Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Tiene algo cerveza fria?  Do you have any cold beer?  Y quiero esta libre, tambien. And, of course, I would love a copy of the book, too.

How about some Edith Piaf?

“Non, Je ne regrette rien” (No, I regret nothing).  A great song. 

Of course, what I usually have to say when forced to whip out that college French:
“Je ne comprehends pas ce que vous parlez

(I do not understand what you are saying). 

So excited for the Laura Kinsale release!

“?????? ??? ?????, ? ?????????? ??? ??????” (Hotelos kak lutche, a poluchilos kak vsegda) “We wanted to do better, but it turned out as always”, roughly translated quote from Victor Chernomyrdim, former Russian prime minister. He said a lot of funnies when he was in office.

Merde!
Shit! of course ;)
I also love mon petit chou - my little cabbage. What a sweet term of endearment. :)b

My most favorite (and most often used) practical non-English phrase is: “Wo ist das WC, bitte?”  Which means (if it even needs to be translated) “Where is the restroom, please?”  I can say this in seven languages, though so far I’ve only needed it in two besides English (I believe in being prepared).

But my favorite family joke non-English phrase is: “No es un misterio, Senora.  Me encanta lechuga.”  Which translates roughly to, “It is not a mystery, ma’am.  Lettuce enchants me.”  (we are huge Sheldon fans. 

It’s amazing how many situations this phrase fits . . . almost as many as the WC one . . .

The only thing I can remember from German 10:  Ich bin nicht Fritz.  I’m not Fritz.

Also:  Illegitimus non tatum carborundum.  Latin for Don’t let the bastards wear you down.

I love the all purpose French phrase, “Je ne sais pas.” or “I don’t know”

I also use the Latin, “Nota Bene” a lot. I apparently am a fan of the non sequitur - oops, Latin again.

=)

Yo quiero Taco Bell!  (I want Taco Bell!)

C’est la vie! (That’s life!)

Je t’aime.  (I love you.)

The most useful phrase I used in Israel (after “Where’s the washroom?” and “I don’t speak Hebrew”) was kama ha ze ole? - How much is that?.
Yes, I shopped alot.

In high school I had a shirt that said:

MONKU MONKU MONKU*

*bitch bitch bitch

I LOVED that shirt!!!

You can leave me out of the drawing, keep it for the readers.

WORD: says29

Donde estas mis pantalones? (Where are my pants?)

No, I have never had to use this phrase. But you never know!

Un cerveza, por favor. (One beer, please.)

Donde esta el bano? (Where is the bathroom?)

All very useful Spanish phrases ;)

spamword: served94. I just got served 94 cervezas :D

Mainichi ni roku ji han ni biorin o renshushimasu.  I Every day, at 6:30, I practice violin

also

Non sono una americana facile. I’m not an easy american

Since I was a little girl my favorite has been “Quand le chat est parti, les souris dansent” because I always picture little waltzing mice.  It’s a better image than just playing when the cat’s out.

In high school, my Turkish friend taught me a few Turkish phrases including “will you sleep with me” in Turk - just in case - which I can’t remember and this jewel:

Hoverkraft?m?n içi y?lan bal??? dolu
My hovercraft is full of eels.

Because you never know…

word is: think65

How about this one in Hebrew - I hope the Hebrew comes through!

???, ?? ????? ????
(transliteration) Achi, al teyabesh oti
(literal translation) Brother, don’t dry me up
(actual translation) Dude, don’t leave me hanging.

Of course, I’ve just realised that the literal translation could be taken the wrong way (wink).  Okay so I’ve got a gutter mind!

kawaiiiiiii!!! (In high pitched voice) = That’s SO cute!!!!

Mondai nai, kyouhai = No problemo, bro’.

Nani o shiteru ka? = Whatcha doin’? (slang version in Japanese)

Ano hito wa chou hen, da ne? = That guy is totally weird, yeah?

Gamman dekinai yo! = I can’t take your shit anymore!

Kakkoi! - Cool! (As in, he’s so…!)

Motamanaisu!! = Oooh! I can’t stand it!!  (as in, getting too excited in a good way!)

Kimmochi! - That feels GOOD!

Shinpai shinai, itakunai, da ne?  = Don’t worry, it won’t hurt, OK?

ITTE! - Ouch!

Obviously I’m reading the wrong romances (or right?), as this is what sprang to mind when Smart Bitches asked for foreign phrases. Bad Kat!

After a year and a half of Japanese in college, this two phrases are the only thing I can remember:

“Mo ichi do?” - One more time? (sadly, this was my most common response when asked a question in class…)

“Tabe ma sho-ka?” - Shall we eat? (I figured, if I ever went to Japan, this would be a good phrase to know)

Fuhgeddaboudit!

