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15 Romanian Sayings That Sound (And Look!) Really Funny In English
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15 Romanian Sayings That Sound (And Look!) Really Funny In English

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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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Marius

Marius

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tu nu, betmen, betmen

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Marius

Marius

Author, Community member

tu nu, betmen, betmen

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Lucian Burca
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's cutting leaf for the dogs, not grass ! Dogs like grass too much, it's not pointless enough !

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Lucian Burca
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's cutting leaf for the dogs, not grass ! Dogs like grass too much, it's not pointless enough !

Load More Comments
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