rcuv@programming.devtoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•Multilingual folks: what are some odd idioms in your language(s)?
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9 months agoyeah, ren shan ren hai is a pretty good one, and it’s also probably one of the more frequently used ones.
yeah, ren shan ren hai is a pretty good one, and it’s also probably one of the more frequently used ones.
Mandarin Chinese:
I thought of a couple involving animals.
沉鱼落雁 (chén yú luò yàn) - literally “sinking fish and grounding geese” - describes a beautiful woman.
虎头蛇尾 (hǔ tóu shé wěi) - literally “having the head of a tiger and the tail of a snake” - meaning: 1. having a strong start and a weak finish. 2. describing someone who is treacherous and doesn’t do what they say they will.
Lots of idioms in Chinese are “chengyu” consisting of four characters.
In Chinese, 安 by itself can mean secure. I think.