Of course, we can’t leave out one of the most famous French phrases ever:  Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)?

(Would you like to go to bed with me tonight?)

Now, see if you can get that song out of your head for the rest of the day!  :)

Lately, I’m pretty fond of the German term for a cell phone—“mein handy”—at least when Stephen Fry says it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WIscxut_ak

(Of course, Stephen Fry makes all words 73% more awesome.)

When I was younger I was fascinated by Cherchez la femme (Look for the woman). Right now, I think my favorite is Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam (I have a catapult. Give me all your money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head) because it gives me a giggle.

I also really like that silly ass Spanish song that Jane Lynch sings in The 40 Year Old Virgin because it makes no sense whatsoever.

A klog iz mir if I don’t get this book! It would give me such great naches I might plotz.*

*Woe is me if I don’t get Lessons in French, Winning this book would give me such joy I’d burst.

“Tengo un gato en los pantalones.”  (I have a cat in my pants - from a kid in my high school Spanish class.)

sea lo que sea: whatever happens ( I know, most likely screwed up the translation, sorry)  I know its a popular phrase but I’m a laid back kinda gal and it works for me.

value36: oh yes once I hit 36 my value will increase!

Lagniappe = A little something extra
Bastard Cajun french!

I am also partial to Laizze Les Bon Temp Rouler! (yes I love my Cajun french!) = Let the good times roll!

spam word: back97 cause back in ‘97 I was definitely livin’ Laizze Les Bon Temps Rouler!

“Noblesse oblige.”

Where, of course, the speaker has buff breeches, a cravat tied in the waterfall style, and a pair of matched greys.

In Italian, a fantastic curse phrase: “porca la puttana messa in croce”, which literally means “pig whore put on a cross” but generally means “crucify the dirty whore”. It is intensely gratifying to say when one is intensely pissed off.

I already own the book, so no need to enter me into the contest. I just have a pavlovian response to the call for funky foreign phrases, and none of the comments thus far were very inspiring.

Ou est mon chat? (French for Where is my cat?)

“himself94” is my security word - fitting since our cat, at 17.5 years old, is probably equivalent to 94 human years.

Well, I did French and Italian in school, so all the phrases I learned there were boring and useful. But from my friend who took German I learned “Mein Gehirn ist zu kranken” My brain is broken (they had more fun in German) and from Butch Cassidy I learned, “Donde esta la caja, abralo,” which is terribly useful and means Where’s the safe, open it.

But without doubt my favourite foreign phrase comes from my many sexy hours reading Firefly transcripts: “Wuh duh ma huh ta duh fung-kwong duh wai-shung doh,” which translates as the glorious, Holy mother of God and all her wacky nephews.

This is from Lisa Lutz’s The Spellman Files, I worked out the translation for a contest she held (the prize was copies of her books in French). Which led me to have my French professor proof the translation of this phrase
“Although cocaine wasn’t my thing, the guy was sporting a leather jacket and a Kerouac novel and I have a thing for tough guys who read.”
Or “Bien que la cocaïne n’était pas mon truc, le gars portait un blouson de cuir et un roman de Kerouac, et j’ai un faible pour les durs qui lisent.”
That’s the corrected version BTW, my professor had me change a verb tense from what I submitted to her :)

When learning Spanish growing up my Grandfather taught us

A, E, I, O, U el burro sabe mas que tu

The donkey knows more than you

it’s a really great insult to use in every day life

My favorite phrase from high school Spanish is an example our teacher gave us to discourage us from just adding Spanish sounding ending to English words…

Estoy embarrasado! Which does NOT mean “I am embarrassed.”  Nope.  It means “I am pregnant.”  Which, you know, could really come in handy.

My favorite spanish phrase when I was a kid was the “this tram will be moving” translation on the tram at disney in orlando!  one summer my brother and I memorized it and drove our parents crazy!  what fun! Of course i have no idea what it is now : )

So how about ...  Buenos Diaz!

Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. (Sorry, don’t know the html codes for the accents.)

I can’t think of an English idiom that captures this sentiment - the more things change, the more things stay the same.  I always think it in French.

I can’t believe this one isn’t in there yet, and I totally vote for the hovercraft full of eels, btw. That made me lol, very loudly, and alert my co-workers to my silliness. Ahh Fridays.

my quote:

“Cherchez la vache!”—> “get the cow!” - Quest for the Holy Grail, Monty Python.

TASHI DELEK!

A Tibetan greeting that I was recently introduced to when we went and saw our first sand mandala and “adopted” two Tibetans in northern India, through the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation; www.tibetanchildrenseducation.org.

So inspiring what love does for people.

