I've always been partial to "skunked" for drunk, and my family all still use "stoned" and "high" in reference to drunkeness as well as, y'know, other chemically-induced states.

And, while it's a common saw (usually by transplanted northerners) that "Bless their heart" means the bitch, that sumbitch, et cetera, I think it's important to note it is also almost always literal.  Some people just can't help being a fuck up, and so you can't really hold it against them.

"Sparking" and "lighting" for sex, seem to have stayed alive in Native American circles, while dying off in overall American culture.  As has "carrying" for dating.

That's funny that you'd translate "Bless their heart" into an insult.  "Bless their heart" means just that in my family (country southern ;-)), "god bless that person".  Depending on context, it can be sarcastic, like that person is an asshole and you're saying that just because you're not sinking to their level.  Or it can be sympathetic, like if a perfectly nice person has had a run of really bad luck and you just mean, "that poor thing."  *shrug*

For some reason, Brits, and Aussies in particular have great idioms for drunkenness...wonder why that could be...

My personal favorite it for someone to be "out of his face". Something a bit visceral about that one.

satyreyes wrote:

How about irresistable attraction?  In English we use the idiom "like a moth to a flame" to describe an obsessive and perhaps destructive fascination, from the fact that some moths fly towards bright lights even when it means their death.  Do other languages have the same idiom?

We use very similiar expression, with 'candle' instead of 'flame'.

What's funny, we have idiom 'to drill somebody hole in stomach' when someone is insisting on doing something (esp. a favour) in a very persistent way. When someone is in low spirits, we can say that he/she 'has flies in nose' or 'is not in souce'.
When someone starts talking about something completely different than current conversation, it's common to ask: 'What gingerbread has to do with windmill?'.
And my favourite lately: 'to drop like a plum in a compote' which means getting into trouble. Similiar one 'from the rain into gutter' means getting into more serious trouble than before.
When someone gaze at someone, we say he/she 'looks at X like lamb at painted gate'. Expression 'butter-like sight' is popular too.

dlaire wrote:

Similiar one 'from the rain into gutter' means getting into more serious trouble than before.

'Out of the frying pan and into the fire.'

Decrescent Daytripper wrote:

"Henpeck" for nudging excessively.

And in a similar vein to tea prices and gingerbread windmills, in reponse to excessive or annoying what ifs, "What if hats were ants?" or the reverse.

We have also 'if grandma had a mustache, she would be a grandad'

Mishi wrote:

'carrying a torch'

LOL! I heard that 'having an ensigner' in German means that someone smells like vodka We have cool expression for doing sth meaningless, stupid - 'to bring trees to a forest'. When someone behaves as if she/he didn't undestand anything, we say that she/he acts as if X 'was sitting on a turkish sermon'. I suppose it's just because Polish and Turkish language are completely different.

"out of his face".

"off his face,"

All I can think of is the Hellblazer issue by Garth Ennis, around or just after the gigantic" blunt bit, where Zatanna is so, um, out of her face, she says it backwards (literallly, ".ecaf ym fo tuo M').

I don't know that I've ever encountered it otherwise, but then, I have led a sheltered life.

Mishi wrote:

I'm not really sure what 'tosser' means, but since I'm such a Britannophile, I love that turn of phrase anyway.

It means dickhead, I suppose. Like, "What a fucking tosser." May also be shortened to "toss," as in "what a toss." Also can be used as in "I don't give a toss." You'll hear it a lot in Aussie and New Zealand, too. It more or less means "wanker" because we'll use the same hand gesture to imply both.

My favourite phrase picked up from the UK that I wouldn't usually use here is describing everything as "right" something, as in "that's right proper" or "you're right mad, you are." I've also picked up the habit of calling every mentally-challenged individual I meet a "mentalist," which is also something I never hear outside Britain.

SexingTouga24/7/365 wrote:

Huzza for this thread.

I make up alot of random shit to express my feelings about things. For example, ass fuck am and ass rape o'clock describe my abhorrence of having to get up before 9/10ish.

But I can recall a faviorite phrase or two that I wonder if they have any international equivalent.

I don't have shit to do with shonila (sp?) and My name is Bennett and I ain't in it

They both mean that either you did not have anything to do with it or you are absolving your self of any responsibility.

Why Bennet? It makes me think about 'Pride and Prejudice'.
Another Polish expression for having hands clean is 'it's not my brooch'.
When someone it taking ALL clothes off, we say he/she 'is undressing till/until broth'. Yeah it's stupid and it doesn't mean anything. It's not a word-play too.

What expressions do you have to call someone crazy?

Mad as a hatter.

Two fries short of a happy meal.

The lights are on but no one's home.

Has a few bats in the belfry.

Nuts. Screwloose. Not all there.

"Cheese has slipped off his/her cracker..."

"One clown short of a circus..."

"One sandwich short of a picnic..."

"Lost his/her marbles..."

"One beer short of a six-pack..."

Oooh nice topic

"Prendere due piccioni con una fava" it's the equal of "Kill two birds with two stones". Even if the translation it's not the same, they share the same meaning.

"Fidarsi è bene, non fidarsi è meglio." ("Trust someone is good, don't trust him is better").

"Tra il dire e il fare c'è di mezzo il mare." means: between saying that I will doing something and really doing it, there's a lot of difference. (Wow it's very hard to translate idioms )

"Uccello in gabbia non canta per amor, canta per rabbia." ("A birds in a jail doesn't sing for joy, but for rage").

"Una ciliegia tira l'altra." simply: do you like poptart right? Then when you finish to eat a poptart, you want another one... and another one... etc

"Bacco, Tabacco e Venere, riducon l'uomo in cenere." namely: Drinking, smoking and sex turn man into ashes (I don't like this, but my grandfather always say this).


And now some pure sicilian idioms!

"A MAL'ERVA 'UN SICCA MAI"
("Wickedness will always be present in the world")

"U PISCI R -U MARI È RISTINÀTU CU SI L'HAVI A MANGIARI"
("You can't change your fate")

"QUANNU L'AMICI VENNU 'A MALA CERA 'UN SERVA NENTI"
("When something of bad happens, you don't have to despare")

Here's are a few that aren't used very often, but I've heard from time to time in my area.

"Wash the dishes" - a phrase that is used as a euphemism for sex (Actually, a friend and I use this particular one all the time in joke, but I don't hear other people say it very often. I'm sure it will catch on at some point.)
and, following the drunkedness theme
"He/She is a 'Greek Princess'" the Greek Princess bit meaning insanely drunk, quite possibly to the point of disillusioning yourself to thinking you are one. I think it's more specifically to do with wine, too. I'm not positive there.