Thu May 04, 2023 4:45 pm

In French I like to use the expression En faire tout un fromage... (to make a whole cheese out of something), which has the meaning of making a big deal or a big fuss out of something that is not important. It certainly shows how important cheese is to the French! (And personally I love cheese, so I fully share the sentiment.)
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Re: What's a fun idiom that you've learned recently?

Postby Le Baron » Thu May 04, 2023 5:34 pm

tommus wrote:het loodje leggen = die

If I understand this Dutch expression correctly, it literally says "lay down the (little) lead". Lead as in the metal. I'd never seen it before today so it may not be used very much. It may have a relationship to monetary transactions. Here is a detailed explanation in Dutch of that idiom.


It's confusing because several similar phrases exist with different meanings. Onder het loodje leggen is used to mean to put something under a paperweight, and specifically things like written complaints or inquiry letters so they are set aside and not followed up. So the phrase suggests being given the brush-off. So if e.g. the electricity supplier failed to telephone someone as promised after making a complaint, you'd say: ze hebben hem onder het loodje gelegd.

The original expression you gave seems to be the one related to payment. Het loodje (moeten) leggen. I don't buy the thing about lead being used as 'payment' because it's not historically true to the history of currencies. No-one ever used lead to pay for anything as a standard currency. Rather it is simply bargoens slang for money; just like in England (a long time ago) people said 'tin' or later 'brass'. Also the phrase is pretty much identical to 'what's the damage?' And as such the phrase also carries notions of things that are broken, also having drawn the short straw, which may well have been extended and developed into people having died?
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Re: What's a fun idiom that you've learned recently?

Postby diaconia » Thu May 04, 2023 7:06 pm

This is an expression an older German woman said to me today just as I finished styling her hair. I said she looked chic.
She said, "Chic bis zum Knick und wieder zurück!" I thought that was cute, especially coming from someone over 80.

EDIT: I asked someone about the expression today and I have a correction! I heard it wrong: It's not "Knöch'/Knöchel" but "Knick" slang for the neck.
Translation: Stylish to the neck and back (again)
Last edited by diaconia on Fri May 05, 2023 12:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: What's a fun idiom that you've learned recently?

Postby tommus » Fri May 05, 2023 2:03 am

Le Baron wrote: I don't buy the thing about lead being used as 'payment' because it's not historically true to the history of currencies. No-one ever used lead to pay for anything as a standard currency.

The detailed explanation didn't say lead was used as 'payment', it said 'proof of payment'. (als bewijs van betaling). It was used as a sort of receipt.
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Re: What's a fun idiom that you've learned recently?

Postby Lisa » Fri May 05, 2023 2:44 am

The most recent new one is "sie hat Haare auf den Zähnen", (she has hair on her teeth), which (I gather) means something like she is assertive/has self-confidence.

My favorite though is "Mit ihm ist nicht gut Kirschen essen" (it's best not to eat cherries with him), meaning don't mess with him. I can just imagine people that you have to be careful sharing with. I can have some hair on my teeth when it comes to fresh sweet cherries.
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Re: What's a fun idiom that you've learned recently?

Postby Doitsujin » Fri May 05, 2023 4:34 am

Lisa wrote:The most recent new one is "sie hat Haare auf den Zähnen", (she has hair on her teeth), which (I gather) means something like she is assertive/has self-confidence.
FYI: This idiom has a slightly negative connotation. For more information, see this German website.
BTW, there are two butter-related idioms for self-confident people: sich nicht die Butter vom Brot nehmen lassen/sich nicht unterbuttern lassen.
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Re: What's a fun idiom that you've learned recently?

Postby Gaoling97 » Fri May 05, 2023 5:13 am

Freitags ab eins macht jeder seins. Ist der Chef nicht zu sehn, gehts auch schon ab zehn.

On Fridays at 1, everybody does their own thing. If the boss isn't there, you can do that at 10 also.

Sorry, I'm not a good translator. It does rhyme in German though lol. I'm also not sure how common the second half is.
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