When I was preparing for a big trip to Italy, a guidebook advised me with the following phrase:

Ho un ragazzo.  E italiano e molto geloso.

I have a boyfriend.  He’s Italian and very jealous.  Step off (implied). 

I never had to use it, (un)fortunately.  I did, however, get flashed in Verona and in the moment (after: what is that thing?) could not remember any of my Italian curses so I just stood up and yelled, “Aw, come on, dude!” and ran away.  But afterwards, in my head, I really shamed that guy.  In Italian.

I used “milate anglika?” (Do you speak English) a lot when doing archaeology in Greece.

One of our crew members, who is British, looks very Mediterranean and during our survey we would always come across yayas working in their kitchen gardens or hanging out in the yard and after the first “Yassous” they would start speaking to my friend in a torrent of Greek.

So the second phrase: “Signomi, ala then milao elinika.” (Sorry, I don’t speak Greek) came in very useful!

Anata wa tokoro de nanika nomimasen ka?

Japanese for “Wanna go to your place for a drink?”

(spelling might be a little off, but I can say it right *G*)

Word ver = for58. So, you wanna go for 58 drinks, then? :-)

My favorite Spanish phrases come from my host mother during my semester abroad, especially when she was trying to explain what we were eating.  The night we we were eating something tiny and garlicky, and she explained it as “bichos del mar” I nearly threw up in my napkin.

“Bichos del mar” = sea bugs. 

We were eating little tiny garlic-fried sea worms.  It’s become one of my favorite phrases for swearing, even though it has nothing to do with profanity.

Well, that and “joder”.  But that’s because she said that word every 20 seconds.

Pura vida - kind of means what a great life.

Im a fan of tête-à-tête and Ménage à trois. ;)

Is a translation really necessary?

Word: give64 ...only 5 off!

ILLEGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM - Don’t let the bastards get you down

PERFUR, OBDURA - Hold out, be strong

AUDACES FORTUNA IUVAT - Fortune favors the bold

UVA UVAM VIDENDO VARIA FIT - Garbled latin from Lonesome Dove - Means “a grape changes color when it sees another grape”

Cher

My all-time favorite: Meine Eltern haben sich nach Asien abgesetzt!

German for “My parents had to flee to Asia!”

Applicable to a variety of situations, of course.

Word verification: enough68. Time to move on to the next number, perhaps? :)

“mon petit chou” = my little cabbage

Or at least that was what I was taught!

For some reason this endearment has ALWAYS charmed me…

One more - the only Spanish I remember from school

El elephantes sun animal que no vive en hoteles

(Elephants don’t live in hotels)

Cher

La plume de ma tante est sur le bureau de mon oncle. Le papier de mon oncle est sur le bureau de ma tante. Bureau du ma tante!

Translation: the pen of my aunt is on the bureau of my uncle. The paper of my uncle is on the bureau of my aunt. Bureau of my aunt!

I’ve been singing that phrase all morning.
spamword: called99

The only thing I remember from my Russian class is
Razresite vam priglasaty na taniets - Would you dance with me?

(My hovercraft is full of eels in Hungarian is “A légpárnás hajóm angolnákkal van tele”)

Je t’aime - what is sweeter?

Pogue mo thoin!
(Pogue muh ho-in)
Nice Irish way to say “kiss my ass” :)

Illud Latine dici non possum

(I can’t say that in Latin)

I know it’s not a phrase—but it is foreign and beautiful to me in either tongue.

Love Sonnet XVII
by Pablo Neruda

en espanol

No te amo como si fueras rosa de sal, topacio
o flecha de claveles que propagan el fuego:
te amo como se aman ciertas cosas oscuras,
secretamente, entre la sombra y el alma.

Te amo como la planta que no florece y
lleva dentro de si, escondida, la luz de aquellas flores,
y gracias a tu amor vive oscuro en mi cuerpo
el apretado aroma que ascendis de la tierra.

Te amo sin saber como, ni cuando, ni de donde,
te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo:
asi te amo porque no si amar de otra manera,

sino asi de este modo en que no soy ni eres,
tan cerca que tu mano sobre mi pecho es mia,
tan cerca que se cierran tus ojos con mi sueno.

in english

I don’t love you as if you were the salt-rose,topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire;
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom and carries
hidden within itself the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride;
I love you in this way because I don’t know any other way of loving,

but this, in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

When I took Russian in college, we really wanted to know some quality profanity, but never managed to learn any.  So we had to make do with what words we could put together from our texts.  I came up with “chlyen su shchi.”  Which may or may not mean “penis with ears,” but that’s what I was going for and it was something you could mutter at will with no fear of repercussions, because, really, how many people know badly translated Russian?

