Idioms From Other Languages

[@NameExplain]

Suggest a topic for next Monday's video!

[@davea6314]

Why a cat is your hat in your thumbnail. You could have just read the book "A Cat in the Hat." 🐈🎩

[@mingfanzhang8927]

😅😅😅

[@derevianne1108]

why do someslavic languages call "40" literally "crows" (sorok) instead of for+ten

[@Illumisepoolist]

Gym Leader names, anime puns.

[@UraniumLeaf]

Isn’t it odd that negative questions exist?

[@JoeyintheAM]

4:41 I'd say the closest English phrase would be "Cat's got your tongue" for being left speechless.

[@maxsz91]

In Polish we say "zapomnieć języka w gębie" - "to forget about the tongue in your mouth" when someone is left speechless for whatever reason

[@lucasknox4871]

Which does remind me of another French idiom, “donner sa langue au chat” lit. “Giving your tongue to the cat”. In this case, it means you don’t speak because you can’t answer.

[@kroee]

Not exactly the same. "Cat's got your tongue" is when someone can't speak because they're ashamed or embarrassed.

[@SchwarzeBananen]

I used to guess idioms with language students from different countries, and hardly anyone was able to guess the meaning of an idioms translated word for word. Most guesses were wide off.

[@nannettefreeman7331]

An old work friend of mine COINED an idiom, in English, that I think should be in wide use. “Tell the microwave.” It’s specific, but perfect. It’s when you’re fighting an unwinable battle with someone of lesser intellect, like, “you might as well go plead your case to the microwave.” ✌🏼

[@Charity4Chokora]

Um, I wonder if it needs to be used by some type of regional or population compacity? Have you looked into that? If so how would you popularize the concept? I think you have put some thought into this and have an interest in how you see things.

[@sharonminsuk]

Sorry to disappoint you, but if nobody but your friend is using it, it's not an idiom. 😜 (It might, however, count as being part of your friend's "idiolect", which means an individual's own peculiar and unique version of their language.)

[@HalfEye79]

There is even the idiom in Germany of "someone leads a cow onto the ice". I think it is for being totaly wrong. Another interesting idiom is that "somebody writes something behind their ears" for taking it by heart. That comes from the mid ages, I think. When there war a job, there was a master and his apprentice. And when the master gives the apprentice an important number he shouldn't forget he slapped him on his ears, in order for it to sink in quickly.

[@dcassus]

I love that German and Portuguese have a nearly identical idiom for when the thought of something (usually bad news) finally hits or sinks in. German: Der Groschen ist gefallen. Portuguese: A ficha caiu. Both translate into "the token/10 cent coin has fallen". Brazil had high inflation when this was created and people used to buy token coins to use on public telephones (or else public phones would need readjusting every couple of months or so). Germany had a more stable economy and the 10 cents of a Mark coin was the one used on public phones. The idea being that you are only charged once the other side picks up and you hear the coin/token falling inside the phone, meaning that's when you start paying for the call.

[@andreakoroknai1071]

"the token has fallen" exists in Hungarian too, I think it comes from the German, as it was the official language here for a while

[@StarSong936]

Just going off the title - in English "To play the innocent" in Mexican Spanish is "Like a man throwing stones" It took a friend of mine demonstrating it to get why they said it that way. TBH his demonstration was hilarious.

[@sharonminsuk]

Not sure this counts as an idiom exactly; but in German the word "nüchtern" means both "sober" (not intoxicated) and "fasting". Let me tell you, I was quite taken aback when a doctor in Austria, speaking to me in excellent but clearly not perfect English, chose the wrong translation and asked me, prior to drawing blood for a blood test, "Are you sober?" (As an aside, I can't help but notice that the German word "sauber" means clean, pure, or unsoiled. It looks an awful lot like the English word "sober", but I don't know if they are etymologically related or if that's just a coincidence. But it would make a nice story if they were related and the English "sober" were likewise related to "cleanliness", since cleanliness in that sense could be the concept that ties together "sober" and "fasting".)

[@TheLobsterCopter5000]

"You've got a screw loose" and "A kangaroo loose in the top paddock" are both great, but I prefer "You're a nut! You're crazy in the coconut!"

[@Benni777]

This may seem like a random topic, but I’d like to see more ASL videos on this channel. I think that ASL’s such a cool language, and it’s a very very hard language to use in the beginning and you have to get REALLY good at it with a lot of practice, if you’re not a native user of it. But that’s just what I’d like to see personally ☺️

[@AncTreat5358]

This sounds really interesting!

[@sammarks9146]

So this is an interesting one- ASL, for those who don't know, is American Sign Language. There's also British Sign Language (BSL), Black American Sign Language (BASL)... and a different sign language for each Deaf culture that developed one, as happens with spoken languages. I agree, it would be great to see more analysis of sign languages. There are some great Deaf KZbinrs who do this kind of thing.

[@AncTreat5358]

@@sammarks9146 Do you have any recommendations or keywords to use to find those Deaf KZbinrs doing the analysis?

[@ChristoAbrie]

we've got a couple ien Afrikaans: "As dit pap reen moet jy skep" (trans: "if it's raining pap you must scoop it up", iow when an opportunity presents itself you must seize it.); "Vra my broer Jack, hy lieg nes ek" (ask my brother Jack, he lies just like me) a rhyme that basically responds to being asked a useless question (as in a sarcastic way of saying "i don't know"). Not an idiom but a funny response to a stupid question is "Piet Pompies". Often used similarly to "The Queen of England" or "the Tooth fairy" as a response to being asked a simple question about a subject when the subject in question is obvious.; "As did 'n slang was sou dit jou gepik het" (trans: if it was a snake, it would have bitten you already, iow when you are trying to look for something that is hiding in plain sight, especially when you are the only one oblivious to it).; another related one is "jy gaan toe oe deur die lewe" (trans: you are going through life with your eyes closed, iow you are blissfully oblivious to what should be obvious)

[@MartinAhlman]

"There's no cow on the ice, as long as its tail/arse is on land" is the full Swedish idiom.

