163

Multilingual folks: what are some odd idioms in your language(s)? (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 months ago by alquicksilver@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

164 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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

[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

In French, the expression "du coup" (it means something like "therefore" or "so" or "thus") can be used in place of like 10 other expressions.

Ainsi

Donc

Alors

Tout à coup

Soudainement

En conclusion

Si je comprends bien

De ce fait

Ce qui fait que

En conséquence

Consequémment

But "consequently" and "so" and "in conclusion" can all be replaced by "therefore" in English as well as in French ... if one accepts a lack of nuance and depth.

There are subtle differences in all of them, and for instance switching "suddenly" for "if I understand well" would often confuse the listener.

this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024

163 points (97.7% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26672 readers

1787 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics.

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, 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 spam

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

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. 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 info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.