ADVERTISEMENT

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

channndler96 Report

Add photo comments
POST
lokusgirl avatar
Anna von Überwald
Community Member
4 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

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#5

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

luisa0797 Report

Add photo comments
POST
trixigperson3 avatar
Trixie Argh
Community Member
4 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"

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#8

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

Kair0s Report

Add photo comments
POST
crabcrab avatar
Hans
Community Member
4 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#9

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

ooblyjubily Report

Add photo comments
POST
chi-weishen avatar
chi-wei shen
Community Member
4 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.)

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#10

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

AwaisLeghari27 Report

Add photo comments
POST
susannaental_1 avatar
Dynein
Community Member
4 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#11

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

uselessaroace Report

Add photo comments
POST
falkedesaladil avatar
Caridina Japonica
Community Member
4 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)

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#14

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

aplayner Report

Add photo comments
POST
kjorn avatar
Kjorn
Community Member
4 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) :-)

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#17

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

Jocelyn1617 Report

Add photo comments
POST
tejeda187 avatar
Andres Tejeda
Community Member
4 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.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#18

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

gemlizard Report

Add photo comments
POST
javier1976 avatar
Javier del Rios
Community Member
4 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).

View more commentsArrow down menu
#20

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

absolutgrace Report

Add photo comments
POST
susannaental_1 avatar
Dynein
Community Member
4 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#25

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

youmissedascot Report

Add photo comments
POST
puppylovela avatar
PanditoBandito
Community Member
4 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!"

View more commentsArrow down menu
#28

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

suvisolja Report

#29

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

5by5nina Report

Add photo comments
POST
susannaental_1 avatar
Dynein
Community Member
4 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).

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#30

People-Share-Favorite-Foreign-Language-Phrases

PellPiper Report

Add photo comments
POST
sgaelle_facebook avatar
Ryukei_Panda
Community Member
4 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!

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

Note: this post originally had 46 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda