#idioms

[emmaklee]

#language #spanish #idioms

[prokopetz]

Mashing idioms together is always good for a laugh, but you do have to keep an eye out lest you end up tripping over other, pre-existing idioms in the process. For example, you may tell me that a game "rips", or that a game "kicks ass", and it will be clear to me what you mean, but if you combine the two and assert that said game "rips ass", it may not be so obvious whether it's meant to be a good thing or a bad thing that the game in question farts.

#language #linguistics #word nerdery #idioms #unsanitary #swearing

[shiftythrifting]

Noted!

Burnsville MN

#thrifting #shiftythrifting #submission #what the fuck does that mean #signs #pregnancy #dubya lore #idioms

[puzzled-pegasus]

Here's some silly little metaphors that I think the dragon tribes would use

SkyWings

“Don’t count your clutch before they hatch.” (Don't plan too much too soon)

“Gold is better than silver, but silver is better than nothing.” (If you can't do it perfectly, still try your best. Most dragons forget the second part.)

“‘Sorry’ can't suck the fire back in.” (The damage is done and now you're dead to me.)

“You been eating too much burnt meat or something?” (Are you nuts?)

“Stop all this smoke and use your fire.” (Stop rambling and get to the point already; or stop complaining and do something)

“Doesn't know his tail from his wings.” (Stupid or clumsy)

“You fly like a depressed pigeon.” (Slow flier)

“There's no fire in a rainstorm.” (Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get to work.)

“Nighttime is for the NightWings.” (What are you doing up? Go to sleep.)

SandWings

“She’s all rattle, and no strike.” (Like all bark no bite)

“A diamond in a pile of quartz.” (Like a needle in a haystack)

“You’re watering the cactus and ignoring the sapling.” (You’re focusing on the wrong thing; barking up the wrong tree)

“Everyone thinks the camel looks silly until the dry season comes.” (Don't listen to them, they don't know how unique and strong you are)

MudWings

“Crocodile tears.” (Fake crying in order to gain sympathy)

“You can only catch a trout if your mouth is open.” (Be open to new experiences)

“If the tree gives away too much, it ends up as a stump.” (Don't let people take advantage of your generosity)

SeaWings

“Happy as a clam in high water.” (Very happy)

“The flying fish feels like a fool when it sees an osprey.” (Don't compare yourself to others, run your own race.)

“Plenty of fish in the sea.” (Plenty more opportunities to come.)

“You’ve got ink in your eyes.” (You're blind to something important)

“Lobsters only die when they don't leave their shell.” (Keep yourself busy with new experiences and you'll life a long life)

NightWings

“Sleep is for the dead.” (Why waste your time sleeping when you could be productive)

“SeaWings know their fish and SandWings know their cactuses, but we NightWings know everything else.”(NightWing supremacy propaganda)

“Being nice to a deer never got one in my mouth.” (Other dragons don't matter, only your goals.)

“A prophecy always comes true.” (I told you so but more cryptic)

"You're counting the stars." (You're doing something tedious towards an unachievable goal)

RainWings

“Gray’s her favorite color.” (She's a huge bummer)

“A lemon is yellow on the outside, doesn't mean they're not sour.” (Referring to someone who is two faced or fake)

“I love honey, but I’d rather not get stung by the bees.” (I could do this, but it requires effort so I don't wanna)

“Nobody likes a rotten banana.” (Nobody likes a bummer/downer)

“Don't tie your tail in a knot” (don't get all upset)

“I have all my berries in a basket” (I have everything sorted out)

“You couldn't sneak up on a pineapple” (insult to one's camouflage skills, popular among children)

IceWings

“The seal who asks why the orca is chasing him is the first to get eaten.” (A favorite of parents telling their kids to shut up)

“Not the sharpest icicle on the roof” (kinda stupid or slow)

“Clear as polished ice” (i understand or see it very well)

“You're looking a little pink in the face” (you look sickly. IceWings can turn pink from eating too much krill; a symptom of malnutrition. This line can be applied to any illness.)

“Blue blood kills, red blood spills.” (Patriotic propaganda implying that IceWings win every fight

“The SkyWings toss their blue eyed hatchlings because they're worried they'll be as strong as an IceWing.” (More propaganda)

HiveWings

“Pretty is for the SilkWings.” (Vanity is stupid and impractical)

“If it buzzes like a bug and bites like a bug, it's a bug.” (Don't ignore the obvious)

“Clearsight works in mysterious ways.” (I don't know the answer to your question, now go away)

SilkWings

“It's not always good to know how the honey gets made.” (Don't stick your snout where it doesn't belong)

“She's got a couple of threads loose.” (Calling someone a little crazy, threads refers to weaving)

