Idiom USED On Occasion BY everybody
The thing that everyone knows but no one is acknowledging because it is uncomfortable.
"Let's address the elephant in the room: you don't want us to get married."
Submitted February 2025 by jo
Idiom USED On Occasion BY everybody
The thing that everyone knows but no one is acknowledging because it is uncomfortable.
"Let's address the elephant in the room: you don't want us to get married."
Submitted February 2025 by jo
Idiom USED On Occasion BY Everyone
Do something stupid in public.
"Da mich ich mich ja zum Horst, wenn ich mit der geblümten Badehose ins Schwimmbad gehe."
"I'll make myself into a horst if I go to the swimming pool with my flowery swimming trunks."
Submitted April 2024 by anonymous
Idiom USED Frequently BY Older people
(to paint the devil on the wal) • When we assume the worst of a situation before anything has even happened. It can be discouraged to say - don't anticipate awful things or they will happen.
“Du solltest nicht immer den Teufel an die Wand malen, nur weil du ein schlechtes Gefühl hast—oft kommt alles doch anders als befürchtet.”
“You shouldn’t always paint the devil on the wall just because you have a bad feeling—often everything turns out differently than feared.”
Submitted February 2024 by anonymous
Arabic
Palestine, Arabic speaking countries
Idiom USED Very frequently BY Everybody
(give away out of kindness or excess) • The root of the word in standard Arabic means to give away out of excess and/or kindness, but is commonly used in Arab countries by the giver to convey hospitality. The giver would commonly say it while offering the receiver something- most commonly food. It's as if to mean please accept this out of your (the reciever's) kindness and excess, and not the other way around, or to say you would be kind to accept this humble thing regardless of if it's humble or not.
" اتفضل. اشي بسيط. بعد الحرب بضيفك إشي معتبر."
"Could you give away out of kindness. It's something simple. After the war, I will offer you something better."
Submitted March 2024 by zahrft
Idiom USED On Occasion BY everybody
(despite your father) • It means whether you like it or not.
"غصبًا عن أبوكم، فلسطين تصير حرة بالكامل."
"In spite of your father['s dislike], Palestine will be completely free."
Submitted March 2024 by zahrft
Idiom USED Frequently BY New Zealanders and (less common) Australians
Colloquial expression meaning it will work out or it will be fine.
"Mate, I don't think you have enough petrol to get there." "No worries, she'll be right."
Submitted April 2024 by anonymous
Idiom USED On Rare Occasion BY Some people
1. To be exuberantly having sex. 2. To argue loudly (rarer) A slightly old-fashioned phrase.
"I could hear my neighbours at it like knives all night!"
Submitted February 2024 by anonymous
Idiom USED On Occasion BY Some people
A vulgar, somewhat blokish, expression for something or someone that is very good. The phrase dates back to at least the 1940s but is still in common (vulgar) use
"That new show is the dog's bollocks!"
Submitted February 2024 by anonymous
bu ne perhiz bu ne lahana turşusu
Idiom USED On Occasion BY Some people
(what a diet, what a sauerkraut) • This idiom means to act in a way that contradicts one's own words. It is generally expressed to condemn people whose words and actions do not match.
"Adam dün neler diyordu, şimdi neler yapıyor, bu ne perhiz bu ne lahana turşusu?"
"That guy was saying one thing yesterday, now doing the opposite, what kind of a diet, what kind of a sauerkraut is this?"
Submitted January 2024 by anonymous
not as green as cabbage-looking
Idiom USED On Rare Occasion BY Some people
To not be as naive as someone appears. To be smarter or more intelligent than expected.
"They tried to hide the dent so I'd pay full price, but I'm not as green as I am cabbage-looking."
Submitted February 2024 by anonymous
Italian
| Milanese
Lombardy,
Italy
Idiom USED On Occasion BY Everybody
(Go get the rats) • It literally means "Go get the rats". It is used when you want to tell someone to get lost.
"Sei proprio fastidioso, va a ciapà i ratt!"
"You are annoying, go get the rats!"
Submitted January 2024 by anonymous
Idiom USED On Occasion BY Everybody
(cow cow) • The idiom comes from an old joke, and means "Slowly", or "One thing at a time."
"אם נשתמש בתכניקה הזאת, נוכל לעשות את כל המטלות בבת אחת!" "פרה פרה, אין שום צורך למהר. אפשר לעבור על כל מטלה לעצמה."
"If we use this technique, we could do all the tasks at once!" "Cow cow, there is no need to rush. We could go over each task on its own."
Submitted January 2024 by anonymous
British English
UK Territories
Idiom USED On Occasion BY Anyone
Used to express something which is easily follows another. As in, "there you have it", "there you go", "simple as that", etc.
"Got a muddy carpet problem? Just leave your shoes at the door and, Bob's your uncle, you'll keep those floors nice and clean!"
"Got a muddy carpet problem? Just leave your shoes at the door and, there you have it, you'll keep those floors nice and clean!"
Submitted January 2024 by anonymous
donde cristo perdio el mechero
Idiom USED On Occasion BY some people
It means something very very far in a very remote and hard to determine place.
"Carlos vive donde Cristo perdió el mechero, allí a cincuenta kilómetros de Madrid en medio de la montaña."
"Carlos lives where Christ lost his lighter, there fifty kilometers from Madrid in the middle of the mountain."
Submitted January 2024 by anonymous
Idiom USED Frequently BY Almost Everyone
(to leek) • Waiting motionless for a long time, like a leek planted in the ground.
"Il y avait tellement de monde au magasin, le vendeur m'a fait poireauter pendant une heure."
"There were so many people at the store, the salesman made me leek for one hour."
Submitted January 2023 by anonymous
English
English speaking countries
Idiom USED On Occasion BY Some people
This idiom is used playfully not to reveal the source of information about something. Usually, however, the source of the information is obvious. Sometimes rendered as 'A little bird told me'
"How did you know it was my birthday?" "Let's just say a little birdie told me!"
Italian
| Sicilian
Sicily,
Italy
cu’ si fa pecura, u lupu su mancia
Idiom USED Frequently BY Sicilian
(who becomes sheep, wolf eat) • It is an exhortation to be strong and decisive. If in life you appear weak or not very decisive, you risk finding someone who wants to bully or hurt you. The metaphor of the wolf eating the sheep represents someone who takes advantage of another's weakness.
"Picchì ghianci?" "Mi hanno rubato il pranzo oggi" "Ah, e nun'na ghianciri, viri ca cu’ si fa pecura, u lupu su mancia"
"Why are you crying?" "Today someone took my lunch" "Oh, don't cry, who becomes sheep, the wolf eat"
Submitted November 2023 by anonymous
Idiom USED on occasion BY some people
(hit of a lightning ) • The feeling of love that comes from the first time you met someone.
"Ho incontrato una ragazza in metro, penso di aver avuto un colpo di fulmine, non smetto di pensarla!"
"I met some girl while on the subway and I think I got a hit of a lightning, I can't stop thinking about her!"
Submitted November 2023 by rayray
Idiom USED On Rare Occasion BY Some People
To impress someone. Refers to the word 'raspberry'.
"I'm gonna bake her a cake, I am sure that'll razz her berries"
Idiom USED Very frequently BY Young People
(what bad milk) • This is used to convey the feeling of pleasure or satisfaction that one experiences at someone else’s misfortune. Used to gloat and mock.
“¿No has ganado el vídeojuego? ¡Qué mala leche!”
“You didn't win the game? What bad milk!”
