How to say ‘pigs might fly’ in Uzbek and other idioms

Sep 16, 2011 3:24:58 AM

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Language is one of the best ways to experience another culture. As these idioms – and their surprising translations – show, it’s the similarities and differences between us that make exploring the world such a wonderful thing. These phrases were compiled for Lonely Planet magazine by guest expert Adam Jacot de Boinod, author of The Meaning of Tingo: and other Extraordinary Words from Around the World.

It’s raining cats and dogs

Afrikaans: Ou vrouens met knopkieries reen
It’s raining old women with clubs

Dutch: Het regent pijpenstelen
It’s raining pipestems

Persian: Baron mesleh dobeh asb mirized
It’s raining like the tail of the horse

Greek: Brékhei kareklopódara
It’s raining chair legs

German: Es regnet schusterbuben
It’s raining young cobblers

Taking coals to Newcastle/Selling ice to the eskimos

Russian: Yezdit’ b Tulu s svoim samovarom
He’s going to Tula, taking his own samovar

German: Eulen nach Athen tragen
Taking owls to Athens

Hungarian: Vizet hord a Dunába
He’s taking water to the Danube

Spanish: Es como llevar naranjas a Valencia
It’s like taking oranges to Valencia

A sledgehammer to crack a nut

Thai: Kee chang jahb thak-a-thaen
Ride an elephant to catch a grasshopper

Mandarin: Tuo kuzi fang pi
To take your trousers offto break wind

Turkish: Pire icin yorgan yakmak
To burn the duvet becauseof one flea

When pigs might fly

Croatian: Kad na vrbi rodi grožde
When willows bear grapes

Hungarian: Majd ha piros hó esik
When it’s snowing red snowflakes

Uzbek: Tuyaning dumi yerga tekkanda
When the camel’s tail reaches the ground

Russian: Kag-da rak svist-nyet
When the crayfish whistles

Like father like son

Portuguese: Filho de peixe sabe nadar
A fish’s child knows howto swim

Hausa, Nigeria: Barewa tayi gudu danta ya yi rarrafe
How can a gazelle’s offspring crawl when its mother is a fast runner?

Arabic: Ibn al bat’awwam
The son of a duck is a floater

Out of the frying pan, into the fire

Czech: Dostat se z bláta do louıe
Out of the mud, into the puddle

Hindi: Aasmaan se gire khajoor mein atke
Down from the skies, into the date tree

Indonesian: Takut akan lumpur lari ke duri
Afraid of mud, escape to thorns

Once bitten, twice shy

Russian: Puganaya vorona kusta
A spooked crow is afraid of a bush

Swahili: Mtafunwa na nyoka akiona unyasi hushtuka
One who has been bitten by a snake startles at a reed

Portuguese: Cão picado por cobra, tem medo de linguiça
A dog bitten by a snake fears sausages

To beat about the bush

Finnish: Kiertää kuin kissa kuumaa puuroa
To pace around hot porridgelike a cat

Italian: Menare il can per l’aia
To lead the dog around the yard

Spanish: Emborrachar la perdiz
To get the partridge drunk

Further reading:

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Comments

16 September 2011 9:55PM mrsbellamy Report this comment
"Es regnet Schusterbuben"? I'm a native German and have never, ever, heard this before, and would leave me totally blank if a foreigner said it to me. Please change it to "Es schüttet aus Kübeln"!
17 September 2011 8:05PM bonfils Report this comment
@mrsbellamy - that's funny, because (slightly archaic) Danish has "det regner skomagerdrenge", which translates exactly to "Schusterbuben". Maybe Lonely Planet got their languages mixed up. ;-)
20 September 2011 4:24AM gugavaz Report this comment
In Brazil we say: "Está chovendo canivetes" which means "It's raining pen knives"
21 September 2011 3:45AM amwi Report this comment
@mrsbellamy: 'Es regnet Schustbuben' I'm a native Austrian and I've heard that phrase a lot. Especially from my german grandmother. But of course I don't know which of the german speakin countries it's from. Since there's the word 'Buben' in it I assume that it's mostly used in southern Germany and Austria.
24 September 2011 4:52PM losgemaal Report this comment
The Afrikaans translation of "raining cats and dogs" is wrong. It should read: Dit re"en ouvrouens met knopkieries! Maybe Lonely Planet shouldn't use online translation sites, they seem to originate from Mars.
29 September 2011 11:46PM pv1655 Report this comment
From the land of the monsoons. In malayalam they say it is raining arrows for a relentless downpour. They should know.. Kerala gets hit by the monsoons first in India.
27 October 2011 7:14AM limisella Report this comment
Indonesia's out of the frying pan into the fire phrase is wrong. I have never ever heard of that one. The actual comparable phrase is: "Keluar mulut harimau, masuk mulut buaya."
It means: out of tiger's mouth, into crocodile's mouth.