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Multilingual folks: what are some odd idioms in your language(s)? (self.asklemmy)

submitted 7 months ago by alquicksilver to c/asklemmy

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What are some (non-English) idioms, and what do they mean (both literally and in context)? Odd ones, your favorite ones - any and all are welcome. :)

For example, in English I might call someone a "good egg," meaning they're a nice person. Or, if it's raining heavily, I might say "it's raining cats and dogs."

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

My Egyptian ass be like: My time has come. Let's see...

Turn the pot on its mouth, the girl turns out like her mother (no idea why it's like this, literally no purpose other than that it rhymes). Used when a girl is like her mother, basically what it says on the cover. The guy version is "This cub from that lion", which can't be used for girls because lioness is an insult for some reason (kinda like bitch but stronger).

The winds come with what ships don't want: Not everything happens as we want it to.

Going around and spinning: To try to trick someone or dodge a subject by making the conversation go in circles and not touch an important point. Speaking of spinning,

To spin around oneself: To be in trouble and really busy/not know what to do.

To pretend to be from Banha (a place in Egypt): To pretend you have nothing to do with what's going on.

A black (sometimes blue or white) day or night: An unpleasant time/experience. Used as both a statement and a threat (like "your day will be black today" after your parents catch you doing something you're not supposed to).

Have them for lunch before they have you for dinner: Attack before you're attacked.

The monkey would've benefited himself: When you ask someone for something they would've done for themselves if they could.

Kahka with sugar: Zero (on exams). Kahk is an Egyptian biscuit-like sweet eaten on Eid, and it's circular like a zero.

A pot with a hole is emptied on the one that lifts it: If you do something dumb you suffer the consequences.

Edit:

To get spanked: To fail.

To slam (your ass): To make up something (probably incorrect) in the moment. Comes from the idea of slamming your ass onto an exam paper and leaving whatever comes up as the answer.