#idioms and expressions

[mylinguaacademy]

20 Animal Idioms in English

20 Animal Idioms in English Hello English learners. Welcome to a new lesson. If idioms are your cup of tea, you are in the right place because, in today’s lesson, we will look at 20 “animal” idioms in English. Here is the list: Ants in your pants Bigger fish to fry Bull in a china shop Butterflies in your stomach Cat’s pyjamas Crocodile tears Dark horse Dog eat dog The elephant in the room Fish…

[rwby-redux]

What other swears/expressions are there in the Redux, apart from Maiden's tits?

The full list is still under development, but here are a few of my favorites.

Not properly attired. It means, “You’re needlessly wasting something when you already have alternative means to get it done.” This idiom started out as a way to chastise/scold someone when they wasted their Aura on staving off the weather, as opposed to dressing appropriately. Aura is, after all, a finite resource. Why use it for thermoregulation when you could just, y’know, wear layers, and save your Aura for something more important. Unsurprisingly, this expression comes from Solitas.

Don’t tether yourself to that anchor. Basically, “Don’t commit to that person/cause, or it’ll take you down with it.” Although this idiom originated in Western Vale, it’s now heard in pretty much all of the major coastal/port cities.

The ass-end of a Taijutu. Something that doesn’t exist. It’s considered fairly rude (the obvious swear notwithstanding), as are most idioms that invoke Grimm by name. Though to be fair, it also depends on the perspective of the speaker. People from Vale (or at least, those who tend to be more superstitious) typically don’t refer to Grimm by their names, but rather by kennings.

On the road to Mantle. “Gradually becoming irrelevant/obsolete.” Although Mantle is still a robust, densely-populated city, it’s typically looked down upon (both figuratively and literally) by those from the City of Atlas. This expression came about shortly after Mantle lost its status as the capital, and was reinforced by the self-proclaimed “old families” of the kingdom. It has a narrow range of usage and isn’t typically heard outside of Solitas and Northern Anima. Saying this to someone who’s actually from Mantle is a good way to get decked in the face.

Make a Gigas out of a Geist. This is more or less the equivalent of “Making a mountain out of a molehill.” It’s based on the idea of a Geist in its “default” state being considerably less of a threat than its Gigas forms (Arma, Petra, Cryo, etc).

Kicking up the silt. A person that’s kicking up the silt is someone who’s being unhelpful. This idiom comes from the various piscatorial cultures that sprung up around Lake Matsu and the Lonmet River. Water that’s cloudy with debris is bad for fishing, so it stands to reason that a person who creates those conditions is making it harder for all parties involved.

Salt to ash. “Beginning to end,” or “Start to finish.” In traditional Mistrali culture, when children reach one year of age, they’re taken to the seaside by their family and undergo a religious rite similar to a baptism (or the ritual drowning performed in A Song of Ice and Fire). When a person dies, their remains are cremated and scattered from an (ideally) high, windy vantage point. Among the people of Mistral, it’s said that their lives begin with salt, and end with ash.

King’s blessing. If someone offers to perform a king’s blessing on you, they’re offering to unlock your Aura. This term is specific to Western Vale, and goes back several centuries. In the days of the Valin monarchy, the crown was charged with not only defending its people, but arming them with the means to protect themselves. If a citizen of the kingdom wanted, they could request an audience with the monarch, and ask to be blessed with the “armor of god.” It was the crown’s responsibility to fulfill this obligation and unlock it for them.

Everyone wants to be a story worth remembering. A popular saying in Vacuo that speaks to the deep, terrifying desire to want to connect with others; to know that even in death, our stories will outlive us, and that when we existed, we mattered. Vacuo as a whole places heavy emphasis on community, and this saying sort of embodies that sentiment. It’s also reinforced by Vacuo’s culture of venerating the dead, and revering one’s ancestors.

Somewhere, a Grimm smiles. This one can be interpreted as “Take all bad things in stride,” or perhaps as the not-quite equivalent to “Roll with the blows.” In life, hardships are inevitable (as are the Grimm). It’s an expression of comfort usually given to people who are bogged down by day-to-day troubles or inconveniences.

Parche. A self-important prick; a pejorative way to describe someone important. This term is itself derived from a much older idiom: You only matter if you’re on a map. However many centuries ago, long before humanity got the hang of building defensible cities, it was often a gamble whether or not a settlement would survive. If the local government didn’t have faith in a settlement’s ability to last more than a year, they would have cartographers omit that settlement when updating the year’s maps. As a result, uncharted settlements were often avoided by travelers, and they received the least amount of resources/funding from the local government. They tended to prematurely suffer because they were tacitly deemed unlikely to make it; consequentially, this led to outsiders regarding those settlements as “lesser.” The inhabitants of these settlements, in turn, began to contemptuously regard anyone who came from cities that were “important enough” to be recorded on a map. Over time, parche became a negative shorthand for anyone from one of the “parchment cities.”

