Do You Ever Use Idioms?

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Mark Berkowitz
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Posted

In my family, it seems as if most idioms are completely lost (even in translation) with 4 exceptions—i.e., ‘Curiosity Killed the Cat,’ ‘A penny for your thoughts’ (which I’ve translated into ‘A peso for your thoughts’), ‘Blessing in disguise,’ and ‘We’ll cross that bridge when you come to it.’

I’ve tried over and over again to explain (and even translate) other idioms, such as the following but I get blank stares.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket

Kill two birds with one stone

Can't judge a book by its cover

Hit the nail on the head

The elephant in the room

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Why do I say these things?

I don’t really know why and I often try to stop myself from using idiomatic speech... but sometimes, it just comes out of my mouth. :SugarwareZ-037:

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Jack Peterson
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2 hours ago, Mark Berkowitz said:

Why do I say these things?

Scratching Head.jpg I guess they are easy for us in our own way but one that my daughter (18) understands is;

You're as useless as a Chocolate Kettle :shades: Anything else is just wasted. Mark, there are days when I sit and Think and there are days when I just Sit. 

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Mark Berkowitz
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14 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

Scratching Head.jpg I guess they are easy for us in our own way but one that my daughter (18) understands is;

You're as useless as a Chocolate Kettle :shades: Anything else is just wasted. Mark, there are days when I sit and Think and there are days when I just Sit. 

Jack, I don't mean to get political but I really like this visual image.

Capture.JPG

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Dave Hounddriver
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Posted
3 hours ago, Mark Berkowitz said:

In my family, it seems as if most idioms are completely lost (even in translation)

Well I'm going to go up the apples and pears as I'm off to spend a penny and I'll give that some thought as right now I've got sweet Fanny Adams!

 

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intrepid
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I gave up using them a long time ago except for one that all seem to understand.  "That person is as smart as a pile of rocks".  :whistling:

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Mark Berkowitz
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16 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Well I'm going to go up the apples and pears as I'm off to spend a penny and I'll give that some thought as right now I've got sweet Fanny Adams!

 

Thanks Dave, although George Bernard Shaw famously said, "England and America are two countries divided by a common language," I now have a better understanding of your idiomatic expressions.

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sonjack2847
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6 hours ago, Mark Berkowitz said:

In my family, it seems as if most idioms are completely lost (even in translation) with 4 exceptions—i.e., ‘Curiosity Killed the Cat,’ ‘A penny for your thoughts’ (which I’ve translated into ‘A peso for your thoughts’), ‘Blessing in disguise,’ and ‘We’ll cross that bridge when you come to it.’

I’ve tried over and over again to explain (and even translate) other idioms, such as the following but I get blank stares.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket

Kill two birds with one stone

Can't judge a book by its cover

Hit the nail on the head

The elephant in the room

 Capture.JPG

Why do I say these things?

I don’t really know why and I often try to stop myself from using idiomatic speech... but sometimes, it just comes out of my mouth. :SugarwareZ-037:

Sorry a bit off topic but the saying hit the nail on the head comes from Corn street in Bristol where they used to sell corn.When a deal was done they would hit the nail with their fist. They still have the Big nails there and it is a tourist attraction.I don`t have a link but I am sure you people can look for yourselves.

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Mike J
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Posted
14 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

You're as useless as a Chocolate Kettle :shades:

Is that anything like:

Rubber crutch in a polio ward

Screen door in a submarine

Tits on a boar

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mogo51
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Mine is 'useless as tits on a bull', same same but different Mike as they say here.

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