by Kevin Burton
There was a brief time in my life when I got paid in pesos, as I was teaching English to Mexican nationals in a language school in Puebla, Mexico.
I don’t remember all the specifics now, but for some reason I wanted change for (I think) a 1,000-peso bill. I asked a bilingual office manager if he could “break” the bill as we would say it in English.
“Can I say that, break it?” I asked.
He let me know that idiom didn’t translate.
“No, if you say break it’s like this,” he said as he pantomimed tearing paper, “romper.”
Speakers of other languages have other ways of relaying the ideas behind our common English idioms. We learned about five of them yesterday from our friends at the Dictionary Scoop website. We look at five more today, including wearing a cat on your head, something I would never try, though according to my wife I am a noted cat whisperer.
On to the idioms:
6–Take the fall
To any English speaker “taking the fall” is facing responsibility or repercussions for someone else’s actions, whether it is done intentionally or not. While this idiom is rather self-explanatory, the same can’t be said about its Portuguese counterpart: the phrase pagar o pato translates to “pay the duck.”
Don’t worry, this idiom doesn’t involve reimbursing any ducks. Its origins can be traced back to an old Portuguese fable in which a dispute concerning the cost of a duck breaks out between a poor family and a duck vendor.
7–To have tomatoes on one’s eyes / In the dark
When someone is “in the dark,” they are completely unaware of something happening in the background. Whether they are kept in the dark by someone or they choose to live in ignorant bliss doesn’t really affect the meaning of this idiom: at the end of the day, someone is “in the dark” just by ignoring something.
In that sense, the imagery of this idiom seems rather obvious: someone whose vision is impaired and can’t see properly. Curiously, the German equivalent of this idiom still manages to convey the same meaning with an entirely different picture: the idiom Tomaten auf den Augen haben means “to have tomatoes on one’s eyes.”
8–To give a darn
While we mostly use it as a mild and more polite swear word, the term “darn” actually has a definition: it can be used as a verb for mending knitted clothing like a sweater, or as a noun to describe patches and holes in clothes. Funnily, when it comes to the idiom “to give a darn,” both meanings of this word can be used. Since this idiom means not caring at all about something, both a meaningless hole and a bland insult can convey this feeling.
On the contrary, some Spanish-speaking countries have an equivalent idiom that makes use of one of the most beloved vegetables in the world. The phrase me importa un pepino roughly translates to “It matters to me as much as a cucumber does.” While we can’t be sure if this idiom speaks of how cheap or how disliked cucumbers are in the Spanish-speaking world, we are certain that being told that you matter as much as a vegetable is definitively a hard pill to swallow.
9–Speak of the Devil
Don’t worry; this idiom doesn’t involve any curses: The devil won’t actually show up if you speak of him, like some sort of Bloody Mary urban legend. This extremely popular idiom is used whenever you are talking about someone, and they suddenly show up at that exact moment.
In the Spanish-speaking world, the devil is replaced with a king. Contrary to what you might think though, the saying does not mention the king of Spain, but rather a fictional king of the capital city of Italy: Spanish speakers use the expression hablando del rey de Roma, which literally translates to “speaking of the King of Rome.”
10–To Wear a Cat on One’s Head / Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
This idiom confused us the most. The expression “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” is used to describe a dangerous person hiding behind an innocent facade. This idiom comes from the New Testament, where Jesus warns his disciples against false prophets who mask their dark intentions with kindness. In any case, this idiom doesn’t require much explanation: a wolf is, after all, a dangerous predator to defenseless sheep.
However, Japan’s take on this idiom uses what’s probably this country’s most beloved pet. Japan’s expression “To wear a cat in your head” means exactly the same thing as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
We know this is confusing, but trust us, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation. Japan’s very well-documented love for cats means that no one would ever suspect a cat of something nefarious. Thus, hiding behind a cat’s cuteness helps divert prying eyes from someone’s true intentions.
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