Saturday, April 14, 2012

Idioms and Translations: language across culturesIII

There can hardly be a literal idiomatic translation, though analogies are possible.Observe the examples that follow:

1.Icing on the cake: "sone pe suhaga!"
2.You can't unring the bell: "ab pacchtaye hot kiya"(proverb)

Now think of these and find their parallels:

3.Give someone an inch and they will take a mile/yard
4.Empty vessels make the most noise
5.A new broom sweeps clean
6. A bad workman blames his tools
7. An idle brain is a devil's workshop
8. A leopard cannot change its spots
9.It's Greek to me
10.A drop in the bucket
11. It never rains but it pours
12.Saved by a hair's breadth
13.It takes two to tango
14. Fall between two stools
15. Once bitten, twice shy
16. Once in a blue moon
17.Cry over spilt milk!
18.Champagne on a Beer budget
19.Mountain of a molehill
20. paddle your own canoe
21, Blow your own trumpet

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