Baciami.

It’s Italian for “Kiss me.” Me and my ex (who was Italian) used to say that to each other.

Italian’s a pretty language.

I took both Latin and Spanish in high school, and have one phrase in each that stuck with me. (Ignore my spelling/grammer errors—it’s been a while since high school!)

For Latin: ‘Plurimum bibi, et planus madidus est.’ = I drank too much, and now I’m totally wasted.

And Spanish: ‘Silencio! Estoy friendo las papas fritas!’ = Be quiet! I’m frying french fries!

...I think I had some entertaining language teachers in high school.

I can’t find the actual French on the internet and I don’t have the movie in front of me, so I have to rely on Google translator and my memory:
Cameron: Puis-je tu offrir un panais?
Bianca: Non, tu mai pas.
Cameron: Où est-crayon de mon oncle?
Bianca: Je ne sais pas. Peut-être que c’est ton cul?

May I offer you a parsnip?
No, you may not.
Where is my uncle’s pen?
I don’t know. Maybe it is up your ass?

(from 10 Things I Hate About You. The discussion continues with her getting pissed off - in French - that he hasn’t asked her out, since it’s obvious his French is poor and he’s just “tutoring” her to get close to her)

Roughly transliterated from the Cyrillic that I no longer remember:

Kakaya krasiveya mashina!

Translation: What a beautiful car!

Why I remember it: This was the sentence used as an example of a particular Russian stress pattern, used to indicate surprise/wonder; the pitch goes up on the second syllable of the phrase and back down on the penultimate syllable.  It’s pretty much the only thing I retain from college Russian.

I only know how to say this, not how to spell it, so I deeply apologize to any Dutch speakers for my thoroughly bastardized transliteration.

My aunt lives in Holland and the last time she visited we created a nonsensical, off-color song to be sung to the tune of “Frere Jacques”:

Mieren nohke, mieren nohke,
Stoma lul, stoma lul
Khotverdamme klotzak, khotverdamme klotzak
Sukkul kreng, sukkul kreng.

It translates to:
Ant-fucker, ant-fucker (literally; the figurative meaning is “nitpicker”)
Stupid penis, stupid penis
Goddamned scrotum, goddamned scrotum
Asshole bitch, asshole bitch.

If I had to choose a specific phrase, it would probably be “Mieren nohke.”

One of my favorite French idioms is: Revenons à nos moutons, the literal translation being “Let’s get back to our sheep”, i.e., “let’s get back on the subject”, from a medieval French farce.

In Latin, a personal favorite: Cuius testiculos habes, habes cardia et cerebellum.  That’s from a Discworld novel by the inimitable Terry Pratchett, and he translated it (very politely) as: when you have their attention in your grasp, their hearts and minds will follow.  The literal translation’s a bit more colorful than that ;) .

I know lots of interesting phrases in in one particular foreign language. Since that language is English, however, I suppose they would not qualify, since I presume that by “foreingn language” you really mean “not English”. (My first language is Norwegian.)
OTOH, if I start quoting, say, Håvamål in Norwegian, I would be taking unfair advantage of my origins. But I suppose quoting one verse – and starting with Old Norse – should take care of that ;-)

Old Norse

Er-a svá gótt
sem gótt kveða
öl alda sona,
því at færa veit,
er fleira drekkr
síns til geðs gumi.

Norwegian

Inkje so godt
som godt dei segjer
er øl for manna-ætt.
Di meir du drikk,
di mindre vit
mun du i hausen hava.

English:

Less good there lies
than most believe
In ale for mortal men;
For the more he drinks
the less does man
Of his mind the mastery hold.

A couple of bits of Latin

Homo sum; human? nil ? m? alienum put?.
I am a man; I believe that nothing human is foreign to me.

Ipsa scientia potestas est
Knowledge itself is power

si post fata venit gloria non propero
If glory comes after death, I’m not in a hurry

And to finish, a bit of Klingon

Heghlu’meH QaQ jajvam
Today is a good day to die

“Habent sua fata libelli” -it means books have their own fates. It’s going to be the text of my next tattoo, incidentally. :)

baileythebookworm at gmail dot com

En la boca serada no entran moscas - it means flies don’t enter a closed mouth.
My mom was fond of using this phrase when I was in high school :)

I’m partial to the Japanese zenzenchigau.  It means “that’s not right at all,” and it’s helpful to have something in your hand to throw as you say it!

Since I’m the former, I appreciate the latter! (I’m a non-twitter-er, so thanks for the giveaway here!)

Sláinte! (To Your Health)

Three polite Irish curses, ascending: 

Imeacht gan teacht ort.
—May you leave without returning

Titim gan eliri ort.
—May you fall without rising.

