Communication Problems:
Idioms List

This short film features 70 idioms from 28 different languages and dialects translated verbatim into American English. Here they are, with their approximate American English equivalents (in order of appearance):

A strike of lightning – un coup de foudre (French): Love at first sight
The age of the turkey – la edad del pavo (Spanish): Awkward teen years
Laughing my laughing gear ‘round my lunch (Australian): Eating my lunch
To squeeze one’s thumbs – Um die Daumen zu drücken (German): To cross one’s fingers
To have a pig – Schwein haben (German): To have a stroke of good luck
Sara, Mara, and the Bad Encounter – Η Σάρα, η Μάρα και το κακό συναπάντημα (Greek): Every Tom, Dick, and Harry
To get hit by a rake – Se prendre un râteau (French): To get rejected
The hen saw the snake’s feet and the snake saw the hen’s boobs – ไก่เห็นตีนงู งูเห็นนมไก่ (Thai): To share your deepest secrets
To live on love and fresh water – vivre d’amour et d’eau fraiche (French): To be in love and have nothing else matter
Eyedrops from upstairs – 二階から目薬 (Japanese): Hard to control
It walks in the soup – Het loopt in de soep (Dutch): Everything’s gone wrong
To look at each other with earthenware dogs – Se regarder en chiens de faïence (French): To look at each other with distrustful coldness
To chew someone’s ear off – Jemandem ein Ohr abkauen (German): To talk someone’s ear off
I say that, I say nothing – Je dis ça, je dis rien (French): Just saying
A dog’s breakfast (Australian): A total mess
To pour water over each other’s heads – தலை முழுகுதல் (Tamil): To end things/break up
To still be riding the goat – Mónésó’táhoenôtse kosa? (Cheyenne): To separate
To flip the omelet/tortilla – Darle la vuelta a la tortilla (Spanish): To turn things around
Peaches, chestnuts, 3 years; persimmons, 8 years – 桃栗三年柿八年 (Japanese): These things take time
To slide in on a shrimp sandwich – Att glida in på en räkmacka (Swedish): An easy win without putting in the work
A fair suck of the bottle (Australian): Fair
Pedaling in sauerkraut – pédaler dans la choucroute (French): To spin one’s wheels
50 steps are similar to 100 – 오십보 백보 (Korean): Same difference
To hit the frog and toad (Australian): To leave
A dog with feces scolds a dog with husks of grain – 똥 묻은 개가 겨 묻은 개 나무란다 (Korean): That’s the pot calling the kettle black
To give pumpkins to someone – Dar calabazas a alguien (Spanish): To reject someone
To blow little ducks – Pūst pīlītes (Latvian): To lie
To wear a cat on your head – 猫をかぶる (Japanese): To play innocent
The thief has a burning hat – На воре и шапка горит (Russian): One’s conscience betrays them
To pay the duck – pagar o pato (Portuguese): To take the blame
To throw cream in someone’s eyes – bacati kajmak u oči (Croatian): To obviously lie
The demon of midday – Le démon de midi (French): A midlife crisis
A cat’s forehead – 猫の額 (Japanese): A tiny space
Did an elephant stomp on your ear? – Słoń nastąpił ci na ucho? (Polish): You have no ear for music.
To add one’s mustard – Seinen Senf dazugeben (German): to give one’s two cents
To go to bed with the hens and get up with the cocks (Bulgarian): to go to sleep early and wake up early
To have a fat morning – Faire la grasse matinée (French): To sleep in
A good fork – um bom garfo (Portuguese): A foodie
To hang noodles from someone’s ears – Вешать лапшу на уши (Russian): To fool someone
I only understand the train station – Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof (German): I don’t understand any of this.
To make a crab’s mouth – fazer boca de siri (Portuguese): To be discreet
To walk around in hot porridge – Chodit kolem horké kaše (Czech): To tiptoe around something
To swallow grass snakes – Avaler des couleuvres (French): To be too insulted to respond
To call a cat a cat – Appeler un chat un chat (French): To tell it like it is
Did you fall from a Christmas tree – Z choinki się urwałaś? (Polish): You clearly have no idea what you’re talking about
To ride an elephant to catch a grasshopper – ขี่ช้างจับตั๊กแตน (Thai): To put in so much and get so little in return
The mustard is getting to my nose – La moutarde me monte au nez (French): I’m getting angry
A germ across the sea can be seen; an elephant on the eyelid can’t – kuman di seberang lautan tampak, gajah di pelupuk mata tak tampak (Indonesian): It’s easy to see everyone else’s faults, but you’re blind to your own
Jumping from the rooster to the donkey – Sauter du coq à l’âne (French): Haphazardly changing the subject
The carrots are cooked – Les carottes sont cuites (French): What’s done is done.
One afternoon in your next reincarnation – ชาติหน้าตอนบ่าย ๆ (Thai): It’s never going to happen.
You can’t pluck feathers off a bald chicken – van een kale kip kan je geen veren plukken. (Dutch): It’s never going to happen.
The balls of a swan – Muda Labudova (Croatian): The impossible
I have other cats to whip – J’ai d’autres chats à fouetter! (French): To have better things to do
Big piece – Un pezzo grosso (Italian): Big shot
To inflate a cow – 吹牛 (Chinese): To brag
To cost the eyes in your head – Coûter les yeux de la tête (French): To pay an arm and a leg
Clear as dumpling broth – klar wie Kloßbrühe (German): Perfectly clear
The cow went to the swamp – a vaca foi pro brejo (Portuguese): An utterly hopeless situation
To drink like a hole – Boire comme un trou (French): To drink like a fish
To have a pin in your ear – At have en pind i øret (Danish): To never listen
You can sharpen an axe with the top of your head – Хоть кол на голове теши (Russian): You’re insanely stubborn
To not know how to do anything with your 10 fingers – Ne rien savoir faire de ses dix doigts (French): To be completely useless
Like a fart in a jam jar – Fel rhech mewn pot jam (Welsh): Useless
To make smoke pour out of my seven orifices – 七窍生烟 (Chinese): To anger me
Letting a frog out of your mouth – Päästää sammakko suusta (Finnish): Saying the wrong thing
You iron my head – Գլուխս արդուկիր (Armenian): You annoy me
Get stuffed with hay! – wypchać się sianem (Polish): Shove off!
Go drink sea water! – Ashrab mah al-bahr (Arabic): Kill yourself!
God bless you, and may your mustache grow like bushwood/brushwood – бурхан оршоо бутын чинээ сахал урга (Mongolian): Bless you.

Communication Problems:Idioms List

Communication Problems:
Idioms List