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To mark its launch, creative translation agency Franklyfluent has teamed up with illustrator Genevieve Edwards to produce a series of vibrant illustrations celebrating the weird and wonderful world of foreign language sayings.

A friendly group, each one of the five illustrations represents an oddly amusing idiom from a different corner of the world – from Slovenia’s 300 hairy bears to Japanese monkeys, franklyfluent takes a look at the delicate task of translating from one culture to another.

You might overhear this peculiar saying on a stroll through the Slovenian countryside, though it’s nothing to do with the resident population of brown bears – it’s an expression of surprise. But holy moly! We wouldn’t expect you to get that from a literal translation alone.

This Japanese adage is a reminder that everyone slips up from time to time. But the literal translation left us thinking there was monkey business afoot.

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Though not renowned for their luscious locks, giraffe combing is said to be the most pointless task a Frenchman can imagine. Perhaps that’s how the expression came to mean ‘wasting your time’… But the literal translation left us flummoxed.

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Through Neapolitan piazzas and the rolling hills of Tuscany, these are the peculiar words Italians use to wish a pal good luck. ‘Break a leg’ is more the sort of thing we Anglophones would reach for. But you couldn’t have guessed that from the literal translation, could you?

When a German sees a pig whistling his reaction isn’t incredulity, as ours might be if we saw one in flight. He’s just thinking: ‘how extraordinarily surprising’. Or ‘blow me down’ as we might say. But you’d be forgiven for being confused if we left the translation word for word.

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