[sayitaliano]

Italian idiomatic expressions

Just heard this from the news (sport) Loved the use of similar words in this sentence so I thought about making a short post about it

"Vedremo se il nostro velocista di punta riuscirà a spuntarla"

-> di punta = top, best, primary (out of a team)

-> riuscire a spuntarla = "being able to make it/to succeed *despite/against difficulties or against odds*" idiomatic expression (spuntare = lit. to check, to trim) Similar to "riuscire a farcela" (more literal translation of "being able to make it"). "Spuntarla" suggests more of a tight battle against others as in a sport competition (implied info since the video was about this sprinter going to compete against others). Maybe "end up being successful" could be a more literal translation?

Translation: "We'll see if our best sprinter will be able to make it"

[useless-catalanfacts]

Bon vent i barca nova! 🌬️🛥️

This is one of my favourite expressions in Catalan. The literal translation is "good wind and new boat!" but it's a not-so-subtle way of saying you hate that person and are happy to see them go. Basically, you're wishing them to have a favourable wind and a new ship so they can get far away from you as soon as possible.

For example:

A: Has sentit que aquell company de feina tan cregut ho deixa?

B: Doncs bon vent i barca nova!

A: Have you heard that egotist co-worker is quitting the job?

B: Then good wind and new boat!

[koreanling]

개천에서 용 난다

Lit. a dragon rises up from a small stream. From rags to riches! Someone who went from a lower economic state to one much higher. Many Korean myths say dragons can rise from the ocean so rising from a stream is seen as unexpected and amazing.

[algerianity]

n Algeria we don’t say “it is none of my business” but we say “تَخْطِي راسِي” and I think it’s beautiful ❤️

[german-enthusiast]

Wir haben zur zeit einen Pflegehund (foster dog), Miki. Unser Hund (Fin) und Miki sind beide English Setter und sehen Recht ähnlich aus (weiß und schwarz, gleiche Statur, etc) außer das Miki scheinbar 24/7 auf Crack ist und Fin zuhause einfach nur schlafen will.

Hinzu kommt, dass Fin zuhause einen eher unglücklichen Gesichtsausdruck hat (picture an autistic person not needing to mask at home, that's fin at home). Miki hingegen ist die ganze Zeit bei uns und zeigt das typische Die Lichter sind an aber keiner ist zuhause wenn er aufgeregt ist.

Manchmal ist er aber auch verwirrt, sitzt dann auf dem Boden und schaut in die Luft.

Warum erzähle ich das? Wegen einem deutschen Ausdruck, den wir in dem Kontext ständig über Miki sagen:

Er sieht aus wie bestellt und nicht abgeholt

(he looks as if he was ordered and then not picked up)

Mit dem Sprichwort bezeichnet man Leute/Tiere, die hilflos, verloren, verwirrt aussehen.

Ich habe bei Google Images versucht Photos zu finden, aber keins war richtig... vielleicht hat jemand anderes eins?

Obligatory photo dump of the boys:

[world-of-advice]

[partangel]

hanging out with my coworkers is such a delight miss me with that i hate my coworkers lifestyle i go out to drink sangria with mine to simultaneously juggle conversations between ingmar bergmans daughter, stand up comedy bits, the question of how much is lost in translating ancient greek and planning on how to steal passion fruit that was ripe for the taking in this very specific open space

[mylinguaacademy]

Talking about Difference in English

Talking about Difference in English Hi English learners! Welcome to a new lesson. We are going to learn some new vocabulary and expressions we need for talking about differences in English. We can talk about differences by using comparative adjectives or adverbs: After she became a vegetarian, Tara felt healthier and got slimmer. When they told the boy to be quiet, he started shouting even…

[rwby-redux]

I wanted to make this a reply, but it was to long so I am asking instead. Basically I wanted to say Thanks. About Jaune, you are asking the kinds of questions I asked when I did specultions about him.

It always felt to me like his parents were doing that whole “shelter with ignorance” trope thing and ended up breaking his self-esteem in his process. But if that’s the case it begs the question of “what are they sheltering him from?”

And you can tell I probably but WAY more thought into this then I needed to. (But you seem to be the type who like me likes to overthink things) But he and Weiss have always been my two favorite characters

On a different note, and something I think you will probably get new use out of what about in world curses? Often there’s a link between what is sacred in a world, and what kind of curses they use. For example in The Stormlight Archive people often curse by the Stornfather as he is associated with divinity. This lends itself to a hilarious moment in the the third book when one of the main characters, Dalinar, who has by then bonded (it’s a sort of magical partnership thingy) said Stormfather via the series magic system ends up cursing, and confusing his bond partner who thinks he was calling his name.

Dalinar: Stormfather!

Stormfather: Yes?

Dalinar: Sorry, that was a curse.

So besides cursing by the two brothers what else do you think people would curse by in Remnant?

You’re welcome! Real quick, just as a side note—much as I rag on Jaune, I actually do like him. Despite the fact I frequently use him as a verbal punching bag, he’s not a bad character. He’s just a character that the writers don’t seem to know what to do with. It’s hard to make a good case for Jaune whenever the writers fail to make him interesting or relevant to the plot. More’s the pity, because the potential’s there. Someone like Jaune could have been used to explore the POV of a non-combatant in this setting (something which the show sorely lacks, since it exclusively follows the perspective of trained warriors who can navigate a monster-filled world with relative ease).

