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.”
In Norwegian we say “helt sylta” (“completely pickled”) when we have a very stuffy nose. I tried using that idiom when calling out of work in the US once, and was informed that I had just told them I was too drunk to go to work!
In Piedmontese (northern Italian dialect):
“To be mounted over squared ball bearing” = to be really strange, not as other people
“Horse brand” = a product of an unknown low quality brand
“To beat the goat” = throw a tantrum
Sorry for the necro, but i need to contribute:
In Southern Sardinian, su schiron’e linna in sa domu 'e ferreri(the wooden skewer in the smith’s house): something completely out of place.
Also from Piemonte I’ve never heard the horse brand one but “three hens brand” was used regularly when I was a kid.
My favourite though is “Coma na barca ant el bòsch”, like a boat in the woods
Italian here (Veneto) How do you say it in your dialect? The ball bearing one. I really can’t translate it myself into something that could make sense to me.
“esse montà 'n sle bije quadre”, and the literal translation in italian is “essere montato sulle biglie (cuscinetti a sfera) quadre”
