The multilingual idioms thread // Crowdsourcing Project

[clair02]

This is a really great idea. I will be sure to contribute to it as much as I can. This resource that you have created will help so many other people. 

[Northea]

What a truly great idea, especially for a forum like this. I'll add all the Finnish ones I can come up with (but only the ones I'm absolutely sure of) 

[linguaholic]

  On 9/18/2016 at 10:25 AM, Northea said:

What a truly great idea, especially for a forum like this. I'll add all the Finnish ones I can come up with (but only the ones I'm absolutely sure of) 

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Can't wait to see that! Kiitos!

[x0xLucyMx0x]

Hi! 

I also added some idioms in Estonian. There are some that are used the same way, but with different words. For example: through thick and thin - but in Estonian we use through fire and water.

Also I find it funny how just before Estonian, there's Finnish column and some of the phrases are similar. 

[Kitsich]

Thanks for nice collection of idioms.

[linguaholic]

  On 2/10/2017 at 2:41 PM, Kitsich said:

Thanks for nice collection of idioms.

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You are welcome. Feel free to contribute :=))

[yong321]

The Spanish translation "ir al grano" for "cut the cheese" seems to be for "cut to the chase" instead.

[Emmahallstrom]

Ok, i'll definitely watch this thread.

[Boriana]

This is really a good idea and would be very useful. i started adding some phrases in Bulgarian.

[yong321]

I added the column Chinese and provided a few idiom translations.

I wonder, how we can make sure the file is not being edited by more than one person at the same time. When that happens, I think it's possible that some of their changes become lost. Should there be a locking mechanism to allow one person to edit at one time?

This Multilingual Idioms List may be the first in lexicography or in human history. There ought to be a Wikipedia page for this work. Once the Wikipedia English page is set up, we can easily translate it into numerous languages and set up pages in those languages.

[linguaholic]

  On 2/4/2018 at 12:08 AM, yong321 said:

I added the column Chinese and provided a few idiom translations.

I wonder, how we can make sure the file is not being edited by more than one person at the same time. When that happens, I think it's possible that some of their changes become lost. Should there be a locking mechanism to allow one person to edit at one time?

This Multilingual Idioms List may be the first in lexicography or in human history. There ought to be a Wikipedia page for this work. Once the Wikipedia English page is set up, we can easily translate it into numerous languages and set up pages in those languages.

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Hi there Yong321. I really feel honored by your words. In Fact, if more than one person is editing the document, you would notice. because it is all done in real-time and you can see the changes of other people immediately and you can see them browsing thru the pages (you can actually see their cursor).

Best, Lingua

[linguaholic]

  On 2/4/2018 at 12:08 AM, yong321 said:

I added the column Chinese and provided a few idiom translations.

I wonder, how we can make sure the file is not being edited by more than one person at the same time. When that happens, I think it's possible that some of their changes become lost. Should there be a locking mechanism to allow one person to edit at one time?

This Multilingual Idioms List may be the first in lexicography or in human history. There ought to be a Wikipedia page for this work. Once the Wikipedia English page is set up, we can easily translate it into numerous languages and set up pages in those languages.

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那你是中国人吗？我现在住在北京：＝）

[yong321]

Hi linguaholic,

我是中国人. I'm a native Chinese speaker. Thanks for telling me there won't be conflict if two people are editing the list. Google Docs is doing a great job!

I just blogged about this list: http://english-for-chinese.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-multilingual-idioms-list.html Any comment is welcome!

Could you make some minor corrections on the first column of the list? For instance, "burn (not bum) the midnight oil". Change "a" to "A" in "achilles", "a to z" to "A to Z". Append "a" to "piece of cake". I only went through the first 50 or 60.

[linguaholic]

  On 2/4/2018 at 5:25 PM, yong321 said:

Hi linguaholic,

我是中国人. I'm a native Chinese speaker. Thanks for telling me there won't be conflict if two people are editing the list. Google Docs is doing a great job!

I just blogged about this list: http://english-for-chinese.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-multilingual-idioms-list.html Any comment is welcome!

Could you make some minor corrections on the first column of the list? For instance, "burn (not bum) the midnight oil". Change "a" to "A" in "achilles", "a to z" to "A to Z". Append "a" to "piece of cake". I only went through the first 50 or 60.

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Thank you for those remarks. I can do that. Sure. No problem. 

Thanks for blogging about it. Really appreciated.

regards

Lingua

[Atlanta-English-Institute]

Hi @linguaholic!

Wow, what a great idea! Idioms are incredibly difficult to translate into other languages, and English is known for some odd ones. It's amazing to see how many people have contributed to your project and into how many languages you have been able to translate idioms! This is an important part of learning English, because friends, family, coworkers, and even acquaintances will use idioms to express emotions or situations. 

Great work!

- Atlanta English Institute

www.atlantaenglishinstitute.com

[linguaholic]

  On 3/28/2019 at 7:12 PM, Atlanta-English-Institute said:

Hi @linguaholic!

Wow, what a great idea! Idioms are incredibly difficult to translate into other languages, and English is known for some odd ones. It's amazing to see how many people have contributed to your project and into how many languages you have been able to translate idioms! This is an important part of learning English, because friends, family, coworkers, and even acquaintances will use idioms to express emotions or situations. 

Great work!

- Atlanta English Institute

www.atlantaenglishinstitute.com

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Hi there. thank you very much for the praise. I appreciate it.  I hope this list can further be developped!

Best, 

Lingua

[yong321]

Someone brought to my attention the book CHINESE IDIOMS AND THEIR ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS (https://www.amazon.com/CHINESE-IDIOMS-THEIR-ENGLISH-EQUIVALENTS/dp/9620700430/) It cannot be previewed on Google Books or Amazon. But one reader's review on Amazon tells us how the entry looks like. It's a wonderful dictionary. The authors did exactly what this Multilingual Idiom List does, limited to Chinese-English only but with a far greater number of entries. It may be the only Chinese-English idiom dictionary ever created if we emphasize the word "equivalents" in the title. I don't know if there're other idiom dictionaries between two (or better yet, more than two) languages that list the equivalent idioms.

[linguaholic]

  On 7/30/2016 at 1:34 PM, gracerph said:

Hi admin! I would just like to say that what you did is a really wonderful project. Something where everyone can share and contribute on for learning. I noticed that others have already filled up some slots. I have added a few but I will research on the other idioms first and then I will get back to the list soon.

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thank you!

[BWL]

I've added a common Navajo (yes, the Native American language with the largest number of speakers) idiom for "to be clumsy or awkward" (the equivalent of the Englisn "to be all thumbs", and the French "avoir deux mains gauches").

Tʼóó bílaʼ dijool

Meaning, "his or her hand is just round". There is no gender distinction in Navajo pronouns so this can be used to refer to either male or female. If you'd like a grammatical breakdown (Native American languages are very complex and you could write a thesis just to explain the phonology and morphology of Navajo, for example) I could start a new discussion because if would be a lot of info  

[phinisdo]

Ohh, really interesting. Thanks.