“The bee minds its flowers and the spider minds her silk, it's when they mix that bad things happen.” (Mind ya business)

LeafWings

“Flytraps only trap because the soil doesn't feed them.” (Dragons don't get angry out of nowhere)

“Looking like a leaf only hides you in the forest.” (Time and place)

“If a branch doesn't bend, it breaks.” (Be flexible)

“Even the corpse flower attracts the flies.” (Even someone who seems ugly to one dragon they can seem irresistible to another)

#wings of fire #wof headcanons #metaphor #idioms

[chiara-klara-claire]

funny ways to say “in the middle of nowhere”

Collected funny ones under this post + contributions to this one (my selection). Most involve ass(holes), have god/the devil, (nonsense) names of villages…

🇩🇪German: in the ass of the world/ the pasture- am Arsch der Welt/der Weide; where Fox and Hare bid each other good night - Wo sich Fuchs und Hase Gute Nacht sagen (old-fashioned), where the dead dog lays - Da liegt der tote Hund, in Buxtehude/ (Kuh)kaff, in der Pampa, in Timbuktu

🇮🇹Italian: in assland - in culonia/culandia, in the wolves’ ass - in culo ai lupi, in the ass of the word - in culo al mondo; 🇫🇷 French in the asshole of the world - dans le trou du cul du monde

🇨🇿Czech: Where foxes bid good night to one another - Kde si lišky dávají dobrou noc

🇩🇰Danish: where the crows turn around - Hvor kragerne vender on Lars diarrheas field/on the field of Lars Shitpants - På lars tyndskids mark

🇳🇴Norwegian: far damn from violence - langt pokker i vold, “huttaheiti” (gibberish)

🇸🇪Swedish: out (there) in the spinach - ute i spenaten,“tjotaheiti” (see above, maybe originally from Tahiti)

🇪🇸in Spain: in the fifth hell/pine tree - En el quinto infierno/pino, where Christ lost the sandal/hat/lighter - Donde Cristo perdió la alpargata/gorra/mechero;

🇲🇽 Mexico: Where the devil farts - Donde el diablo se echa un pedo, and sometimes someone answers: “Y nadie lo escucha” And no one hears

🇹🇼in Taiwan: where birds don't lay eggs and dogs don't shit - 鳥不生蛋狗不拉屎的地方 

🇵🇱Polish - where crows turn around -  Gdzie wrony zawracają, where dogs bark from their ass - gdzie psy dupami szczekają 🐶; Where the devil says goodnight - Gdzie diabeł mówi dobranoc, where (black) pepper grows - gdzie pieprz rośnie, (mostly in the context of running as far away as possible or chasing someone away)

🇦🇺Australia: woop woop or "in the middle of woop woop' 🇳🇿 NZ: wop wops

🇻🇳Vietnamese: holy forests, poisonous waters - rừng thiêng nước độc / where mountain passes are windy/cloudy and winds swirl in vortexes - đèo heo hút gió or đèo mây hút gió (rarely used)

🇨🇦🇫🇷 Québéc: Saint clin clin des meuhs meuhs (actual village name…)

🇸🇦 Arabic (Saudi dialect): in the castle of wadren في مقلاع وادرين (an old castle in the middle of desert)

🇮🇱 in Israel: Israel: at the end of the world, take a turn left - סוף העולם שמאלה

🇫🇮Finnish: behind God’s back - jumalan selän takana, in the devil’s ass - helvetin perseessä;

🇬🇷 Greek: at the devil’s horn - Στου διαόλου το κέρατο;

🇧🇬 Bulgarian: on the ass of geography - На гъза на географията

🇮🇸 Icelandic Out in an asshole - úti í rassgati;

🇧🇷 in Brazil: in cock’s house - na casa do caralho;

🇦🇷 in Argentina: in the pussy of the parrot- en la concha de la lora 🦜;

🇪🇪 Estonian: in the bear's ass - karuperses 🐻

🇺🇸 USA: bumfuck Egypt

🇧🇪 in Belgium (Dutch): in a farmer’s asscrack - in een boerengat

🇺🇦 Ukrainian: in the devil's swamps в чорта на кулічках,  where the crow won't carry bones куди ворон кісток не заносить

#langblr #language blog #idioms #funny idioms #foreign languages #language facts #my selection #my fav is the german one <33333 #polyglot #have had this in the drafts for more than a year i guess #mine #my lists

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

In Conversation, What Can Trip Up an Autistic Person?

