It could also just be English if you only speak English.

  • Steve Dice@sh.itjust.works
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    7 hours ago

    A couple of figures of speech from Mexico that I find equally nonsensical:

    Simón: Means yes.

    Nelson: Means no.

    Mátala(o) (kill it): to finish a drink or a snack.

    Jalar (pull): To go somewhere or agree to a plan. You may also hear its long form “¿jalas o te pandeas?” (do you pull or do you bend?) meaning “are you coming or not?”.

    ¿Se va hacer o no se va a hacer la carnita asada? (Are we doing or not the carne asada?): It means “Is the plan still on?”

    Chapulinear: There’s no literal translation for this one but I guess it would be like “grasshopper-ing”. It means seducing a friend’s partner.

    Tirando el perro (throwing the dog): Flirting.

    Arma la vaca (build the cow): Gathering money for a small collective purchase.

    Huele a gas (Smells like gas): To leave. That’s kind of like an advanced figure of speech because it comes from Fuga, which in and of itself is a figure of speech meaning “to leave quickly”. It literally translates to “leak”, as in a gas line leak, because you’re supposed to leave in a way that mimics gas leaking from a pipe. So, when we need to leave but not as quickly, we don’t say “leak”, we say “smells like gas” implying there might be a leak.

    Here’s a modern one:

    Quesadilla: Means “that’s so sad” because it sounds like Qué sad (illa)

    • voytek709@lemmy.caOP
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      16 hours ago

      I knew a girl who tiraba el perro al novio de su amiga, so I guess she also was trying to chapulinear xD

  • Yaky@slrpnk.net
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    2 days ago

    Ukrainian “не лізь поперед батька в пекло” (“don’t rush to hell before your father”) - a mix of “don’t be foolish / try to prove yourself / hurt yourself doing so” and also “let experienced people do their job / lead”.

    Also Ukrainian “або пан або пропав” (“Either [you become] a lord, or you disappear”), an important risky choice, or sometimes used as YOLO of yesteryear.

    • notfromhere@lemmy.ml
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      1 day ago

      I’ve heard the size of the animal denotes how long they will take and/or how urgently they need to leave.

    • C A B B A G E@feddit.uk
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      1 day ago

      I’ve always heard this used to mean “I’ve gotta leave quickly” rather than going to bathroom; but I’m British so it might not hold the same meaning of you’re not also!

  • Magnus the Punk Cat@slrpnk.net
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    2 days ago

    Argentine here! Some of my favourites:

    " Para andar a los pedos más vale cagarse "

    Roughly translates to: “better shit yourself instead of going farting around” Worth noting: “andar a los pedos” also means being in a hurry.

    " A caballo regalado no se le mira los dientes "

    Roughly translates to: “Don’t look at the teeth of a gifted horse”, meaning you don’t look for defects in things that have been handed to you.

    " Siempre hay un roto para un descosido "

    I think the English equivalent is “there’s a lid for every pot”.

    " Lo atamos con alambre "

    Translates to: “tie it down with wire”. Usually refers to get something going even if it’s barebones or a shaky fix.

    I’ll be thinking of more and maybe drop another comment later.

  • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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    2 days ago

    Here’s one in Egyptian Arabic: “He who gets burnt by soup will blow on yoghurt”, meaning that someone who gets hurt once will bexome careful not to repeat the experience.

    • gex@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      There’s a very similar version in Spanish

      El que con leche se quema, hasta al jocoque le sopla

      He who gets burnt by milk will blow on jocoque

      • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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        1 day ago

        Made me think of the (ptpt/ptbr) saying “Quem com ferro fere, com ferro será ferido” - Who hurts with iron, shall be hurt with iron

    • ooli2@lemm.ee
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      2 days ago

      In French we have “a burned cat fear cold water” (chat échaudé craint l’eau froide)

    • DjMeas@lemm.ee
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      2 days ago

      I really like this! Getting burnt so bad that you’d blow on something cold like ice out of fear.

  • Deestan@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    “Jeg bryr meg katta”

    literally “I care like a cat”, meaning “I don’t care in the slightest and talking more about it is an insult to my time”.

    It’s fallen mostly out of use, but I’m hanging on.

