Tagged Questions
5
votes
3answers
473 views
Is there an English equivalent for the Swedish expression “the droplet that caused the beaker to overflow”?
In Swedish, the expression "det var droppen som fick bägaren att rinna över", directly translated to "the droplet that caused the beaker to overflow", is used to express that enough is enough. Is ...
7
votes
4answers
309 views
What is the English equivalent to the Japanese word 学者バカ, “Scholar’s fool”?
I’m interested in the words “instant omniscience,” which Calvin Trillin, a former editor for Time magazine, used in a New Yorker magazine article (March 20) entitled "Time Edit":
“There were some ...
14
votes
7answers
740 views
English equivalent of a Kannada proverb
The saying goes like "ಬಡವನ ಸಿಟ್ಟು ದವಡೆಗೆ ಮೂಲ".
When roughly translated to English it means:
A poor man's anger only hurts his jaw [due to all the grinding of teeth in the process].
How to ...
33
votes
10answers
2k views
“To shoot out of cannon into sparrows”
In Russian we have idiom/saying "To shoot out of cannon into sparrows" (literal translation) which is used to convey an idea of applying too drastic measures to small problems. I believe there should ...
4
votes
5answers
232 views
Is there an English idiom “in threes and fives” to describe arriving, gathering, or leaving of people in a pair, trio, or group in succession?
We say ‘san-san-go-go – 三三五五’ in Japanese to describe the status of people coming, arriving, gathering, going, or leaving in a pair, trio, or group in succession in such a way, People gathered in the ...
2
votes
4answers
266 views
Is there an idiom about wasting money and a window?
Is there an equivalent to the french idiom
Jeter l'argent par la fenêtre
which means throwing money through a window? (I'm not sure about the translation, especially through.)
10
votes
10answers
475 views
Equivalent expression to Spanish “cutting by the healthy part”
What would be an equivalent expression to the Spanish "cortar por lo sano", probably something like "cutting by the healthy part", to convey the idea that to solve a problem from spreading, like ...
3
votes
4answers
132 views
A case that exhibits all the possible conditions a subject can suffer from?
We have this Hungarian phrase "Állatorvosi ló", which literally translates to "Veterinarian horse".
It originated in 19th century Hungarian literature, when someone created an illustration of a horse ...
24
votes
9answers
1k views
“Saving on the parrot's chocolate is futile”
In Catalan there is an expression "ser la xocolata del lloro" that can be translated as "saving by not giving chocolate to the parrot is futile", conveying the meaning that when a household wants to ...
7
votes
6answers
426 views
What do British and American post boxes say when they don't want any advertising?
Advertising leaflets shoved en masse into mail boxes are one of the banes of modern society.
In Germany, putting a note saying "Bitte keine Werbung" ("No advertising please") on your box protects ...
10
votes
8answers
397 views
English term for pre-thinker?
I was searching for an English translation for the German Vordenker. Basically a person, often a scientist, who began or further significantly developed a new concept or theory by contributing ...
2
votes
1answer
739 views
What is the proper name of a “line account”?
I've come across having to translate the Danish word "stregregnskab" to English. The direct translation would be "line account", but I seem to recall there being a proper name for this sort of ...
