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

[siberiano]

There's an old proverb in Russian "что русскому хорошо, то немцу смерть" (what's good for a Russian is death to a German).

There's a modern version of it: "что немцу хейт то русским кликбейт" (what's for German is hate, for a Russian is clickbait).

"Поднял хайп — не говори, что не вайб." (After making hype don't say you're out of vibe.) The old version is "взялся за гуж не говори что не дюж" (After taking a load, don't say you're too weak.)

[Khayyam]

jemandem die Schuld in die Schuhe schieben > put the blame in someone's shoe > accuse/frame someone of wrongdoing

Diese Redensart stammt aus den Zeiten der fahrenden Gesellen, die gemeinsam in Schlafsälen zu schlafen pflegten. Hatte nun einer etwas gestohlen und fürchtete die Entdeckung, konnte er seine Beute - beispielsweise Geldstücke - in die Schuhe eines Kameraden schieben, um diesen verdächtig zu machen

https://www.redensarten-index.de/suche. ... rianten_ou

Much appreciated! I always assumed this meant something along the lines of making someone wear a shoe whether it fits or not (as in, if the shoe fits, wear it).

[tommus]

Dutch idiom: Het kost ons klauwen met geld
Literally: It costs us claws of money --> It costs us a lot of money

[Iversen]

In Danish you have to buy a farm "Det koster en bondegård". But you can also use the slightly weird "det koster det hvide ude af øjnene" (it costs the white out of the eyes - probably referring to the aspect of the eyes in people who are about to faint). I once discussed the syntax of this last construction with a professor at my institute, and my stance back then was that "det hvide ud af øjnene" fills the role of a quantitative adverbial but also that quantitative adverbials have a tendency to look like objects. Well, maybe they are objects ... and then "at koste" (to cost) is transitive with the possibility of some kind of direct object (the price) and a non obligatory indirect object (the one who has to pay).

[DaveAgain]

mener quelqu'un en bateau > take someone in a boat > trick, deceive someone

Cette expression est le fruit d'un mélange entre le mot bateleur qui désigne un prestidigitateur et un batelier qui dirige un bateau, associé au verbe mener. Il s'agit donc d'emmener quelqu'un dans sa tromperie, et de ce fait, de le tromper.

https://www.linternaute.fr/expression/l ... en-bateau/

https://www.expressio.fr/expressions/me ... -quelqu-un

https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/f ... 326#168580

[Dragon27]

sich die Beine in den Bauch stehen - to wait for a long time. Literally "to stand oneself the legs into the stomach". I find it quite funny as a metaphor - you're standing for a long time and your legs are slowly working into your stomach.

«He, wo bleibst du denn?», fauchte er. «Ich steh mir hier die Beine in den Bauch!»

[tommus]

Ik heb een boer gelaten --> Literally: I have left a farmer
I burped. I let our a burp.
I guess, to be fair, the Dutch word "boer" means both a farmer and a burp. That suggests interesting etymology.

Here is some etymology in English:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/boer

[Le Baron]

Ik heb een boer gelaten --> Literally: I have left a farmer
I burped. I let our a burp.
I guess, to be fair, the Dutch word "boer" means both a farmer and a burp. That suggests interesting etymology.

Here is some etymology in English:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/boer

At the bottom of that etymology page where it has 'melkboer', groenteboer' etc I laughed because this sort of thing is jocularly extended to things which obviously are not the products of farmers or mongers. Like 'frietboer' and 'sigarettenboer'.

[lingohot]

Ik heb een boer gelaten --> Literally: I have left a farmer
I burped. I let our a burp.
I guess, to be fair, the Dutch word "boer" means both a farmer and a burp. That suggests interesting etymology.

Interesting, the idiom exists in German as well, but I've only heard it using a diminutive form of boer (Bäuerchen = 'boertje'). Usually it is said when a baby burps (Das Baby hat ein Bäuerchen gemacht).

[Khayyam]

And speaking of things that come out of German orifices, I just learned that "die schnelle Catharina"--the speedy Catherine--means diarrhea. I nominate this for all-time best idiom in any language.