When buying a horse I think you're supposed to look at its teeth (i.e. look in its mouth), because the amount of wear on the teeth is a good indicator of age. If it's a gift horse, who cares what condition it's in? It's a gift! Don't question a good thing.
Continuing the animal theme, some cat ones:
The cat's whiskers (or the cat's pyjamas) -
describes something really awesome
Let the cat out of the bag -
spill a secret or spoil a surprise
Herding cats -
handling something complicated and difficult to coordinate
One I never understood is the English saying "the bee's knees", meaning something great or awesome. I can understand it rhymes, but otherwise, what's so great about an insect's joints?
I'm sure there's also one about an elephant in a porcelain store (expression, not a movie), meaning an accident about to happen or something like that.
There is one in German at least, and it generally refers to a person who is bound to cause some trouble because of lack of respect for other people's feelings.
There is one in German at least, and it generally refers to a person who is bound to cause some trouble because of lack of respect for other people's feelings.
In English the equivalent is "like a bull in a china shop" - it means to be aggressive or blundering, with no regard for the delicacy of the situation.
To be hungry as a wolf.
Speak of the wolf, he gets out of the woods/ Speak of the wolf, you'll see his tail.
To throw oneself in the wolf's mouth.
To be as known as the white wolf.
Man is a wolf for man.
Between dog and wolf.
at dusk
Walking with wolf's steps
slow, silent steps
She's seen the wolf
she's had sex for the first time
To show a white paw (this one doesn't have "wolf" in it but comes from a fable where a wolf pretends to be a ewe to eat the lambs. At some points he proves he's their mom in various ways, one of them is covering his paw in flour and showing it to them)
To lock the wolf in the pen
And the bee's knees is just supposed to be cutesy, like the cat's pajamas. It's silly but fun.
Here's some my (American) grandparents use to use:
Now don't that take the rag off the bush!
You ain't a woofin'!
What's the big idea?!
Let's shoot the breeze.
Can you hit the lights?
A rather new expression for my inner circle (it's probably been around for ages): "Sjiek is mich dat", which you could translate to "Now that's fancy", a sarcastic remark. It's dialect instead of "good" Dutch, though.
"There's a hair in the butter", often used when a relationship isn't going so well.
A variety for a more widely context is "There's poop on the marble". I guess it's about the same as "the ship hits the fan".
Comments
In English, don't count your chickens before they hatch and don't look a gift horse in the mouth (yeah, I guess this one is the same).
When buying a horse I think you're supposed to look at its teeth (i.e. look in its mouth), because the amount of wear on the teeth is a good indicator of age. If it's a gift horse, who cares what condition it's in? It's a gift! Don't question a good thing.
Continuing the animal theme, some cat ones:
The cat's whiskers (or the cat's pyjamas) -
Let the cat out of the bag -
Herding cats -
He looks like the cat that ate the canary -
Set the cat amongst the pigeons -
There is one in German at least, and it generally refers to a person who is bound to cause some trouble because of lack of respect for other people's feelings.
In English the equivalent is "like a bull in a china shop" - it means to be aggressive or blundering, with no regard for the delicacy of the situation.
Hmmm.. In england we have a similar an expression: "That's not cricket" meaning the same sort of thing (well, usually it means "that's unfair")
To be hungry as a wolf.
Speak of the wolf, he gets out of the woods/ Speak of the wolf, you'll see his tail.
To throw oneself in the wolf's mouth.
To be as known as the white wolf.
Man is a wolf for man.
Between dog and wolf.
To lock the wolf in the pen
And the bee's knees is just supposed to be cutesy, like the cat's pajamas. It's silly but fun.
Here's some my (American) grandparents use to use:
Now don't that take the rag off the bush!
You ain't a woofin'!
What's the big idea?!
Let's shoot the breeze.
Can you hit the lights?
Ah the joys of the British aristocracy. Thousands of expressions that all amount to saying nothing.
"There's a hair in the butter", often used when a relationship isn't going so well.
A variety for a more widely context is "There's poop on the marble". I guess it's about the same as "the ship hits the fan".
Reminds me of one, "To arrive like a hair on the soup", which means to be unwelcome.