![]() ![]() For example, in Finnish, "with long teeth" means you’re doing something you don’t want to do. The terminology that one country uses can have a vastly different meaning in another country. It’s very important to have a firm understanding of each culture’s idioms. Also in Spanish, “ a lot of noise and no walnuts” means someone’s all talk and no action.In Spanish, “ a cat in gloves catches no mice” means nice guys always finish last.Also in Portuguese, “ take your little horse away from the rain” means something’s never going to happen.In Portuguese, “ he who doesn’t have a dog, hunts with cats” means you make the most of what you’ve been given. ![]() Also in Polish, to “ get stuffed with hay” means someone’s asking you to go away.In Polish, “ mustard after lunch” means it’s too late to do something.Also in Japanese, “t o have dumplings instead of flowers” means you’ve chosen something useful over something decorative.In Japanese, “ my cheeks are falling off” means the food is really delicious.Also in Italian, “ to treat someone with a fish in their face” means to disrespect someone.In Italian, “ not all doughnuts come with a hole” means you don’t always get what you want.Also in German, “ an elephant made out of a fly” means to make a big deal out of nothing.In German, “ to tie a bear to someone” means you’ve tricked them.Also in French, “ I have other cats to whip” means I have other things to do.In French, “ when chickens have teeth” means something’s never going to happen.In Armenian, “ stop ironing my board” means stop bothering me.Let’s take a look at some of our global neighbors’ idioms: That is, people are going to play on words and come up with quippy, new expressions anywhere. Where there’s language, there’s figurative language. To express agreement with something that was just saidĮnglish speakers aren’t unique in their use of idioms. I’m sorry but I just can’t seem to wrap my head around it. To receive benefits or advantages from two situations (and no disadvantages) That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The last in a series of bad or annoying things which makes someone run out of patience To make a fuss over an unimportant matter To comment on the fact that someone you were talking about just appeared To fail to take advantage of an opportunity to overlook or be too late to pursue an option or course of action Relieved of a duty, burden, responsibility, or pressure To act or begin too soon or without due caution To do a less-than-thorough or incomplete job to do something poorly or take shortcuts. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. To not worry about a problem until it happens Getting fired turned out to be a blessing in disguise.Ī habitually combative attitude, usually because of a grievance, sense of inferiority, or having something to prove To accept a negative aspect of a situation in order to proceedĪfter some reflection, he decided to bite the bullet.Īseeming misfortune that turns out to be for the best To delay or avoid talking about something difficult or unpleasant To start over in planning a project or idea. The next time someone says " It's raining cats and dogs!" you’ll know it has nothing to do with animals, but rather that it's raining quite hard. The examples below demonstrate how you can’t easily understand the meaning of idioms without knowing what they mean within the culture. ![]()
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