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Everyone can agree, especially non-native speakers, that the English language can get very tricky. Most of us know the feeling of being puzzled by the strange spelling rules and grammar of this language, but the truth is, every native language has its own peculiarities. So if you think that the funny idioms in English are bad enough, check out this hilarious Twitter thread of the weirdest phrases and their literal meanings.

Started by the Twitter user @jazz_inmypants who asked people to share their favorite non-English funny sayings, the thread was quickly filled with unexpected responses, most of them reminding us how strange some mother tongues are. Scroll below to read the idioms and their meanings.

More info: twitter.com

#3

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

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Anna von Überwald
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Bacon" is not really correct. "Speck" is the fatty part of bacon, therefore you can also refer to you belly fat as "Speck" instead of "Fett" (fat). Literal translation: grief fat

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#5

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Trixie Argh
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The real quote actually is "great minds think alike, though fools seldom differ"

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#8

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

May I add: "Mit dem ist nicht gut Kirschen essen", literally "With this guy you cannot easily eat cherries", means that you will encouter a crumpy person.

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#9

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chi-wei shen
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It should be written "wurst" instead of "Wurst". The noun Wurst means Sausage but the adjective wurst means it doesn't matter. (In German all nouns start with an uppercase letter.)

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#10

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

Germanversion: Milchmädchenrechnung; lit. "milk maid's calculation". It's based on a small folk tale of a milk maid thinking about what she'll buy with the money she'll get for the milk, and what she'll buy for the money when selling THAT etc - and then she spills the milk.

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#11

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Caridina Japonica
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are a lot of funny descriptions for remote or unattractive places in germany. Such as "Da liegt der Hund begraben" (This is where the dog has been buried) or "Da willst du nicht tot überm Zaun hängen" (You don't want to hang dead over the fence)

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#14

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

you can also says: pousser du vieux avec du neuf (pushing old stuff with new stuff) :-)

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#17

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Andres Tejeda
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Being Mexican I heard this a lot as a child. Trying to explain this to my non-Spanish speaking friends was really funny.

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#18

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Javier del Rios
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I usually say "Febo asoma", which would translate to something like "morning has broken" or something (febo is another name for the sun).

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#20

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

That might be problematic to say these days, but I love it. Very succinct and rather self-explanatory.

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#25

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PanditoBandito
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5 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm just going to say "your goats have run to the mountain!"

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#29

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

German "alles in Butter" means "everything is alright". Back in the days, fragile things were transported in butter (as in, you poured molten butter over it and then transported the whole hardened block).

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

We say this in Belgium as well (the Flemish part) 'Met uw gat in de boter gevallen' meaning: 'You felt with your buthole in the butter' - basicly meaning: you're very lucky!

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

In Serbian, the equivalent would be: "Spoon in the honey". Кашика у меду.

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

In Dutch we have: "Met je neus in de boter vallen." Which literally translates to "To fall in butter with your nose." and also means to be lucky.

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

Polish: ‘jak pączki w maśle’ which means ‚alike the donuts (dipped) in the butter’

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

It doesn't imply luck as much as being in a good financial situation though.

Pamela24
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OK, I'm gonna add another butter one: "mít máslo na hlavě" means in Czech "to be guilty of something." but literally it means: "to have butter on your head"

Max L.
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Strangely in Italy we use the exact same expression to mean somebody is smart : what an a*s. (Che culo)

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

in portuguese : you have born with your a*s on the side of the moon (literally) means you always have luck

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

Wow, that's lot of butter-related phrases! :) In Polish I can think of two: one is "jak pączek w maśle" meaning that you're doing really well in life and the translation is "like a donut in butter". The other one is "bułka z masłem" meaning that something is very easy/will come easily to you, and literal translation is simply "bun with butter".

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

that would be similar in Italian: col culo nel burro - to be very lucky - with your butt in butter

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

Reminds me of German "Wie die Made im Speck" to indicate one is doing really well. Literally "like the maggot in the bacon"

Michele Dymond
Community Member
5 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A South African said to me, "You have landed with your butt in butter". Meaning things have turned out alright.

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

We call the sweet spot in the middle "the butter hole" (smørhullet) in Danish. I don't even know what a butter hole is and at this point I'm afraid to ask.

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

In polish similar expression is "jak pączek w maśle" which is literally "like a donut in the butter"

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

Not sure if its just in Sweden but - Högsta Hönset (Tallest Chicken) means the boss/leader

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#30

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Ryukei_Panda
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5 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Endearment terms in French are pretty weird when you think about it. \1 mon petit chou /chouchou = my little cabbage /cabbage-cabbage (for both genders) 2\ ma puce = my flee (parents to their daughter or boyfriend to their girlfriend) \3 * mon lapin = my rabbit (I mostly hear older people call their grandchild like this) >> That's for the most common ones!

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