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Re: USAGE: Inventing gunpowder & idioms

From:FFlores <fflores@...>
Date:Monday, March 1, 1999, 0:19
Gustavo Eulalio <guga@...> wrote:
[about idioms]
> Portugese has lots. Off the top of my mind, I can say: >=20 > - Inventar a roda. (To invent the wheel) > To work hard to make something that had already been done and > could have been used. >=20 > - Fazer tempestade num copo d'=E1gua. (To make a storm in a gla=
ss
> of water) > To worry excessively about something.
Oh, I think I've heard that in Spanish too, both "hacer una tormenta" (make a storm) and "ahogarse" (drown).
>=20 > - Ver chifre em cabe=E7a de cavalo. (To see horns in a horse's > head) > To see a problem where there's none.
The closest one I recall here is "Buscarle la quinta pata al gato" (To look for the cat's fifth leg), meaning "to look for problems, to split hairs". --Pablo Flores * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Those who lose dreaming are lost. (Australian Aboriginal proverb)