Go nithe an cat thu, is go nithe an diabhal an cat.
—May the cat eat you, and may the cat be eaten by the devil.

Favorite insult:
Hircus gravis in alis hirsutis vestris vivit.
A serious billy goat lives in your armpit.

Flirty:
Sum magister deliciarum.
I am the master of pleasures.

In German, you can say “Du kannst mich mal” (you can [unstated] me) in contexts where in English you would say “Bite me”.

Another useful phrase: “Halt die Klappe” (stop your flap) = “shut up”

Carpe Diem -Seize the day.

My favorite foreign phrase is mon petit chou….my little cabbage…

My sister recently went through a Spanish course. Being southern, she came home and butchered “gracias,” making it sound more like “grassy-ass.” We don’t ever plan on letting her live it down :)

On a Friday afternooon I would really love to have un verre de vin, s’il vous plait (a glass of wine please).

Great contest!

voulez vous coucher avec moi?

My favorite spanish saying: Me cago en la leche! (Translates into “I s**t in the milk”)

God, I’ve already forgotten my Irish cursing.

I’ve tried for years to get my sister to remember some Spanish phrases, but at least I got one through. Now, whenever I ask how she is (in SP), it goes like this:

Me: “Como estas?”
Her: “Las cucarachas entran, pero no puedan salir.”

“The cockroaches enter, but they can’t leave.” It’s the old “Roach Motel” slogan.

having failed miserably so far to win a copy on Twitter, even after correctly identifying Artificial Vagina (thanks Dirty Jobs man)
I’ve come here. :)

My favourite so far, is, without doubt:

Go nithe an cat thu, is go nithe an diabhal an cat.
—May the cat eat you, and may the cat be eaten by the devil.

ROFLMAOPIMP!

Voulez vous couchez avec moi ce soir?

I’m fairly adept at French (thank you College!) but this remains my all time favorite phrase. Great pickup line? It worked on the boyfriend!

I love the French phrase ‘J’en ai marre.’  It means ‘I’m fed up’ or ‘I’ve had enough’ in English.  I love it mostly because my school French teacher was a huge fan of legendary musical miserabilists The Smiths and was endlessly amused (given the theme of many of their songs) that ‘J’en ai marre’ sounds like the name of The Smiths guitarist, Johnny Marr.

My favourite phrase has to be my mum’s endearment to us. She calls us Ya Kibdi in Moroccan arabic which means my liver. I asked her the meaning of that and she replied that as her kids we are vital to her just as her liver and its a commmon endearment in Morocco :D

I forgot to add my foreign language quote-how about some Welsh?
Twlch dyn pwb sais.” (apologies for spelling) It means The English are a** holes.

I have lots of favorite Italian idioms….but I’ll pick one that shows off my favorite thing about language: the drift from one original phrase to something totally wacky. 

To say someone is crazy in Italian, you say they are “of their head/mind”—“fuori di testa”.  Most people just shorten this expression to “fuori”—“out” or “outside”.  So you say “She was so mad, she was almost outside.”  And if someone is totally batty, they aren’t just outside, they’re so outside that they are “fuori come un balcone”—“outside like a balcony”.

Sorry, I meant to say that “fuori di testa” means “OUT of their head/mind”.  Dang.

Oo menya sebota bez nosa (I have a dog with no nose)
Kakom on khuzheet? (how does he smell?)
Plokho (terrible)

Russian, sort of.

And in French, une grande horizontale (a great courtesan).

(I have the book already, thanks, but apparently do have time on my hands.)

I like the simple ones the best..
“Oye, Mami! Yo quiero..”

My favorite spanish phrase when I was a kid was the “this tram will be moving” translation on the tram at disney in orlando!  one summer my brother and I memorized it and drove our parents crazy!  what fun! Of course i have no idea what it is now : )!

Do you mean on the monorail? “Por favor, mantenganse alejado de las puertas!” or “Please stand clear of the doors”

On the parking tram, it’s “Bienvenidos abordo. Por favor, permanesca sentado, y sienta los ninos en la parte central de la sienta.” - “Welcome aboard. Please remain seated, and seat children toward the center of the row.” I worked a summer in the parking lot at the Magic Kingdom, and will likely never forget this phrase, even though I speak no other Spanish! (Hopefully, Spanish speakers will forgive my attempt to spell it phonetically…)

My German favourite: danke für die Fahrt (thank you for the ride). Because, clearly I am as mature as a 6 year old!

My favorite Spanish word is “mascota,” which means “pet” AND “mascot.” So my dog is officially my mascot. I can’t get enough of this.

I also like “Me suena a chino,” which is their version of “It’s all Greek to me!”

