Funny Foreign Phrases

RiderOnTheStorm

Read somewhere that Croatians say you are “throwing cream into their eyes" when someone is obviously lying to you.

Do you know any foreign phrases that just dont translate into meaningful English?

J. Smith

Du hast einen Vogel! = You have a bird!

Meaning: You're crazy!!

Vita nova

I like the old Arab curse; "may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits".

Duckworth_Luas

RiderOnTheStorm wrote: »

Read somewhere that Croatians say you are “throwing cream into their eyes" when someone is obviously lying to you.

Do you know any foreign phrases that just dont translate into meaningful English?

Are you “throwing cream into my eyes?

Oink

When sausages are talking, smoked meat stays up on the hook.
Meaning: feck off this is a private conversation.

biko

Ah, la vache! = Holy cow!

Shenshen

Se noyer dans une verre d'eau. It translates as drowning in a glass of water, and is a Fench expression for someone who will be defeated by the smallest obstacle in life. For a drama queen, too.

May the hair on your upper lip grow up and get entangled with the hair from your nostrils growing down.
Albeit from "The Golden Girls" and therefore not genuine Italian, but I liked that one anyway.

However a genuine one (and similar to the Croat phrase mentioned above) is the Russian saying "Don't hang chips from my ears" meaning don't tell me lies.

pickarooney

"Don't push granny in the nettles" (Fr.) - don't exaggerate

Marcusm

Enculer Des mouches - flyfücking as a euphemism for pedantry.

pickarooney

In Dutch they shag ants instead.

Shenshen

It's sausage to me - German expression for "I don't care"

Likewise in Greece, "there's trouble in the Gypsy village" also means I don't care.

Tzardine

Not a phrase as such, but in Spain, a swiss roll is called a gypsy's arm. Always gives me a chuckle.

Qrt

"Das Leben ist kein Ponyhof" from German, i.e. Life ain't easy. I'm sure the phrase "throw the baby out with the bathwater" stems from German originally too.

soups05

Ulster says No



pmsl

Canard

pickarooney wrote: »

"Don't push granny in the nettles" (Fr.) - don't exaggerate

I assume a French person explained that to you, same happened to me and they misuse the term exaggerate a bit. They don't say it if it's like, an overestimation or embellishing details, this phrase is actually used when someone is being mean / kicking someone when they're down, which makes it funnier and even more apt. :pac:

Another one I like in French is "Tu as des bruns dans les yeux ?", can't find any examples online but they use it in the north to mean "Are you blind?", literally meaning "Do you have **** in your eyes"

In Spanish a relatively normal way to say the middle of nowhere is "en el quinto pino" (in the fifth pine tree), but a variation is "en el quinto coño" in the fifth c*nt. Spanish speakers are very expressive in that way!!

Another very idiomatic one for something like "Gway / I don't believe you / don't take the piss" is "No me jodas", literally "don't fúck me".

Went to look up one I know of in Finnish and found an entire list of hilarious Finnish ones here. I might start using some of them in English...

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Ohrwurm/Earworm - Song that you can't get out of your head.

German, but I think used in other countries as well. Had never heard it before I moved abroad.

jcorr

Not really a phrase but in Malaysia (well among Malaysian Chinese mostly) they use the word "la" or "lah" at the end of every sentence. It kind of gives more emphasis to the sentence.

I worked with a guy when I was down there and he used la a couple of times in each sentence lol.

Poochie05

In Italy they touch iron instead of wood for luck.
Lived in Italy and my housemates and I had great fun swapping sayings.
Funniest was my Italian housemate going around telling people 'Io conosco le mie cipolle' (I know my onions) to many a WTF

indioblack

"Good moaning".

Shenshen

If the mountain won't come to the prophet, the prophet will have to go to the mountain.

German as well, no idea about it's origins, but it's a saying meaning if it's too hard or impossible to do something a certain way, another way of doing it may be easier and more successful.

biko

if the hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill

Francis Bacon 1625

pickarooney

jcorr wrote: »

Not really a phrase but in Malaysia (well among Malaysian Chinese mostly) they use the word "la" or "lah" at the end of every sentence. It kind of gives more emphasis to the sentence.

