this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024
163 points (97.7% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26903 readers
1902 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected]


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

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."

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

Spanish, but only from my region:

"You are worth dick": You are worth nothing

"You are not worth dick": You are worth nothing

So basically to be worth dick and not be worth dick is the same.

We also have some variation like

"You are [not] worth three trip strips of cock": same meaning.

A bonus, not related to genitalia:

"Go get your hair brushed by a donkey": Stop pestering / go fuck yourself.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

As an English speaker I would naturally interpret "You are worth dick" and "you are not worth dick" in the same way.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Central America? Those kind of "click" for me if I retranslate them to Spanish with verga.

The "basic" insult also works in Portuguese with "caralho":

  • vale um caralho (worth a dick) = worth nothing
  • não vale um caralho (not worth a dick) = worth nothing

“Go get your hair brushed by a donkey”: Stop pestering / go fuck yourself.

This sound hilarious. How is it phrased in the original? "Anda que un burro vos cepille el pelo" or something like that?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

South america!

I didn't know that also works in Portugese!

The original is: "Vaya a que lo peine un burro". Bit of a hard translation and also is always formal (usted).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I think it's hilarious how often different languages use genitalia in their idioms. These feel like they'd work really well, even in English.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Oooh as a non native speaker, these are fun! Are the first two something like no vales polla or no vales ni polla?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Quite close! But we use another word, polla is mainly use in spain.

"[No] vales [ni] [tres tiras de] verga/mondá"

But if you use ni you necesarly need the no at the begining of the sentence.

Mondá is a slang word, very regional. Is also a bit more agressive.