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."

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[–] 21 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (15 children)

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!

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    I love the Norwegian "helt Texas" or "completely Texas", which means something's totally crazy. Probably a reference to Westerns.

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  • [+] 2 points 2 years ago* (2 children)
  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    Yeah it's common in English that saying "I'm Xed" means drunk.

    Fucked, twated, trollied, muntered, cunted, steamed etc.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    According to John Oliver you can use any noun, like for example "gazeboed".

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    That's generally true, but there are some exceptions. For instance. "I'm pissed" can either mean "I'm drunk" or "I'm angry" depending on where you are and the context.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    UK would always be drunk, in my experience.

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