Lost in Translation: Funny Words from My Language!
Hello beautiful beings! Have you ever come across words/sentences in your language that sound hilarious when translated into English? In Portuguese, my native language, we have so many funny cases! For example:
"Joaninha" – Literally "Little Joan", but it’s actually a Ladybug!
"Meia" – Literally "Half", but it actually means Sock!
"Passar a noite em claro" – Translates to "Spend the night in clear", but it means pulling an all-nighter!
"Queimar a pestana" – "Burning the eyelash", but it means studying too hard!
"Luva de boxe" – Literally translates to "Boxing Sock", but it actually means Boxing Glove!
There are so many more examples, but now I wanna know from you! What are some funny literal translations from your language?
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Oh, man! I have hundreds of these, because Polish culture is so different from English/American, and I found myself a numerous of times translating the common phrases exactly the way they were written/said in Polish (because sometimes only they would do!). They sound hilarious (at best), but mostly nonsensical 😂 I can’t remember off hand my favorites, but the two that I remember now are “Umarł w butach”, which translates into English “Died in shoes”. It means that someone is in a situation with no positive resolution. …. 😆 The other one is “Nauka nie poszła w las.” In English it would translate “Knowledge didn’t go into the forest.” It means that ones gained knowledge didn’t go to waste … 😆 I still use a few on a regular basis, and my kids are used to them by now. (Why can’t I remember them at this moment 🤦♀️). To add to the confusion, because by now I’m a combination of both cultures, I find myself creating my own nonsense that makes sense only to me😆