I worked with a guy when I was down there and he used la a couple of times in each sentence lol.

Malaysia, Singapore and Carlow. Not sure what the connection is.

Grayson

There's a polish one I like. "Not my monkeys, not my circus"
i.e. It's not my fecking problem.

Are Am Eye

Shenshen wrote: »

If the mountain won't come to the prophet, the prophet will have to go to the mountain.

German as well, no idea about it's origins, but it's a saying meaning if it's too hard or impossible to do something a certain way, another way of doing it may be easier and more successful.

Not German in origin - it actually comes from Francis Bacon's Essays (1625) where he recounts the story of Muhammad

"Mahomet cald the Hill to come to him. And when the Hill stood still, he was neuer a whit abashed, but said; If the Hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet wil go to the hil."

Grayson

Are Am Eye wrote: »

Not German in origin - it actually comes from Francis Bacon's Essays (1625) where he recounts the story of Muhammad

"Mahomet cald the Hill to come to him. And when the Hill stood still, he was neuer a whit abashed, but said; If the Hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet wil go to the hil."

I'd never heard that with the prophet. I'd always heard it with Mohammad. So I assumed it was islamic. Turns out I got the reference right but not the origin.

Stone Deaf 4evr

l'esprit d'escalier - a french phrase meaning 'the wit of the staircase' - it essentially refers to the witty comeback you think of, as you're leaving the building and the moment has passed.

Rubberlegs

Va te faire cuire un oeuf - go cook an egg, or more bluntly , fcuk off:)

DEFTLEFTHAND

The snow in the summer or so so.

Under His Eye

Great Armenian saying "One likes the priest, and one likes the priest's wife." Different people have different tastes.

OneOfThem Stumbled

"kids"

American for 20-something year olds.

Pauliedragon

"ey ya goin c**t?"

That's the Aussie version of "how are you today?"

The Rape of Lucretia

Ya gotta love (thanks to the rugby forum some time aback for this one), the French phrase, which is even improved upon rather, I think, in its even further nonsensical translation variants to english : "trainer des casseroles au cul".

ie, roughly, "to have saucepans hanging from your arse".

As in, "that Bertie Ahearn, he has a lot of saucepans on his arse". The meaning, needless to say, is (or may not be, the debate goes on, but dont let that stop you using the phrase daily), that he has a lot of questionable or shady baggage in the closet.

Try it yourself. About your boss, your neighbour, brother in law, or whatever. Lots of variants : "look at Seamus there, he is really dragging a lot of saucepans around from his backside", etc.
Endlessly useful, and highly recommended.

M5

12 months in Estonian sounds like something completely different in English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R0oXjIzOx4

suicide_circus

English: ...(to have) other fish to fry

French: ...avoir d'autres chats ouetter...(to have) other cats to whip

razorblunt

Scotland: "Dinnae fasht yerself, fill yer boots"

Meaning: "Don't be starving yourself, fill your boots and eat that white bread sandwich"

Liam McPoyle

Kommandant, haben Sie etwas auf dem Dachboden gehört?

Mountainsandh

Canard wrote: »

Another one I like in French is "Tu as des bruns dans les yeux ?", can't find any examples online but they use it in the north to mean "Are you blind?", literally meaning "Do you have **** in your eyes"

Interesting ! in Lyon we used to say : "t'as des peaux de sauce' dans les yeux ?" (let's get our priorities right here ) (ie saucisson !)
We never use the term "des bruns" !


There's this saying in French when you're disgusted, disappointed, let down by a situation, or when you're scared, that even women use : "oh putain j'ai les boules !" means literally "I have the balls".

You'd often gesture like you've balls hanging off your chin (around your neck) when saying it.

