Re: Idiom Du Jour

Wonderful!

One of my favourite Franj idioms is "to sing to the
butterflies" |xansur a las kùvàles|.  Frequently It's
used as a question: "What have you been doing all this
time?  Just singing to the butterflies?!"

Basically, it describes someone doing a pleasant but
unproductive activity, especially when they are
supposed to be working.

Rather like what my wife thinks of my conlanging when
I'm letting it take over sometimes...

Geoff

--- Mia Soderquist <happycritter@...> wrote:

> I like making up interesting idioms for my conlangs.
> I thought I would
> share one that has emerged in Teliya Nevashi. I hope
> that other people
> will come along and post an interesting "idiom du
> jour" from their own
> languages, too.
>
> So, here it is, in TN as-it-is:
> Quit bothering me! ("Get out of my eyes!", or very
> literally, "Put you
> away from my eyes!") Rogomishi det sulelat laz!
> Put-away+IMP you+acc. eyes-dat. my
> broken down into morphemes: Ro+gom+ishi de+t
> sul+el+at la+z
> ro- = away (from)
> gom = put
> -ishi = imperative
> de = you (2nd person singular)
> -t = acc on pronoun
> sul = eye
> -el = dual
> -at = that case that is going by "dative" in the
> current TN
> documentation even though it has and continues to
> gain many mixed
> uses... Yeah, I'll think about that and update the
> docs. Eventually. (-t
> is accusative on pronouns and dative on nouns... I
> like that little wrinkle)
> la= I (1st person singular)
> -z= possessive (genitive for pronouns)
>
>
> The general thought behind this is that someone is
> annoying you like
> something in your eye would annoy you, and you'd
> like them to just stop.
>
> Hmmmm....I suppose it could also be "Orogomishi
> sulelat laz!" (reflexive
> imperative), but I'd have to make a new rule for
> that... I'll sleep on
> it and probably write the rule in the morning.
>
> Mia.
>

=====

Lost in thought - please send out search party


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