I was talking with some of the other teachers on Friday during my open blocks. Here in Nicaragua, and in the other Spanish-speaking countries, they have many words and phrases that are unique to their country. For example: here they use the word "vos" instead of "tu" (the meaning in English is "you"), so they might say "¿Como estás vos?" (How are you?). Anyway, you get the idea. There are some words that are only used in some areas. The teachers were asking me to give them some examples of English words or phrases that are only used where I am from--some that might not be in the dictionary. I told them that it's hard to think of any because the English we use isn't usually very unique to my area.
I thought it would be fun if I could get my friends to try to think of some of these words and phrases with me. Please comment and let me know what you come up with. Here are a couple to start thinking:
to take a spill: to fall on your face
it's raining cats and dogs: it's raining very hard
it's hard to analyze the way that you yourself speak. i remember though, josh used to refer to jeans as dungarees.
ReplyDeleteOh come on dave ... we fought growing up all the time if it was called "soda" or "pop" - that's not really a grammar issue but still! Hope that helps! ~ Anna
ReplyDeletecat got my tongue
ReplyDeletesorry ;-)
- Hobbe
ok so here are some from the inner city of chicago from my very own 6th grade class...
ReplyDelete1. that's raw- that's cool
2. maxin'-eating a lot of food really fast
3. tweekin- making a fool of yourself
4. you got treated- told you what was up
but those are of course slang...if you're looking for let's say slightly more sophisticated phrases there's always...
1. don't look a gift horse in the mouth
2. don't judge a book by it's cover
3. don't count your chickens before they hatch...
there's tons!
i hope you are doing well dave! miss ya! stephe t
You're kind of talking about 2 different things...The phrases are called idioms or "modismos" Definicion en espanol: Expresión fija, privativa de una lengua, cuyo significado no se deduce de las palabras que la forman.
ReplyDeleteThis means it is a fixed expression whose meaning cannot be determined from the words that make up the expression. Idioms have an "understood" meaning rather than a literal meaning.
Ejemplos de modismos en ingles:
Square meal
don't look a gift horse in the mouth
out of the frying pan into the fire
in the boondocks
The other thing you are talking about are words that are used in certain areas/regions or time periods, which may also mean something different than the literal meaning. In English (since that's what I teach)...it is called colloquialism (o expresion coloquial)...por ejemplo, ya'll, groovy, neat, cool (doesn't literally mean between warm and cold)...
Sorry for being so long winded. I just did a unit on idioms w/ my kids.
ciao!
Laura Key
Dave, here are a few I thought of:
ReplyDelete"Take it like a grain of salt"
"...You'll blow a gasket" (getting mad)
"Lollipop" (the NJ way of saying things!)
Thats all I could think of...I'm sure there are a lot more though...I'll think of them when I post this...go figure:)
I have a few more Nica sayings for you to enjoy:
ReplyDeleteThey will often call pants "caballos" which is the word for horse. Likewise, they call boxers or underwear "potrillos" --the word for colt or baby horse.
Instead of "the cat got my tongue", they use the expression, "the mouse ate my tongue."
Instead of "it's raining cats and dogs" it is "it's raining frogs and snakes."
Hi Dave. How bout "bite your tongue" - don't say it!
ReplyDeleteor
"he talks out of both sides of his mouth" - someone who is wishy washy or can't make a stand.
or
"a rolling stone gathers no moss" - keep moving and you won't get attached to things.
Keep up the blogging. We enjoy reading it.
A Joan & U Dan
OK dave this is the best that I can come up with. How about the phrase "To rob a man blind"
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you'll find this site useful, but try it out for size:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.geocities.com/athens/thebes/6177/idioms.htm
Also...
- jack-of-all-trades
- back to the drawing board
- by the book
- drop out of school
- pass with flying colours
- birthday suit (haha, have fun)
- take a rain check
That's my two cents. :)
Oh -- also, try http://www.idiomconnection.com if you are after idoms... it's full of great examples.
ReplyDeleteHope this helps!!
Those were great links to the idioms pages. Especially the one that translates the Spanish-English idioms both literally and dynamically equivalently..er something.
ReplyDelete