“What are they sheltering him from?” would have been such a neat question to explore, had the show bothered to flesh out Jaune’s motives with respect to his lack of fighting skills.

And yeah, you’re not wrong. This blog’s existence is basically a thought exercise that got out of hand.

Or, to quote Anne Jamison:

“Irritated fans produce fanfic like irritated oysters produce pearls.”

I actually know that scene from The Stormlight Archive (despite never having read the books). It’s one of my favorite tropes, and I wish more people used it because it’s seriously funny.

Come to think of it, it’s a bit strange that series like The Elder Scrolls don’t make use of it more often, since the Daedric Princes are very much real, tangible entities. Sheogorath in particular feels like someone who would gleefully make those sorts of jokes, given his partiality to breaking the fourth wall.

But back to RWBY.

I can’t image that modern humanity would swear by the Brother Gods, since knowledge of their existence (or at the least, worship of them) seems to be something exclusive to the first iteration of humans. I mean, the only two people alive who actually know about them are Salem and Ozma. Unless Salem and Ozma actively went out of their way to reseed those ideas among the general populace, it seems unlikely that belief in the brothers would have endured into the present day.

Qrow also mentioned that religion’s been on the decline in recent years (V4.E8), so there probably wouldn’t be many religious sources to swear by. Mind you, I think that’s a load of nonsense, since the show never provides us with in-world reasons for why religiosity has trended down. I’d be willing to bet money that the writers only came up with that answer because they didn’t want to say that religions exist, and then have to put in the work to make them.

The only real evidence we have of religions in Remnant is throw-away details. In the V4 Character Short, when Ruby passes through a recently-destroyed village, we see a church-like building with a statue of a woman outside of it. Ruby and Yang have both used god figuratively (V1.E3), and there have been at least two instances where a character said by the gods (V4.E3 and V5.E2).

And then, of course, there’s Tyrian, whose religious fanaticism seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

That doesn’t really leave us with a lot of room for interpretation. But we’re not entirely out of options.

One idea which I’m partial to is swearing by the Maidens. Even though knowledge of their existence has faded with time, myths about them still exist in the form of folk stories and fairy tales. It wouldn’t be a stretch if people swore on them out of habit or tradition, regardless of whether or not they actually believed in them.

One such swear in the Redux is Maiden’s tits. It’s basically the equivalent of Merlin’s beard.

(One time, Qrow accidentally let that slip in front of Fria. Fria has never let him live it down.)

[sayitaliano]

How to use the idiomatic sentence "Mi sono cadute le palle" in a speech.

Basically you use when you tell somoene else about something disappointing you have been through or someone told you. It could be used also with irony, so to tell this event with a ironic/funny acception (it's nothing too bad anyway, so you can "laugh" about it when you recall it)

For example, let's suppose you had an appointment with someone on a certain day and let's suppose they cancel it because they forgot about another plan or they actually didn't want to come with you (rude, yeah, but eg.). Your first direct reaction would be "Ma non me lo potevi dire prima?" = Couldn't you tell me beforehands?

So when you tell about this to your friend you could say "Dovevamo andare insieme a X (=posto) ma mi ha scritto la notte prima dicendomi che si era dimenticat* di avere un altro impegno/ch enon voleva più venire con me.... Mi sono cadute le palle" = "So we had to go together to X (=place) but they wrote me like the night before to tell me they forgot they had another plan for the next day/they don't want to come anymore... my balls fell."

Another example kinda from irl. Let's suppose you're telling this to your friend again: "Allora ho chiesto questo documento, ma mi hanno detto di andare a ritirarlo dopo 3 settimane. Quando sono andata a ritirarlo, mi hanno detto che dovevo ritirarlo da un'altra parte. Così sono andata là e quando sono arrivata, la guardia all'ingresso mi ha detto che quel giorno era chiuso... mi sono cadute le palle, non hai idea!" = So I asked for this document, but they told me to go come pick it up in 3 weeks. When I went to pick it up, they told me I had to go to another structure. So I went there, and when I arrived, the guard told me that on that day they were closed... my balls fell, you have no idea"

Ofc if you don't actually have balls, you could also add (not mandatory, as it's just an hyperbole you're using): Mi sono cadute le palle anche se non le ho = even if I don't have them. And to add more "fun" right after: Le ho sentite proprio fisicamente staccarsi dal mio corpo. = I really felt them physically break away from my body.

[useless-catalanfacts]

A common Catalan expression to say something is unbelievable: this is to rent chairs for! (n'hi ha per llogar-hi cadires!)

We use this to show that we are surprised at something curious, funny or even unwanted. The idea is that this thing is so unbelievable that people would rent a chair to sit and watch it.

[maeve-99]

We'll burn that bridge when we come to it.

... is what I said in a meeting today instead of "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." It was very amusing. Luckily, it wasn't a client meeting :D

[algerianity]

” حَدْ ما ڤالْ لحَدْ.“

Ni vu ni connu

— Algerian Idiom 🇩🇿