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15 Romanian Sayings That Sound (And Look!) Really Funny In English
These 15 Romanian sayings make no sense in English (some not even in Romanian!). That’s why I turned them into animations, so you can make (at least a little) sense of what’s going on.
It took some work but now they’re finally done. I am an animator and you can follow me on Instagram:
More info: Instagram
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Taking Your Nose For A Walk
When you’re “taking your nose for a walk”, you’re misbehaving and acting too cocky. We are a proud people and take our noses for a walk once in a while.
Caught With A Cat In The Bag
When you are “caught with a cat in the bag” you have been caught with a lie. Like the English “red-handed”, only cuter.
Like An Old Lady And A Machine Gun
You may not think so but in Romania, two things are “like an old lady with a machine gun” when they have nothing in common. Like apples to oranges, but here we believe you can compare fruit.
Hitting The Puddle With A Bat
When you’re “hitting the puddle with a bat” you’re screwing up and making things work. Because you make big splash and water everywhere… ah… what a disaster… I need to change… you see what I mean?
Rubbing The Mint
“He is rubbing the mint” is a Romanian way of saying he’s wasting time. Although the title of mint-rubber sounds fancy it’s actually the assistant-rubber that does all the work instead.
Match Theory
When someone’s explaining the “match theory” to you, it means he’s talking just for the sake of talking. Because a match is a match and has no theory… Or does it?…
Quiet Like A Pig In A Cornfield
Because we sure do love agricultural things, when someone’s keeping quiet or pretending to not know he’s “quiet like a pig in a cornfield”. Yeehaw!
Your Mustard Is Jumping
We say that “your mustard is jumping” when you are getting really angry. In Romania the mustard is very dramatic and the ketchup more chill.
Rubbing Your Wooden Leg
In Romania, “a rub on a wooden leg” is basically doing something for no reason, like giving a massage to a wooden leg, you see? It makes sense.
Cutting Grass For The Dogs
Here, if you’re wasting time, or doing nothing, you’re “cutting grass for the dogs”. All Romanians know that the only dog that likes grass is Snoop Doggy Dog.
Gone With The Raft
In old country, when someone is crazy we say he has “gone with the raft”. I don’t know why, maybe some crazy person made this saying up.
Selling You Donuts
In Romania, when somebody is telling you lies, he’s “selling donuts” to you. This I cannot understand, as a donut is probably the most honest of the pastries.
Out Of Your Watermelons
If you can’t keep your anger inside and are about to burst, people around here say that you’re “out of your watermelons”. I have no explanation for this, as most things in Romania.
Caught With A Fly On Your Hat
If you’re “with a fly on your hat” you’re feeling guilty about something, as the fly would indicate. Here we have no judicial system and we rely on flies to be judge, jury and executioner.
Turning A Mosquito Into A Horse
When you’re “turning a mosquito into a horse”, you are not only playing God in a literal way, but you’re also really exaggerating something, in the figurative sense.
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What do you think ?
Alexandra Kirilof 6 years ago
Prima nu e chiar ok... se zice "a-ti lua nasul la PURTARE", nu plimbare...
Lucian Burca 6 years ago
There is a lot of non-sense described in this article, as they don't match the said translation compared with the sense they have in Romanian. For example, Romanian donuts are different from the American ones, they are shaped as a ball of fried dough, which becomes hollow inside if the yeast used is fresh and got the right timing while the dough was left to rest. This is why the reason of "selling doughnuts (donuts)" becomes the "selling lies" saying, as one would expect a different product/outcome and getting just a whiz of hot air :P Another bad translation is the hitting the puddle with the bat, which is again lost in translation :) , puddle actually should have been translated as pond, and refers to one's attempt to fish in pond but instead hitting the pond with the bat (angle) he's using to catch the fish :P
Cristian Temelie 6 years ago
It's cutting leaf for the dogs, not grass ! Dogs like grass too much, it's not pointless enough !
Alexandra Kirilof 6 years ago
Prima nu e chiar ok... se zice "a-ti lua nasul la PURTARE", nu plimbare...
Lucian Burca 6 years ago
There is a lot of non-sense described in this article, as they don't match the said translation compared with the sense they have in Romanian. For example, Romanian donuts are different from the American ones, they are shaped as a ball of fried dough, which becomes hollow inside if the yeast used is fresh and got the right timing while the dough was left to rest. This is why the reason of "selling doughnuts (donuts)" becomes the "selling lies" saying, as one would expect a different product/outcome and getting just a whiz of hot air :P Another bad translation is the hitting the puddle with the bat, which is again lost in translation :) , puddle actually should have been translated as pond, and refers to one's attempt to fish in pond but instead hitting the pond with the bat (angle) he's using to catch the fish :P
Cristian Temelie 6 years ago
It's cutting leaf for the dogs, not grass ! Dogs like grass too much, it's not pointless enough !
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