Every monolingual tourist knows the feeling of sweatily clutching your phrase book to your chest as you try to direct your Spanish taxi driver to your hotel, or politely ask a Portuguese stranger where the toilets are. But there are some scenarios where that humble Collins paperback just doesn’t cut it – like when one of these baffling idioms enters the conversation.
Don’t let the cat get your tongue: brush up on these foreign phrases so nothing gets lost in translation. (And to be fair, the English language has its quirks, too – when was the last time a cat got anywhere near your mouth?)
FRANCE: “To throw one’s hat over the windmills”
WHAT’S THAT NOW? What sounds like it could be an obscure sport actually means to throw caution to the wind. (Though if you can throw a hat over a windmill we’re impressed.)
FOR EXAMPLE? “Another drink? Oh, go on then, Pierre – I’ll throw my hat over the windmill this time.”
SAY IT LIKE THIS “Jeter son bonnet par-dessus les moulins.” (“Je-tai son bonnai par-dessou lai moulan.”)
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ITALY: “He’s got salt in the pumpkin”
WHAT’S THAT NOW? It translates as ‘he has common sense’, and comes from a time when salt was (very sensibly) kept in hollow, dried-out pumpkins to keep it safe.
FOR EXAMPLE? “I always trust Giuseppe, my accountant, to give good advice. He’s got salt in the pumpkin.”
SAY IT LIKE THIS “Ha sale in zucca.” (“A sa-lay in tzooka.”)
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