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What weird idioms/phrases does your language have? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/asklemmy

172 comments fedilink hide all child comments

In Finnish we have "kissanristiäiset" (literally means a cat's christening), which means some trivial and meaningless celebration/event.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I almost got punched in a bar once for saying that a non-native English speaker was grinning like an idiot. Didn't occur to me he wouldn't understand the subtext on that one.

(For y'all ESL folks, it's meant to be an endearing phrase indicating a joy so strong that you can't stop yourself from smiling.)

[–] meekah 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wait, just so I get this right, "there's more than one way to skin a car" is also used to express joy? What?

[–] RedAggroBest 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No they're talking about the idiom "grinning like an idiot" almost getting them punched despite being harmless to anyone with cultural context

[–] meekah 1 points 1 year ago

Oh man i don't know how I didn't get that. Thanks.