[@TheMathjes]

Translations of puns, jokes and innuendos in movies

[@nithya2798]

4:24 In Telugu, a South Indian language, we say "Neellu navaladam" which means "to chew on water" as you're trying to buy some time to answer when you actually have nothing to say to the accusation you just received 😄

[@Illumisepoolist]

Also in russian there is the idom "A white crow" which means the same as A black sheep.

[@darreljones8645]

Some idioms just don't work in other languages. The prime example: "It's all Greek to me" (indicating an inability to understand something) would mean nothing to a native Greek speaker. I've been told, however, that Greek has its own version of the expression that literally means, "It's Chinese!"

[@HalfEye79]

Yeah in the same category falls the german idion "das kommt mir spanisch vor" ("that seems to be spanic"). Others would say, that it is fishy.

[@thewetzelsixx9009]

I'm pretty sure he has a video on this exact topic, so you should definitely watch it.

[@sharonminsuk]

In Nicaragua, I tried to translate the phrase "going Dutch". The folks there thought it was funny; they say "going American"!

[@Uttersteilk]

There are many other languages that use exactly the "it's Chinese" idiom, including Arabic

[@farvardinmainyu1961]

In Chinese, there's an idiom called "吹牛皮(blowing cowskin)", means talk big speak boastingly. Because the ancients blowing cowskin to make airbags for rafts. The cowskin are being blown out = The person's big words just too big and won't cut it....

[@auldfouter8661]

Cows are not good on slippy surfaces , their feet are very hard horn and give them little grip on an impervious , firm surface. Smooth wet ( read covered in slurry) concrete can be deadly to large cattle.

[@sharonminsuk]

"Echar la casa por la ventana" - Spanish, "throw the house through the window". My high school Spanish teacher, who was a Spaniard, told us this meant "to throw a wild party". However, I just double checked it by googling it, and the Interwebz says that it means to spend extravagantly. (I suppose the former is one way to do the latter, so they are not unrelated.) I also found out you can "botar" the house (another way to say "throw"), or "tirar" the house (to pull).

[@DrunkenHotei]

Idioms are really interesting when it comes to the sort of "spell" they cast when said in full. However, if you change on word, even if it means the same thing, the spell breaks, and now you're speaking gibberish. e.g. "It ain't over 'till the fat lady sings." = It isn't over yet. "It ain't over 'till the obese lady sings." = wtf are you talking about? This is fatphobia! etc.

[@martinbruhn5274]

Similar to the swedish cow on ice saying, there is a german saying about having gotten the cow safely off the ice

[@StarSong936]

@3:57 as someone who has had a garter snake for a pet, and I love them generally, this grass snake idiom fills me with horror. That is something I just would never want to do.

[@igornebov]

"Лес рубят - щепки летят!" A very interesting Russian idiom for which I can't find other languages analogis. If you're familiar with a woods chopping and what fast wood chips can do with your eyes, this one is truly poetic.

[@ImmortalAbsol]

Quick Google search revealed an anime who's English name is A Whisker Away for this phrase. 5:04

[@kookies4later921]

The French Snake one is literally just the queer slang “Gagged” hahaha that’s so funny

[@bjarnemcdonald6333]

I don´t give a red shrimp for that, but not my circus, not my monkey...

[@sydhenderson6753]

Sounds like Australia doesn't have too many belfries to keep their bats in.

[@jeanbellabasura1539]

how about "The cat got your tongue" for that French idiom about snakes and being speechless

[@nithya2798]

4:42 What about "Cat got your tongue?" 🤔

[@Charity4Chokora]

I want to know if any idioms came from the emu wars?

[@bendordoy4815]

2.20 I have never heard anyone use that idiom, when someone is lying or talking nonsense, the most common ones I heard are stop talking 💩 or bull💩 or stop bull💩ing and of course this classic idiom can you smell that it's not sheep it's not horse it's not cow I know it bull💩 but children or adults who don't want to sware would say stop talking rubbish.

[@nannettefreeman7331]

“Bains ki banana” songs for buffalo, Hindi idiom roughly meaning a waste of time/effort.

[@MiaThomasas]

Your channel is a real treasure trove of knowledge and entertainment. Continue to delight us with your talent and professionalism!🕶🐈🥁

[@thewetzelsixx9009]

Me? Commenting? Couldn't be to help the video in the algorithm.

[@sharonminsuk]

If "a kangaroo loose in the top paddock" means "got a screw loose", then you really should have mentioned "having bats in the belfry". Is that one limited to the U.S.?

[@pyeitme508]

HA!

[@panatypical]

I have a very hard time just understanding your accent, plus which, you speak too quickly. I have to use the captions. Even so, KZbin's bargain basement AI voice to text function is almost as bad as the one on my phone....

[@davea6314]

Idiom mentioned in Monty Python's Holy Grail movie: LANCELOT: "No, no, sweet Concorde! Stay here! I will send help as soon as I have accomplished a daring and heroic rescue in my own particular..." [sigh] CONCORDE: "Idiom, sir?" LANCELOT: "Idiom!"

[@OliviaSharpepe]

I really appreciate your work! Your videos are always of such high quality and warmth. Keep up the good work!🤖🫐🛵

[@SonyaRiserer]

Watching your channel is like a ticket to a world of fun and joy. Thank you for your creative and energizing work!🙉🐂💽