Why you'd have balls hanging off your neck when you're nervous or disappointed I don't know

hognef

"Det er ugler i mosen" (Norwegian, translates as "there are owls in the moss"), derived from "der er uller i mosen" (Danish, translates as "there are wolves in the bog"): this is suspicious, or perhaps dangerous; something is not quite right.

iamwhoiam

Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile.


A beetle recognizes another beetle.Or it takes one to know one .

Yes I know its not a foreign language but i love it

iamwhoiam

Kümmere Dich nicht um ungelegte Eier.


“Don’t worry about eggs that haven’t been laid yet.”

loobylou

Ich drucke dir die daumen, Germans press their thumbs for you rather than crossing their fingers to wish someone luck.

Canard

Mountainsandh wrote: »

Interesting ! in Lyon we used to say : "t'as des peaux de sauce' dans les yeux ?" (let's get our priorities right here ) (ie saucisson !)
We never use the term "des bruns" !


There's this saying in French when you're disgusted, disappointed, let down by a situation, or when you're scared, that even women use : "oh putain j'ai les boules !" means literally "I have the balls".

You'd often gesture like you've balls hanging off your chin (around your neck) when saying it.

Why you'd have balls hanging off your neck when you're nervous or disappointed I don't know

Hahaha that reminds me of the expressions je m'en bats les couilles and tu me casses les couilles... which, of course, are not particularly strange to English speakers, but they definitely are when girls say them to me in French, or worse, in English! :pac: :P

Translations for the Irish :
Je m'en bats les couilles = I don't give a sh1t = "I hit my balls with it"
Tu me casses les couilles = You're getting on my nerves / pissing me off = "You're breaking my balls"

Mountainsandh

Canard wrote: »

Hahaha that reminds me of the expressions je m'en bats les couilles and tu me casses les couilles... which, of course, are not particularly strange to English speakers, but they definitely are when girls say them to me in French, or worse, in English! :pac: :P

Translations for the Irish :
Je m'en bats les couilles = I don't give a sh1t = "I hit my balls with it"
Tu me casses les couilles = You're getting on my nerves / pissing me off = "You're breaking my balls"

I know !
"ca me gonfle" is the same I suppose, it's not like it's just all males saying it.
I'm trying to remember funny modern variants I always hear coming out of my nephews' mouths, but other than them calling each other "ma couille", it's not coming to me right now. :pac:

The Rape of Lucretia

Canard wrote: »

Hahaha that reminds me of the expressions je m'en bats les couilles and tu me casses les couilles... which, of course, are not particularly strange to English speakers, but they definitely are when girls say them to me in French, or worse, in English! :pac: :P

Translations for the Irish :
Je m'en bats les couilles = I don't give a sh1t = "I hit my balls with it"
Tu me casses les couilles = You're getting on my nerves / pissing me off = "You're breaking my balls"

Varying in Italian also to calling such a perpetrator a 'ball breaker', as a general pain in the ass. A 'rompicoglioni'.

indioblack

"Ass grass". Aussie name for traditional Tahitian female dress.

dxhound2005

Hungarian.

I will not buy this record, it is scratched.

snowstorm445

In Portuguese, if you wanted to describe something as superficial, fake, or just used to please others, it is described as being “para inglês ver”, meaning “for the English (people) to see”. Obviously it has political connotations (eg the Rio Olympics a few years ago) but it’s often used to describe anything perceived to be shallow or contrived.

Shenshen

I just heard one I hadn't heard in quite a while one from a German colleague : "Eierlegende Wollmilchsau".
Translates as the egg-laying wool-milk pig. In short, one animal that gives eggs, wool, milk and pork. It's a phrase used when people's expectations of something are absurdly high.

Capt'n Midnight

Shenshen wrote: »

I just heard one I hadn't heard in quite a while one from a German colleague : "Eierlegende Wollmilchsau".
Translates as the egg-laying wool-milk pig. In short, one animal that gives eggs, wool, milk and pork. It's a phrase used when people's expectations of something are absurdly high.

Hes a semi-aquatic egg-laying wool-milk pig of action
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