Póg mo thóin!  Means “Kiss my Ass!” in Irish… and don’t let anyone in Ireland try to convince you that it means “Hey good looking!” or anything similar.  Makes for an awkward situation.

Sturm und Drang
literally, storm and stress but meant to convey longing and great emotion - appropriate for romance no?

and at the other end of the spectrum

Quelle Fantastique!

which my husband uses far too often when he “likes” something on Facebook. No he’s not french, he just loves the phrase.

I’ve never commented before, but I’ve been lurking here for awhile and I have to tell you how much I love this site and how it’s really taken over my reading selection.

Nostalgie de la boue which means “yearning for the mud.” A slangy term in French that not only means an attraction to what is unworthy, crude, or degrading, but also implies that one thinks that the yearner should be above such things.

“Futue te” is Latin for the classic anatomically impossible suggestion.

My favorite, from my american flatmate:
What she said: “Tengo una polla en el pie”
What she meant: “I have a blister on my foot”
What she should have said: “Tengo una ampolla en el pie”
What she ACTUALLY said: “I have a d¡ck in my foot”
Ah, the joys of learning other languages…

Ich habe nur Deutsch. Aber ich wuensche Franzoesisch zu sprechen und singen.

MY FAVORITE:  Qui ecoutez la fromage?  French for:  Who cut the cheese?

Can’t say I’ve ever used the preceding in a tome, but I have used au contraire, de rigeur, and magnifique.  Those three years of high school and one year of college French also served me well in Paris. (Deux billets pour Versailles, s’il vous plait.)  Never mind that I got on the wrong train.

My absolute favorite is Turkish:

damlaya damlaya burs olur - drop by drop comes a waterfall

It’s used to mean that even one person can be the beginning of something big and important. Awwww. :)

I also did Latin at uni for a little while, and loved quite a few things, but Catullus 27, his ode to getting really drunk, was one of my favorites:

minister vetuli puer Falerni
inger mi calices amariores,
ut lex Postumiae iubet magistrae
ebriosa acina ebriosioris.
at vos quo lubet hinc abite, lymphae
vini pernicies, et ad severos
migrate. hic merus est Thyonianus.

My colloquial translation is as follows:

Hey, kid! You with the bottle of the good stuff!
Give me a stronger cup this time,
as ordered in the drinking rules laid down by Postumia, the party goddess,
drunker than the drunkest grape.
Do we serve water in this bar? HELL NO H20.
It ruins good wine, so leave it outside
for all the party-poopers. Seriously, give me the good stuff.

Catullus is likely rolling in his grave, and my ~liberties~ with translations are part of why I didn’t major in Latin, but. I love that poem.

English is a foreign language to me too, but my favourite foreign phrase doesn’t really mean anything, so maybe it’ll qualify?
Yes Box Holiday

It’s somenthing we picked up when I was a kid. It could be from an English lesson, from a childrens’ book, or maybe from some comedy show, I really don’t know. It’s become sort of a family thing to use in any given situation where depending on your tone of voice you can pretty much make it mean anything. lol

Other favorites (a bit lame compared to eels in hovercrafts, I know, but that’s me):
MÅ IKKE TILDEKKES - Do not cover (in Norwegian)
FÅR EJ ÖVERTÄCKAS - Swedish-Danish?
NO CUBRIR - Spanish
NE PAS RECOUVRIR - French
MÁ EKKI HYLLJA - Islandish?
NIET BEDEKKEN - Dutch

- From an electric radiator - usually situated near the toilet. ;)

But I’ll vote for the Hovercraft filled with eels. In Finnish that would be:

Pintaliitäjäni on täynnä ankeriaita.

(Incidentally, pintaliitäjä also means a swinger or a very superficial socialite in Finnish) :lol:

(written phonetically, because my German language skills are non-existent) Volen zee ein schlagen haben? 

Which means “Would you like me to smack you?”  It’s what my dad’s beloved grandmother used to say to when he was little.  No kidding.

Dang, ETA: pintaliitäjä being the hovercraft - not the eels - in Finnish.

moral97 -Yes, I guess there’s a moral to the story. 97 eels?

My favorite French is the phrase “esprit de l’escalier”.  It translates to “spirit of the stairs,” but really means “that wonderful, pithy comeback you think of as you are walking away from the argument.”  It sounds so much better in French.

I like,“On ne nait pas femme, on le devient”.  It’s a quote from Simone de Beauvoir.  It means, “You’re not born a woman, you become one.” 

It’s also very subversive because she used the masculine pronoun “le” for what translates as “one” in English.  Normally, it would be correct to use “la”, the feminine form.

My other favorite is from Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale:  Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.  It’s a bastardized latin quote:  Don’t let the bastards grind you down.

