Where is that "something" that makes others think you are really good in language

An ancient Polish "joke" about a Russian soldier in theater, sitting on the balcony. Needing to pee he leans over the railing and pisses directly down. There comes a call in Russian from the main floor: "Towariszcz, pomachiwaj po wsiech, po wsiech!" - "Comrade, wag your tail around, at everyone!"

Would that be an adequate understanding of your "rain on his parade" idiom?

boletus,"don't rain on my parade" means don't ruin my happiness.Does the polish Idiom mean don't just ruin it for me?

Over here it's "no skin off my nose" !

I think you are mixing two idioms.
No skin off my nose means 'It doesn't affect me/I am disinterested/I will not suffer'
By the skin of my teeth e.g. 'I managed to catch the plane by the skin of my teeth' means by a small margin. Or something like that.

Anyway p3, this thread went way off topic ages ago. The only reason it hasn't been binned is because you're a mod. Not that I'm complaining; digression is what makes conversation conversation.

To answer the OP, I'd say people think you are a proficient linguist if they understand what you are saying (although I suspect they meant something else).

Don't "steal my thunder", please!
lol

Speaking of 'thunder', "it's raining buckets" just now (...Deszcz leje jak zebra.) ??

Or it's raining cats and dogs!

Teflcat,It wasn't binned because it is about language usage.You are right about skin of my teeth though.Idioms are a part of language.

Or even: "Eetss rainink ketts ent docks!" (the latter sounding like "ducks", the way he pronounced it) as a former German ESL-student of mine once remarked.

Thought I was going to make a misschief in my trousers when I heard that one. You need a lot of restraint in the teaching business, let me tell youLOL

-) -) -) I like it!Now,it's Leje jak Z CEBRA.Ceber is an old word for wooden bucket and nobody in Poland uses this word anymore except for Leje jak z cebra.


That would mean "pisses like a Zebra" as lać also means "to piss" (to take a leak).

Right, might be a funny version of the old saying.

Cinek

Too true isthatu2, i think it's definitely a Brit thing! Brudne myśli!

Indeed, it went off topic, but then again, I agree that digression is what makes conversation conversation.
The thread has shown that people are vividly interested in idioms. Let it be like this, although I think one will never manage to "internally" assimilate an idiom just by reading it or reading about it. Assimilating idioms into someone's inner world requires not only to be immersed inthe language, but first of all to be fully immersed in the culture as well.

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I should perhaps explain what I have meant to be the contents of this thread by using Lyzko's post #76 of the thread "Polish language would look better written in Cyrillic Script?".


The first sentence seems to be grammaticaly OK, but a Polish person would never say it in such a way. First, they would inverse "się" with "zgadzam". Nevertheless, if they chose to omit "zupełnie" at the beginning of the sentence, they would not be making this inversion! "Zgadzam się, Biegański!" - they would say. Second, the Polish person would not use "zupełnie" in this affirmative phrase (they would say either "w zupełności" or "całkowicie"; and indeed, this had instantly been corrected in the original thread!). But they would certainly say "zupełnie" if the sentence were negative - "Zupełnie się nie zgadzam, Biegański!", and not "W zupełności się nie zgadzam"; the latter would sound very "un-Polish".

And that's the point - even if you use the grammaticly correct words or expressions in a sentence, you may still sound "un-Polish" or, as a non-native speaker speaking in English, you may sound "un-English". You have to know that it's much better to use "w zupełności" with in the affirmative phrase and "zupełnie" in the negative phrase in the above context. These subtilities are indeed extremely dificult to master and they have to be practiced extensively through reading, speaking, listening and writing in the language. But, of course, they don't prevent anyone from being understood.

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On the reverse side, Lyzko's sentences sound "very English". I doubt if I ever would be able to substitue "concur" for "agree", as he did. And that briliant "nothing's gained with something turning towards something" is in my view so inheritedly English-native that hardly any Polish person with a good working knowledge of English who browses the internet rather reads the literature will ever be capable of uttering.

Interesting feedback, you two. Much appreciated indeed. Well, it shows ALL of us, non-native to the language in which we're posting (and no matter how "good"),we still have to practice our languages, except perhaps for our "native" language:-))

Cheers again!

Apropos "jak z cebra", I probably mixed it up with the French expression, literally, "to rain like a cat pissing on a flat rock"

LOL

That "something" that makes people believe that someone is good in language;The ability to be understood :).

I couldnt have either,untill I saw Catch Me If You Can :)

Istahtu2,good flick;the word concur always reminds me of turning keys simultaneously on a submarine lol.

"to concur" is simply a nice Latinate derivative "con" + "currente" ('running with'). Therefore, if I say "I concur with your opinion", I am saying I'm parallel in position with what you're saying, that's all:-)

How it comes across to listeners, either native or foreign?? Well, that's why we're all having this engaging discussion now, isn't it chaps?

As far as code switching is concerned, it's done on a dramatically regualr basis, especially when speaking one's native language. A number of languages though, notably Turkish, Hindi, Chinese along with a couple of other non-European languages, do indeed make razor-sharp differences in register. This of course makes code switching, particularly for non-natives speaking those languages, e.g. a Brit speaking Mandarin for instance, often intensely problematic!

Lyzko,I admit at I'm not as knowledgeable at the level that you are when it comes to linguistics,but I feel that I articulate well.

I never said you didn't, undone! Why so defensive?

Lyzko,sorry if that came off as defensive and I was actually complimenting you.I can see how you took it that way,my bad.Bad articulation on my part lol.:).

Not at all! Just chillax and enjoy:-))))