One of the most enjoyable aspects of learning a new language is picking up the idioms, the funny little sayings, often steeped in local history and culture, that explain the meaning of life and how to live it. (Well, in that particularly country anyway).
Here are fourteen explains of peculiar idioms from around the world that on closer inspection are really quite wise.
Pulling an old cow out of the ditch
Bring up an old argument in Holland. Presumably, the argument, like an old cow, should be just left there.
There is no cow on the ice
Therefore there is no reason to panic, say the Swedes.
Pretend to be an Englishman
That is, pretend that you are innocent and have no idea what is going on. The Serbs, it seems, have trust issues with the English.
Straighten the horns and kill the bull
Stuffing something up completely by insisting on correcting a minor flaw. The Japanese are not as pernickety as you thought.
A troublesome circus monkey (Shutterstock)
Not my circus, not my monkeys
Hence, it is not my problem, say the Poles.
God gives nuts to the man with no teeth
An old Arabic saying that comments on the inherent irony of life. Or the poor state of dental hygiene on some parts of the peninsula.
To set the dogs on someone
... is to flirt with someone in Latin America. Sounds terrifying.
Going where the Czar goes on foot
Going to the toilet in Russia. Apparently, it was the only place the Czar wasn't carried to.
Feeding the donkey sponge cake
Giving special treatment to someone who doesn't need it, according to the Portuguese.
Maggots. In bacon. (Shutterstock)
Live like a maggot in bacon
With their unapologetic love for meat, is it any wonder that the Germans regard living like a maggot in bacon as an enviable state of being?
I'm not hanging noodles on your ears
Russian for 'I'm telling you the truth.' Personally, I'd rather they hang the noodles.
A camel cannot see its own hump
An old Arab saying that is the equivalent of a pot calling a kettle black.
Give someone a pumpkin
In Spain, that's how you stand someone up.
Main image: A cow in a ditch (Shutterstock)