My favorite slang phrase in chinese is ??? (fei ji chang) which means airport. But in slang it means a flat chest. Like a runway. It just makes me laugh every time I read it!

They also call a woman who sleeps around ???? (gong gong qi che) or public bus because everyone has had a ride.

Of course this is according to wikipedia. Not that any respectable Chinese woman would have told me any of these fun ones. But I did learn that i the specific province I lived in, it’s a big insult to call someone a hammer because you are effectively calling them a dick.

El baño es en fuego - the bathroom is on fire

I live for the day I can use it in conversation.

Oh, my favorite in latin actually comes from a romance book (don’t remember which one though) The hero’s family motto was: Ad astra per aspera
(To the stars, the hard way)

“Mach es dir selber Schweinhund.”
“Go fuck yourself, pigdog.”

My fav in French

“les carottes sont cuites!”
literally means “the carrots are cooked!”
but equates to “that’s it/I’ve had it!”

it’s simple, but I love that “Konnichiwa,” Japanese for hello, actually means “In reference to today”. So that’s my favorite.

“Ichigo ichie”, a japanese saying that literally says “One time, one meeting” which means “a once-in-a-lifetime chance”. Quite appropriate to romance, I think!

And I wanted to precise that the french endearment “mon petit chou” doesn’t refers to the term cabbage(though it’s a synonym in french) but to the delicious pastry (maybe you would call it a choux bun, but I’m not sure about the translation), which makes much more sense when you think about it.
Anyway, great topic!

I’ve always rather liked:
Me transmitte sursum, Caledoni!
or
Beam me up, Scotty

So in Russian class we had to memorize dialogues to learn declensions, and the best one involved people discussing a suitcase.  The first one says, “Oh, is that your suitcase?” “Yes, that IS my suitcase.” ....wait for it…. 

?? ????? ??????? !  (Oh, it’s so big!)

Tragically, it was not followed by, “That’s what she said!”

Heh.  My mother speaks Italian, but I don’t.  Over the years, she’s taught me bits and phrases, some of which come out of me at the oddest times, like the following one (and any Italian speakers out there, please forgive my spelling, which is probably incorrect):

“Vieni con me, marinaio?”

This, of course, loosely translates to “going my way, sailor?” which is what came vomiting out of my mouth about twenty years ago when I had the opportunity to meet Fabio in person.  He found execrable accent, and my immediate beet red face, quite amusing.

myself52 - as in, I should be ashamed of, at least until the age of.  :)

I’m sure someone’s already said this, but: Voulez-vous couchez avec moi c’est soir?  Very apt for a romance novel!  And handy in real life too. ;)

There are some great Italian ones. “In bocca al lupo” means, essentially, “break a leg,” but it translates literally to “in the mouth of the wolf.” In response you say, “Crepi il lupo!” which means you want that wolf dead.

But, then again, my Italian family also tells me that when a pigeon poops on you it’s good luck.

HA, HA, I remember when Lady Marmalade came out and I was singing Voulez-vous couchez avec moi c’est soir? out loud and in public, before I realized what it meant :emb:

My fave French phrase is Dans tes bras c’est mon destin which means My destiny is in your arms. I think Gambit said it to Rogue once and it stuck with me ever since!

I would love a digital copy of Lessons in French :) Thanks!!

I like “esprit d’escalier” (which I am certain I have just misspelled as I don’t speak or read French).  It means “the spirit of the staircase” and it’s the feeling you have when you walk away from an argument and then think of the perfect retort.

Looking up the thread, I see someone else already said that.  So I’ll add the only other French phrase I know,

“Il y a un dragon dan mo lit.  Je veux un moustiquere.”  (There is a dragon in my bed.  I want a mosquito net.)

I like ya ne znayu, Russian for I don’t know, and ya ne ponimayu, which is I don’t understand.  I figured it can’t hurt to learn those two expressions!

From my traumatic childhood:

Ich glaube ich kann mit meinem kurzen krummen Beinen schneller laufen als Sie.

I think I can with my short crooked legs run faster than you.

Ah, my heart goes pitter-pat at all of this awesome language goodness. (I’m a language geek so all anyone has to do to turn me on is whisper phoneme. )

Turks are very romantic people and have lots of beautiful phrases for romance, love etc etc. I won’t be sharing those. ;-) One of my favorite Turkish phrases is

Can?m s?k?ld? = My soul grew tired or I’m bored. I love that the boredom gets passed off on the soul

Italian, how I adore this language, and it too has many lovely romantic phrases.

