Regular readers of Bored Panda will no doubt be familiar with James Chapman, a designer based in Manchester, England who creates funny drawings based on the concept of language, especially popular sayings. Previously he showed us how kissing, snoring, and animals sound in different languages, and now he's brought us a collection of illustrated literal meaning translations of peculiar and often funny sayings from around the world.
From Kenya and Sweden to popular idioms in Ethiopia and Russia, Chapman shows us how different countries often interpret well-known proverbs (sleeping on a problem/judging a book by its cover/nothing last forever) while also introducing us to funny idioms that we might have never heard before. Like his work? Then head on over to Etsy where you can find a whole bunch of merchandise for sale.
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As a Turkish woman, I had to google the line to see the Turkish version cause I've never heard of it before.
Wow! An American comics character became part of an Asian proverb!? How so? Does it mean Batmam is THAT old and THAT iconic? I mean, Superman and Wonder Woman have entered the language through idioms, but this is the first time I see a superhero in a proverb. Proverbs are considered as old words of wisdom. Interesting. This makes me curious. ♥
We also have a similar one in Indonesia. "Empty barrels make the loudest noise"
its all about perception im afraid. the older you get the more you realise you are missing the bigger picture, then the even bigger picture after that..
my family is always like oh your supposed to be loud and I'm in my room listening to music....
It's mean something different: some people just look for reasons to blame for their failures in the outside, never in the inside. The bad ballerina blames the hem of her skirt, not her poor dancing skills.
"Don't judge a book by it's cover" Is how the saying goes here in the USA
In English, a "feather in the cap" means accolades. Could this idiom actually mean, "Don't worry about receiving praise, just do the job and be happy with what you get"? That makes more sense to me.
A similar russian proverb is:"you can't butter a bread with thank you"
I prefer: "IF my grandma had wheels she'd be an omnibus". This saying is quite well known in Germany and Italy and probably a lot of other places.
Yeah, don't bother helping them, just help yourself. Great life lesson.
same proverb in German, saying that gras won't grow faster when you're pulling on it
My Korean friend explained it like this to me; of a Koi carp trying to swim up a waterfall, and if he reached the top he would become a dragon. its about facing great adversity and if you were to beat it you would become more powerful than you imagined.