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Weird and wacky expressions

  Tags: Idiom | Multilingual
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88 messages over 11 pages: 1 24 5 6 7 ... 3 ... 10 11 Next >>
LanguageSponge
Triglot
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 Message 17 of 88
09 September 2009 at 2:16am | IP Logged 
I heard the expression from a friend a few years ago "wie Gott in Frankreich leben" - literally means "to live like God in France". The English would be something like "to live very well, live the high life".
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Bao
Diglot
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Germany
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 Message 18 of 88
09 September 2009 at 3:13am | IP Logged 
"Da wird ja der Hund in der Pfanne verrückt!"
It is used meaning 'this is just too much, I'm not going to deal with it, I cannot deal with it', but translates as 'now the dog's going crazy in the pan.'
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Levi
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 Message 19 of 88
09 September 2009 at 5:16am | IP Logged 
A fun German expression I like to use a lot is "Scheiße mit Reis!" ("s**t with rice") Not
sure how common it is in actual German parlance, though.
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Hencke
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Spain
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 Message 20 of 88
12 September 2009 at 10:16pm | IP Logged 
Finnish: Nyt rupesi Lyyti kirjoittamaan. = Now Lyyti (a girl's name) started writing.

Meaning: Now it's working. Now everything started going smoothly.

I googled around a bit and found there is quite an interesting story behind the saying: It originated a century or so ago when emigration to America was at its peak. The new emigres in America would naturally not receive any correspondence from back home until they had had time to settle and send an address back. Once the address was established the letters started arriving, ie. "Lyyti" started writing. It spread from there to be used about machinery or anything else that suddenly starts working again after some kind of problem or disturbance.

Edited by Hencke on 12 September 2009 at 10:17pm

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J-Learner
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Australia
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 Message 21 of 88
17 September 2009 at 5:22am | IP Logged 
I explained in a chat room the other night, very localized bit of slang (only some people in my city).

"French wallet"

It means to not take off enough toilet paper and a finger slips through.


Crude? Yes
Obscene? Certainly.
Funny? Without a doubt!

(Now I can see the thread getting closed down! :p)
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Belardur
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Germany
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 Message 22 of 88
17 September 2009 at 9:04am | IP Logged 
One that always gets me laughing is "(he thinks he is) zwischen Gott und den Papst." in German. Literally, "in between God and the Pope," that is, so better-than-you that (he)'s even above the Pope...
I'm not sure how common that is, I've only heard it in Baden-Württemburg
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Fasulye
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 Message 23 of 88
17 September 2009 at 2:52pm | IP Logged 
Belardur wrote:
One that always gets me laughing is "(he thinks he is) zwischen Gott und den Papst." in German. Literally, "in between God and the Pope," that is, so better-than-you that (he)'s even above the Pope... I'm not sure how common that is, I've only heard it in Baden-Württemburg


Never heard that one! I live in Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW).

Fasulye

Edited by Fasulye on 17 September 2009 at 2:53pm

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Conspiratah
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Australia
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 Message 24 of 88
09 October 2009 at 4:39am | IP Logged 
Some expressions in Australian English, rather crude, but normally pretty funny:

"I don't give a rat's arse!" - I don't care
"Piss-farting around" - Wasting time
"I don't wanna blow smoke up your arse." - I'm not trying to flatter you
"I don't wanna piss in your ear." - I don't want to rant/ramble on at you
"He's got a few sheep loose in the top paddock." He's not all there (mentally)
"Goin' off like a frog in a sock." - Another way of saying something's intense

If I think of any more I'll post them - there's so many!


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