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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
Community Member
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).

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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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#33

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

Random German rhyme with similar sentiment: "Hätte, hätte, Fahrradkette", literal translation: "had (done), had (done), bike chain". Meaning there's no sense to ponder on what might have been if had you acted a different way.

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#34

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

A certain children's rhyme that I almost forgot contains "Tomaten auf den Augen und Bohnen in den Ohren" (tomatoes on the eyes and beans in the ears, meaning blind and deaf)

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#35

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

But a cat is _supposed_ to eat rats! What about the cat goes the harsh after knocking 900 glasses off of shelves?

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#36

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

Same in German! Well, almost. Germans "talk" around "the" hot porridge (um den heißen Brei herumreden)

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#38

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

Very similar thing in Hungarian, we use "ennivaló" which means it is meant to be eaten, for cute things like puppies or babies

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#43

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

Brazilian portuguese: "Vá para o diabo que te carregue". Literal: Go to the devil willing to carry you.

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#44

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

"Nicht mein Bier/not my beer" is more used like "I'm not interested". Not my problem equals "Nicht meine Baustelle/Not my construction site"

#46

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

My favorite foreign expression is the German "Tu ein Affenzahn darauf", which means "hurry up" but is literally "Put a monkey's tooth on it". I love it because it makes ZERO SENSE.

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