I’m pretty fond of

Ti voglio bene = I wish you well but really means I love you in earnest. It’s the kind of phrase you use with someone you mean to spend your life with or someone really important to you rather than with that boyfriend you adore in your early 20s or that lover that you’ll never forget but wouldn’t marry.

I’m also fond of

vaffanculo = which means basically go fuck yourself in the ass
I find it a great phrase for those times when I’m really angry.

Also good is

Non me ne frega = I don’t give a fuck about it

I had a friend in Italian class who was really good at the language and had a great sense of humor.  We’d have lunch and make up crazy phrases for the things around us.  Our long standing favorites were

I bastardi piccioni = bastard pigeons
Putana Vaca = whore cows

We were in our early 20s and this provided hours of entertainment.

My Turkish teachers won’t teach me anything really vulgar but my Italian host parents had no problem doing so.  All and all, though, I must admit that both cultures and language are absolutely beautiful, filled with wonderful expressions and interesting history.  I have never had anything but a good experience with native speakers who are always patient, kind and excited that anyway has dedicated multiple years to studying their languages.  Plus the food is great both places.

“Fais-tu le pompier” : To put it politely, an invitation to self-gratification.  (Learned it high school french class)

Sin Verguenza! 

(Espanol) Without shame.  Though I’ve always had the notion this was a less-than-polite way of saying this….!

I’m printing out this comment thread for research purposes.

Ne petez pas plus haut que votre tete.

Literally, “Don’t fart higher than your head.” Means “Don’t get too big for your britches.”

In my book, any idiom with “fart” in it is a winner.

LOL A@ Laura. Research purposes :-)

poser un lapin a quelqu’un: to stand someone up

Je suis un canard.

I am a duck.

My sister asked me how to say this when we were in high school, why I do not know, and it is one of the few phrases I consistently remember.

Illegitimi non carborundum

or “Don’t let the b*stards wear you down.”

Sounds like “Chort vas mee!”, which means “the devil take me” in Russian.

Transliteration of a Family Saying in Ukrainian:
Kapusta Sera Sera!

Bitter Cabbage is Bitter. (Just as meaningful as Que Sera Sera, and much more fun to say.)

Kapusta is both cabbage and sauerkraut.

Si viene esta puerta, te mata. If you come through this door, you will killed. (A sign I saw on a door once, I won’t say where.)

My 2nd choice is roughly paraphrased Ovid. “Sunt certi fines ultra quos virtute inveniri non potest.” There are certain points, beyond which virtue cannot be found.

My family and I used to speak nonsense French at each other while we were learning it in high school. My favourite was always “Je m’appelle pomme de terre.” I am called potato.

Making fun of all the phrases and nouns we had to learn. :D

Donde queda la biblioteca? Where is the library?

Comme ci, comme ça = Some of this, some of that

It’s very useful.  “What did you think of the restaurant?”  “Eh, comme ci, comme ça—my steak was a bit tough, but the chocolate-raspberry cheesecake was to die for”  or “Did you like the movie?  Eh, comme ci, comme ça—the plot was stupid but it did have Johnny Depp in it…”  or “How are you feeling today?  Comme ci, comme ça—my cold is clearing up, but I’m still a little sniffly.”  (Note, in all cases, your hand should be held out in front of you and rocking side to side when you actually say Comme ci, comme ça.)

Ho sento, no parlo Català molt bé.

I tried (with kinda pathetic results) to learn some Catalan while visiting Barcelona. That phrase probably got the most use: “I’m sorry, I don’t speak much Catalan.”

My husband and I took our mother’s to London and Paris a few years ago.  My husband speaks German well but no French while I’ve had way too much French to be able to speak as little as I do.  He started saying that he only needed to know a few things, like how to tell the waiters to bring him food.  I made the mistake of teaching him a few words and 5 years later he still says this phrase all the time:

Viand! Maintenant!  Ici! Vite, vite!

Translated as “Meat! Now! Here! Hurry, hurry!”

Sigh.  But I have to admit that it does rank right up there with my favorite foreign language phrase of all time.

German: Ich Liebe Dich-I love you
German: Ich Hasse Dich, Dickhead- I hate you dickhead…seems like it’s the same wherever you go huh?
A classic:That’s What She Said, a couple different ways.
French: C’est ce qu’elle dit.
German: Das ist, was sie sagte.
Spanish: Que es lo que dijo.

By far my favorite quirk of the French language is how you say “I miss you”

Tu me manques.

Which literally translates to “You are missing from me.”

It makes my sentimental heart sigh every time.

Cinta ku - that’s Malay for ‘my love’!

I love when french people say, with their typical, elegant supponence, haughtiness
“Jamais couché(e) avec, that means I don’t know him or her ( never bedded him or her).
So far
Take care, every- bitchy- one
Vivienne