Pete Wharmby, Autistic Author

#autism #actually autistic #autism and communication #what can trip us up during conversations #sarcasm #idioms #neurodivergence #neurodiversity #actually neurodivergent #feel free to share and reblog #Pete Wharmby Autistic Author (Facebook)

[blueskyscribe]

"Money can't buy happiness" doesn't mean living without basic necessities is awesome, "money can't buy happiness" means Elon Musk can do nothing but stand in misery as he is booed for ten minutes straight

#idioms #Elon Musk

[helenstudies]

I don't talk a lot about Burmese language, huh? I just realized that some Burmese insults are so good they're insta-kill one liners. (I mean those which aren't racist/sexist etc of course because insults can be like that in ANY language)

Anyway, here's a few insults I enjoy!

အုတ်ကြားမြက်ပေါက် (Oat kyar myat pout) that translates literally to "grass that grows in between bricks." The meaning is pretty close to a "bastard" because the grass isn't supposed to be there. Idiot grass, trying to grow in the bricks smh.

ဆန်ကုန်မြေလေး (San kone myay lay) the literal translation is "spent rice, heavy ground" but it means "you're a waste of rice and the only thing you've ever done in your life is making the ground heavy" which is so sick 😭

လျှာအရိုးမရှိ (Shar a yoe ma shi) lit. translation being "tongue doesn't have a bone" and it means "you can't keep saying bullshit just because your tongue doesn't have a bone in it!"

Of course, there are MANY others but these are my top three contenders.

#myanmar #burmese #burmese language #myanmar language #language learning #langblr #studyblr #100 days of productivity #culture #language #idioms

[frankomudo]

"muitos anos a virar frangos" 2023

this one's my favorite.

"muitos anos a virar frangos" translates roughly to "many years spent turning chickens". it references chicken grilling.

it is a very, very portuguese way to express one's experience or mastery over something. it is used often as a brag and in an humorous way, sometimes sarcastically.

this illustration is part of "quem fala assim não é mudo" - "he who speaks like this isn't mute", my first solo exhibition, where i illustrate typical portuguese sayings and expressions.

this is the last of the collection. if you got this far, thank you for reading! i hope you enjoyed it!

instagram | my website

#illustration #artists on tumblr #digital art #portugal #portuguese #idioms #linguistics #languages #chicken

[zhuzhudushu]

今天的成语 An Idiom I Learned Today

recently learned about a new idiom and thought i would share! not sure if it counts as a 成语 per se, since it is 8 characters instead of 4. nonetheless here it is.

三天打鱼，两天晒网 sān tiān dǎ yú, liǎng tiān shài wǎng

literally: fish for 3 days, sun-dry the net for 2 days figuratively: to lack perseverance; to not earnestly work toward something

example: 你要是三天打鱼两天晒网，那你永远不会进步。 If you "fish for 3 days but sun-dry the next for 2," then you won't ever improve.

it's the idea that if you work towards something for 3 days but then rest for 2, you're basically wasting your time and not putting in as much effort as you could—since you could be putting that effort in all 5 days.

it's definitely a very chinese concept 😅 i'm pro resting myself LOL

#chinese langblr #mandarin langblr #chinese learning #chinese #langblr #mandarin chinese #language learning #mandarin #learning languages #成语 #chengyu #idioms #vocab #zhuzhu rambles

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

native english speakers, what's your favorite (and preferably most obscure) piece of slang? like a weird word for an everyday thing, or a particularly strange expression that non-natives wouldn't know from the internet

#english #english language #language #idioms #english slang #slang

[wronghands1]

#wronghands #webcomic #john atkinson #lifestyle #nighttime #imagination #fear #spooky #scared #cats #pets #seeing things #idioms

[prokopetz]

“Industrial size” as a generic descriptor meaning “very large in quantity” just might be my single favourite idiom, because sometimes people apply it to things which have no conceivable bulk industrial application, and then I get to inappropriately take it literally and try to imagine the industry that would require bulk quantities of that.

#language #linguistics #word nerdery #idioms #industrial size

[maclanahan--mermaid-comics]

Mermaid puns are OUT

shell yeah

fin-tastic

bull-shark

etc...

Incomprehensible mermaid idioms are IN

What bubbles are caught in your hair?

You don't have to swim like a shark.

Even the barnacles don't grow there.

etc...

#mermaid #mermaids #world building #idioms #thoughts #i need to come up with more of these

[ruderubicante]

Mikael regrets his word usage

#dnd #dwarf #dragonborn #puns #idioms #art #illustration

[idembroiderthat]

Milo and the OG Book Tock. ‘The Phantom Tollbooth’ was the first time I realized a book could be art. Never have I been more captivated and awed by words. There are many beautiful quotes in the book, but this one feels particularly relevant.

#the phantom tollbooth #Milo and Tock #embroidery #embroidery art #embroidery hoop #fiber art #the original book tock #kingdom of wisdom #rhyme and reason #the humbug #norton juster #booktok #idioms #puns