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Re: SURVEY: Idiomatic Expressions In Your ConLang Or ConCulture

From:Tom Chappell <tomhchappell@...>
Date:Thursday, November 17, 2005, 18:50
    --- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Yahya Abdal-Aziz <yahya@m...> wrote:
> > Hi all, > > Thought I'd weigh in with a few more of what I consider > to be English idioms. I guess I'm using the word "idiom" > to mean any peculiarity of expression; some are dialectal, > while others are fairly widespread across dialect regions. > I expect it will take some long and ingenious thinking to > produce anything comparable to this variety in any of my > conlangs. > > 20. Weigh in with ... (Contribute. I don't know the origin.) > > 19. Sweating like a pig. (Pigs can't sweat, as they have > no sweat glands.) > > 18. He can't lie straight in bed. > > 17. It's coming down in buckets. (Said of heavy rain.) > > 16. Catch a cold, measles or other disease. (As if the > disease didn't catch us!) > > 15. Gunna catch me some shut-eye / some Zees. (Meaning > 'I'm going to sleep'; the second variant MUST be North > American, 'cos the rest of us call the 26th letter of the > English alphabet 'Zed'.) > > 14. Well, butter me and call me toast! (Expresses surprise.) > > 13. Strewth! (Old Australian oath, meaning 'God's Truth'.) > > 12. Strike a light! (Expresses surprise or amazement.) > > 11. Let 'er down, Hughie! (Encouraging rain. Hughie, or > Huey, usually pronounced You-ie, is the putative rain god. > He might or might not be the same fella as God with a > capital G. Usually called on by rural folk.) > > 10. Stone the crows! (Yet Another Expression of Surprise.) > > 9. It's only two miles as the crow flies. (People will always > give you the straight line distance when the only available > track is steep, winding, dangerous and almost impossible to > find ...) > > 8. He's six foot tall. (for 'six feet'. Occasionally you may > still hear 'two mile' for 'two miles'.) > > 7. As bright as a two-bob watch. (Flashy and cheap; a > 'bob' was a shilling, which in 1966 converted to 10 cents of > a decimal dollar.) > > 6. He's not the full two-bob. (The florin, or two-shilling > piece, was made of high-grade silver. It was a favourite > target of 'shavers' who took a little silver from the edge > of each coin for later resale. The person compared to > this shaved two-bob bit was allegedly mentally deficient.) > > 5. He's a few sandwiches shy of (or short of) a picnic. > (Another alleged idiot.) > > 4. He's got kangaroos in the top paddock. (This fella's > trouble is that thoughts just bounce around in his head.) > > 3. He took the king's shilling. (He became a soldier. Also: > 'He went for a soldier.') > > 2. This weather plays merry hell with my bones. (An > arthritic's complaint.) > > And finally, number 1! It starts out like this: > > 'Flat out like a ...' How does it finish? Is it? > > a) '... rug', > b) '... doormat', > c) '... flying carpet', > d) '... bowling green', or > e) '... skating rink'? > > No; it's none of the above; it's ... > > 1. Flat out like a lizard drinking. > > 'Go figure!' > > Regards, > Yahya > > --
Thank you, Yahya. Can you say equivalent expressions to the above things in any of your conlangs? How about everyone else? Can you match Yahya? Tom H.C. in MI --------------------------------- Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.