this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2025
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No Stupid Questions

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

top 46 comments
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[–] DirigibleProtein@aussie.zone 1 points 1 hour 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 2 points 2 hours 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

[–] Flubo@feddit.org 4 points 2 hours 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. :)

[–] 211@sopuli.xyz 5 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours 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.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 20 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] DjMeas@lemm.ee 3 points 5 hours ago

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

[–] DjMeas@lemm.ee 9 points 6 hours 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.

[–] NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world 9 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

"Das geht mir am Arsch vorbei."

German for I don't give a damn about that.

Literally: it passes by my ass.

You can also lift it up to a SFW level by saying "Das geht mir hinten vorbei." (It passes behind me), or strengthen it with "Das geht mir weit hinten vorbei." (It passes far behind me).

[–] accideath@lemmy.world 1 points 53 minutes ago

Or, if you wanna sound intellectual: „Das tangiert mich peripher.“

[–] RegalPotoo@lemmy.world 13 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

In colloquial English, you can say that someone is an idiot with the construction "you absolute [noun]" or "you complete [noun]" or similar.

It doesn't actually matter what the noun is, but it works better the more obscure or specific the thing is. For example "you absolute saucepan", "you complete hose pipe", or my personal favourite "you absolute strawberry plant".

[–] Deestan@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago

One of my favorite youtubers Octavius King demonstrates this really well by using "complete and utter desk" as a derogatory term for the worst offenders to intellect.

[–] BastingChemina@slrpnk.net 9 points 8 hours 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

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 6 points 8 hours ago

Esperanto

krokodili- verb, literally something like "to crocodile"

It means when an Esperanto-speaker speaks in a language other than Esperanto while amongst other Esperanto-speakers.

No one's quite sure why that's the term for it, most likely because crocodiles have a big mouth.

When I learned that, it suddenly made a lot of sense why Duolingo taught me the word for "crocodile" so early.

[–] pip@slrpnk.net 8 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

An example as if I was talking to you: "I'll wack you like an octopus" which technically already describes the action, however traditionally in my country after catching octopus in order to properly kill them and soften them up, fishermen basically smack/wacked them on the ground maniacally.

And I think it's become such a popular figure of speech because that mental image is hilarious and I love using it.

[–] voytek709@lemmy.ca 3 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

What language is that in, English? :)

[–] pip@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 hours ago
[–] Aatube@kbin.melroy.org 8 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] nimpnin@sopuli.xyz 3 points 7 hours ago (1 children)
[–] RegalPotoo@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago

At a guess, to call attention to something by trying to hide it

[–] Deestan@lemmy.world 32 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

"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.ca 4 points 9 hours ago

That’s such a cool phrase though

[–] voytek709@lemmy.ca 6 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] voytek709@lemmy.ca 5 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

ikke bry deg, dansk bruker "mig". jeg glemte

[–] Deestan@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

Haha, ikke noe problem. Godt observert!

[–] Oisteink@feddit.nl 1 points 6 hours 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.

[–] totallynotaspy@fedia.io 9 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

"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."

[–] niktemadur@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

That's actually quite an interestingly accurate one, considering that something like 95% of Egyptians live near the Nile River, and anywhere that is NOT near the Nile is desert wasteland.

Other accurate analogies would be anywhere in Canada that is NOT near its' southern border, or nearly anywhere/everywhere in inland Australia, they call it the Outback for a reason.

[–] EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 hours ago

Nice. In German we have "am Arsch der Welt", lit. translating to "at the arse of the world" to refer to the middle of nowhere

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 4 points 7 hours ago (2 children)
[–] Vacationlandgirl@lemmy.world 7 points 6 hours ago

New England, at least. BFE is half the state of Maine, but also the furthest spots in the Hannaford parking lot.

[–] MumboJumbo@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago

Growing up in the Midwest, I've heard BFE countless times.

[–] superduperpirate@lemmy.world 4 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 53 minutes ago)

Referencing an unpopular future possibility - “that’ll go over like a turd in a punch bowl”

Describing something you don’t miss - “I miss that like I’d miss a case of the clap”

Rain coming in at a weird angle - “this rain is like a cow pissing on a flat rock”

When someone says they wish some specific thing would happen - “wish in one hand, shit in the other, see which one fills up first”

When you’re unenthusiastic about something - “I’d rather shit in my hands and clap”

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 17 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

I don't speak German, but I picked up a few phrases for work. They have a few idioms that I think of sometimes:

"Ich glaub, ich spinne" which means I think I'm crazy, but literally translates to "I think, I spider." It's a great visual metaphor, being overwhelmed by the threads going everywhere that you imagine you're a spider spinning a web, and also you've entirely forgotten grammar.

"Bahnhof verstehen" or "Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof" means "I understand only the train station." It's something you say when you don't understand anything, you're completely lost, and you don't give a shit becaue you just want to get the fuck home.

I might be off on those translations or the subtext, but that's how I understood it.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 4 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

The "Bahnhof verstehen" comes from the notion that many people learning a foreign language start with some simple sentences like "Can you tell me the way to the train station". So people who only "Bahnhof verstehen" (OK, horrible grammar here) have not proceed past the first lesson.

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 1 points 3 minutes ago

My understanding is that is came from soldiers returning from WWI who did not speak enough German to communicate, but were seeking the trains home.

[–] NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world 11 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

and also you've entirely forgotten grammar.

That's a misinterpretation. The German "spinne" is a proper verb in that sentence, like "to spin" in English.

[–] Oisteink@feddit.nl 1 points 6 hours ago

So it can be what a spider does, but also what political doctors do, and the latter is the context here?

[–] Deestan@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Not fluent at all, but I always parsed "Ich glaub, ich spinne" as "I feel like my head is spinning"

[–] raef@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

No, it's not "spin" like a top or top be dizzy. There's a bunch of meanings, and some are similar to those two, but none fit for dizzy.

"Head is spinning" is a metaphor. Literally tanslating metaphors doesn't usually work, which is why this thread is interesting

[–] karpintero@lemmy.world 13 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

"Correo de las brujas" translates to "the witches' mail" and means gossip or rumors. Kind of like "heard it through the grapevine" or a "a little birdie told me"

前世害左你么?(In Cantonese/Taishanese)

Did I hurt you in your previous incarnation?

Parents always say this when they get mad.

I guess it translate to "What did I do in my previous life to deserve a shitty kid like you?"

So a round-about way of just saying trash-talking their kid basically.

I always respons, "So why did you hurt me in my my previous life?"

Or "Yea you hur me in my previous life and I reincarnated here for revenge" 🤣

(Who the fucked coined that phrase, why is reincarnation brought up wtf lol)

[–] BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca 12 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

You're mustard

English. It's a good thing, means the person is awesome.

[–] voytek709@lemmy.ca 6 points 11 hours ago

You're mustard for teaching me this!

[–] SolidShake@lemmy.world 3 points 10 hours ago

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Oddly meaning, you act like your dumbass parent.

[–] AstralPath@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

~~Kill two birds with one stone.~~ Get two birds stoned at once. 😎

[–] fubo@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Stone two birds with one hit.