Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation

I think mine are too easy but here's another one:

Dać komuś zimne ramię.

Wonderful! No idea what it could mean. Very English, I would say.

On a side note. I've just started to read Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Study in Scarlet" in English. An amazingly modern language and a very pleasant to follow. Is anyone here fond of Sherlock Holmes?

Yes!


I read all stories as a boy and then read the best ones to my kids. Good reading, indeed.

To make someone feel unwanted/unwelcomed?

to not sleep pears in the ash

I did too, but not in English. In the 1990 I bought myself a volume in English, but then I found the language too hard for me. Now I am reading the Kindle version where it is so easy to look up the meaning of every word in the Oxford Dictionary of English attached to the Kindle.

Simultaneously, I am reading Marshall B. Davidson's "The World in 1776", a brilliant account of trends, events and main actors of the 18th century and the Age of Enlightenment in America, Europe and the UK. And I found the language of several passages excessively complicated.

I missed your answer! Yes, adding fuel to the fire/flames is indeed to make a bad situation worse.


I'm surprised, I thought it would be easy!


Yes :) To give someone the cold shoulder is to intentionally ignore or snub someone,or to be unfriendly towards them.

@ Ziemowit. I read a lot of Sherlock Holmes but it was a long time ago now. I admire your dedication to reading in English :)


To not neglect things that might be urgent? To always take advantage of opportunities?

Yes!


Ziem is an honest guesser, he never googles.

to have a strong head

To be able to hold one's drink ( alcohol ).

Coś kosztuje ramię i nogę

Yes, alcohol.

You can obtain/achieve sth but it will cost you dearly?

Yes, basically it means that something is very expensive.

A new one, although I'm not sure if my translation is correct:

Nie można osądzać książki po jej okładce.

Good teanslation. Don't judge book by it's cover. To bot judge someone/something by it's look or first impression.

To eat horse with hooves

Perfect :)

I'll have a think about this new idiom.

Does it mean to eat like a horse? To be very hungry and eat everything?

Yes but I've heard more commonly bym zjadl konia or zjadlbym konia.. haven't heard the part with the hooves included though

Probably American influence, in Poland the hooves are usually included...

Yes, never heard or read it without hooves - they are an indispensable part of the ho.... that is saying.


To utter a perfectly correct statement.

Reminds me of:
to knock on one`s head.

Before I forget: to wait for a little star from the sky.

It's a good idiom. There is a saying with a similar meaning that I heard a long time ago now, that the only thing you can't eat of a pig is it's squeak.


Yes, perfect answer for to hit the nail on the head.


Not sure about this. I've heard to want a star from the sky before and that means to want too much, to ask for the moon.

Check this picture - it shows a lot.

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Never give up on your hopes and dreams because anything is possible?

Unfortunately no. Look what the person is doing or more importantly, not doing.

Waiting for something that will never happen?

Warmer, warmer. :):)

Not quite, I didn`t suggest "not doing" about the star, I meant the person.

I know, but I'm still stuck. The person has one hand reaching out.........the person is waiting for some help, a chance?

Warmer, warmer


Yes, waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting??
Come on........

hahaha

Waiting for the stairway to heaven lol! I can't get this.

Well, as a teacher you are not doing your job properly. That polish doesn't make sense? what a twerp wrote it? Dokonac celu?


Don't worry I don't get it either?

No, I can`t tell you yet, it is too simple. Just concentrate better, you can do it!
So, I suggested it is not "doing" but "not doing" that matters. Stop thinking about that waiting and move to other options. :):)


That`s a shame that after 30 years in a foreign land you forgot your Polish. Chemikiem is excused coz she is just learning but you aren`t as you were born in Poland. :):)


Are you drunk again???? hahahaha Do you drink coz you realise what a loser expat you have become? hahaha

Drunk my ass, How that even make any sense - dokonac celu? It doesn't. Are you telling me people are talking like that/?
I mean I get what it suppose to mean but that is not a proper Polish.