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Re: USAGE: Cool idioms (was Re: Bibliography)

From:FFlores <fflores@...>
Date:Sunday, March 28, 1999, 1:27
Carlos Thompson <chlewey@...> wrote:

> > I second that! To all non-native-English-speakers, what other > > idioms exist in y'all's languages that have that same general meaning? > > Let's see what comes fron my mind... > > - Hasta que la marrana ponga. > (until the sow lays (an egg)) > but is more common as a command to someone who has been boring you: > - Vaya a ver si la marrana puso > (go and look if the sow has laid (an egg)).
Oh! This remembered me of two idioms of the same kind: - Anda' afuera a ver si llueve. ("Go out to see it if rains" = Go out, you're a bother here.) - Hasta que las vacas vuelen. ("Until cows fly" [not pigs])
> Reffering to something that has happened a long time ago, there is said it > happened "en los tiempos de upa" (in the times of upa, and I got no idea > what upa means)
Funny thing, here in Argentina I've heard "en los tiempos de n~aupa". These two are surely from the same source, but I still don't have a clue what (n~a)upa means... A similar one: "en los tiempos de Mari'a Castan~a" (who the hell was M. C. ??)
> Another lost idiom is "volverse un ocho" (make an eight out of oneself) > expresing when one becomes complicated in some easy business.
This is a neat one. --Pablo Flores * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat. Lily Tomlin