{"id":3516,"date":"2015-03-04T16:52:38","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T16:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eurotalk.com\/blog\/?p=3516"},"modified":"2026-08-25T13:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T12:17:12","slug":"interesting-idioms-from-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/en\/news\/interesting-idioms-from-around-the-world","title":{"rendered":"Interesting idioms from around the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

No matter what language you’re learning, at some point you’ll probably come across idioms. These phrases, on the surface, seem to mean very little and yet, to native speakers, they roll easily off the tongue without a moment’s thought.\u00a0In a recent post, we covered Chinese chengyu<\/a>, idiomatic expressions that each have their own fascinating story. And English is full of strange idioms\u00a0– ‘to have a chip on your shoulder’, for instance, or ‘to pull someone’s leg’. Very confusing if you’re not very familiar with the language.<\/p>\n

Idioms are\u00a0a tricky part of the language learning process, but well worth it if you can get a few under your belt… \ud83d\ude09 Being able to drop a few colloquial expressions\u00a0into your speech in the right context will not only boost your confidence, but it’ll also impress whoever you’re talking to!<\/p>\n

So\u00a0here are just a few of our favourite idioms from around the world:<\/p>\n

Aus einer M\u00fccke einen Elefanten machen (German)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Literally: To make a mosquito out of an elephant<\/p>\n

Meaning: To make a fuss out of nothing<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>\u00c9n\u00eahpo\u00e9se ma’eno (Cheyenne)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Literally: The turtle is shrouded<\/p>\n

Meaning: It’s foggy<\/p>\n

\u733f\u3082\u6728\u304b\u3089\u843d\u3061\u308b (Saru mo ki kara ochiru) (Japanese)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Literally: Even monkeys fall from trees<\/p>\n

Meaning: Even experts get it wrong<\/p>\n

Ar gefn ei geffyl gwyn (Welsh)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Literally: On the back of his white horse<\/p>\n

Meaning: Full of mischief<\/p>\n

Hak mir nisht kin chaynik (Yiddish)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Literally: Don’t chop my teakettle<\/p>\n

Meaning: Stop annoying me<\/p>\n

Les chiens ne font pas des chats (French)\"Dogs<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Literally: Dogs don’t breed cats<\/p>\n

Meaning:\u00a0Like father, like son<\/p>\n

chang.sa.rgyag (Tibetan)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Literally: To put up a beer tent<\/p>\n

Meaning: To get married<\/p>\n

Aqu\u00ed\u00a0hay\u00a0gato\u00a0encerrado (Spanish)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Literally: there’s a trapped cat here<\/p>\n

Meaning: there’s something odd going on<\/p>\n

\u0431\u0443\u0440\u0445\u0430\u043d \u043e\u0440\u0448\u043e\u043e \u0431\u0443\u0442\u044b\u043d \u0447\u0438\u043d\u044d\u044d \u0441\u0430\u0445\u0430\u043b \u0443\u0440\u0433\u0430 (Burkhan orshoo butin chinee sakhal urga) (Mongolian)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Literally: God bless you and may your moustache grow like brushwood<\/p>\n

Meaning: Bless you (when someone sneezes)<\/p>\n

Avere gli occhi foderati di prociutto (Italian)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Literally: To have one’s eyes lined with ham<\/p>\n

Meaning: To be unable to see something that’s plainly obvious<\/p>\n

Have you discovered any fun idioms in the language you’re learning? Let us know\u00a0in the comments!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter what language you’re learning, at some point you’ll probably come across idioms. These phrases, on the surface, seem…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24,3],"tags":[1044,538,32,970,48,243,871,64,124,1045,8,1046,266,514],"class_list":["post-3516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fun-stuff","category-languagelearning","tag-cheyenne","tag-colloquial","tag-english","tag-expressions","tag-french","tag-german","tag-idioms","tag-italian","tag-japanese","tag-mongolian","tag-spanish","tag-tibetan","tag-welsh","tag-yiddish"],"acf":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":3516},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":24,"label":"Fun 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