    • voytek709@lemmy.caOP
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      3 days ago

      are you perchance Norwegian? jeg lærer norsk (faren min er norsk, det er teknisk sett andrespråket mitt men jeg bruker det ikke mye. nå jeg lærer mer)

      hvis du er dansk, jeg beklager at forveksler de to, men hvis du er norsk, det er hyggelig å se folk som snakker språket

        • Oisteink@feddit.nl
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          2 days ago

          Hehe. Selv om vi nordmenn er litt brutale i språket og ofte tolkes som uhøflige, så betyr «ikke bry deg» noe sånt som «mind your own business». «Glem det» (never mind) fungerer kanskje bedre.

          • voytek709@lemmy.caOP
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            2 days ago

            tusen takk! jeg har hørt „nieważne” i polsk også, som betyr “det er ikke viktig”, og jeg tror at det er «неважно» med samme betydning

              • voytek709@lemmy.caOP
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                2 days ago

                fra min forståelse, du kan si det når du sa noe, personen hørte det ikke.

                «Co?» (Hva/Hæ?) «Nieważne» (Det er ikke viktig, glem det)

  • 211@sopuli.xyz
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    2 days ago

    “Lukee kuin piru Raamattua” (Finnish).
    Literally “to read like the Devil reads the Bible”.
    Meaning to examine something in bad faith. Never heard it used it in context of the Bible or anything religious, but eg. when interpreting law or contract, looking for the details that could be twisted for your purpose, rather than what the text attempts to convey.

  • Flubo@feddit.org
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    2 days ago

    I really like the german “Geburtstagskind”. It refers to a Person whose birthday is today but literally translates to “birthday child”. However you use it for any age. If its your grandfathers 80st birthday he still is the birthday child this day. Usually people just use the word without thinking about it , but i really like the idea that everyone can get childish again on their birthday. :)

  • DjMeas@lemm.ee
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    2 days ago

    In Khmer, there’s a phrase “មិនដឹងខ្យល់” which literally translates to “Doesn’t know wind” as in they’re so dumb they don’t even know what wind is.

    I guess it’s kind of like calling someone an air head but from a different angle.

  • BastingChemina@slrpnk.net
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    3 days ago

    On ne peut pas avoir le beurre et l’argent du beurre (We can’t have the butter and the butter’s money)

    This one would be the French equivalent of “You can’t eat cake and have it”

    Tomber dans les pommes (Falling in apples)

    This is an expression to describe fainting

    Tailler une pipe (Carving a pipe)

    Give a blowjob

    • B3n33333@jlai.lu
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      23 hours ago

      On ne peut pas avoir le beurre et l’argent du beurre

      Et le cul de la crémière. Littearly “and the ass of the dairy-woman”

    • weew@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      I only just realized the pun inside “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

      Most people complain that it’s a pointless idiom because if you possess a cake, you are likely able to eat it.

      Having cake is another way of saying eating cake. It’s saying you can’t eat your cake and then eat your cake again.

      • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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        1 day ago

        It’s saying you can’t eat your cake and then eat your cake again.

        I read this like “have it on the shelf” . One can’t save money and still spend it.

  • DirigibleProtein@aussie.zone
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    2 days ago
    • Flat out like a lizard drinking
    • We’re not here to fuck spiders
    • As dry as a dead dingo’s donger
    • Forty cents short of a shout
    • A few kangaroos loose in the top paddock
  • EtnaAtsume@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Two that are related to falling

    猿も木から落ちる [Even] monkeys fall out of trees [too]. Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you’ll always get it right.

    七転び八起き Fall down 7 times, get up 8. Pretty self-explanatory

    • theOneTrueSpoon@feddit.uk
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      1 day ago

      Fall down 7 times, get up 8.

      But you’ll have to fall down an 8th time if you want to get up again 🤔

  • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
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    3 days ago

    此地无银三百两—literally “this location does not hide 15kg of silver”. imagine a sign saying that with an arrow pointing downwards

  • totallynotaspy@fedia.io
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    3 days ago

    “Butt fuck Egypt (BFE),” when referring to being in the middle of nowhere or the far edges of a parking area. For example, Sally complained to her friend in the food court, “I had to park all the way in BFE. I’m dreading the walk back to the car.”