{"id":31964,"date":"2025-07-02T07:03:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T07:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/31964\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T07:03:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T07:03:11","slug":"beavers-were-brought-to-the-desert-to-save-a-dying-river-6-years-later-here-are-the-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/31964\/","title":{"rendered":"Beavers were brought to the desert to save a dying river. 6 years later, here are the results."},"content":{"rendered":"

You probably know what it means to hit the hay, tie the knot<\/a> or buy a lemon. Maybe you\u2019ve already killed two birds with one stone today, so effortlessly that it was a piece of cake. But to a non-English speaker, using these phrases<\/a> would probably make you sound crazy \u2026 or should I say gone crackers?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the fun thing about idioms<\/a>. They change depending on the time, place and culture creating them. In other words, they usually sound ridiculous to anyone except those who normally use them. Looking at turns of phrase in different languages<\/a> helps us see the world through different eyes. And man does it seem impressive at a party.<\/p>\n

Just think, instead of saying \u201cit\u2019s raining cats and dogs,\u201d next time you could incorporate a more Lithuanian take, and say \u201cit\u2019s raining axes.\u201d How metal is that?<\/p>\n

It can also be raining old women, barrels, buckets, pipe stems, frogs, female trolls, fire and brimstone \u2026 depending on where you\u2019re from.<\/p>\n

Some of these idioms from around the world make a lot of sense. Others get so lost in translation, you can\u2019t help but get tickled pink.<\/p>\n

\"Swedish“Now your fishes will be warmed.”Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/p>\n

Swedish<\/p>\n

\u201dNu ska du f\u00e5 dina fiskar v\u00e4rmda.\u201d<\/p>\n

Literal translation: Now your fishes will be warmed.<\/p>\n

It’s another way of saying someone\u2019s in trouble, or their \u201cgoose is cooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Swedish language is definitely not lacking in the threats department. They also have a saying, \u201cnu har du satt din sista potatis,\u201d which translates to \u201cnow you have planted your last potato.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imagine hearing Batman say \u201cYou\u2019ve planted your last potato, Joker.\u201d Doesn’t have quite the intended effect.<\/p>\n

\"ham,“To have one\u2019s eyes lined with ham.”Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/p>\n

Italian<\/p>\n

\u201cAvere gli occhi foderati di prosciutto.\u201d<\/p>\n

Literal translation: To have one\u2019s eyes lined with ham.<\/p>\n

Leave it to the Italians to have food-related phrases. You can use this when someone can\u2019t see what\u2019s right in front of them. It can also be used when someone is blinded by love. Sadly, there is no \u201cham-colored glasses\u201d idiom.<\/p>\n

\"Icelandic“To lay your head in water.”Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/p>\n

Icelandic<\/p>\n

\u201cA\u00f0 leggja h\u00f6fu\u00f0i\u00f0 \u00ed bleyti.\u201d<\/p>\n

Literal translation: To lay your head in water.<\/p>\n

You say this when you \u201cneed to sleep on something,\u201d or \u201cput your thinking cap on.\u201d This one is hilarious because I cannot fathom getting any mental clarity from holding my head in the water.<\/p>\n

\"two“Repetition teaches the donkey.”Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/p>\n

Arabic<\/p>\n

“At-Tikraar yu\u2019allem al-Himaar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Literal translation: Repetition teaches the donkey.<\/p>\n

Practice makes perfect, but it especially does for donkeys. Animal-themed wisdom at its finest.<\/p>\n

\"German“I only understand train station.”Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/p>\n

German<\/p>\n

“Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof.”<\/p>\n

Literal translation: I only understand train station.<\/p>\n

It’s another way of saying \u201cit\u2019s all Greek to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The history of this one is a bit mysterious. One theory is that it originated from WWI soldiers who had only one thing on their mind after getting discharged: returning home. Meaning, they could only comprehend the train station that would lead them there. Others say it refers to tourists new to Germany who have really only learned the German word for \u201ctrain station.\u201d Which would indicate that everything else is foreign to them.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s not forget \u201cnicht mein bier, nicht meine sorgen,\u201d translating to \u201cnot my beer, not my worries.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Fun fact: The term \u201cnot my circus, not my monkeys\u201d actually stems from a Polish proverb, not an English saying at all.)<\/p>\n

\"norwegian“To speak directly from the liver.”Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/p>\n

Norwegian<\/p>\n

\u201c\u00c5 snakke rett fra leveren.\u201d<\/p>\n

Literal translation: To speak directly from the liver.<\/p>\n

When you say something without sugar-coating it, you are speaking directly from the liver. This dates back to a time when the liver was thought to be the magical organ<\/a> that produced courage. So speaking from the liver is just like speaking from the heart, only down and to the right a little.<\/p>\n

\"two“Horse horse, tiger tiger.”Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/p>\n

Chinese<\/p>\n

\u201cMama huhu.\u201d<\/p>\n

Literal translation: Horse horse, tiger tiger.<\/p>\n

You can use it to say something is just okay. Not good, not bad, just \u2026 meh.<\/p>\n

As the story<\/a> goes, a Chinese painter who, not very good at his craft, created a drawing of an animal that looked sort of like a tiger, and sort of like, you guessed it, a horse. That story actually has a tragic ending that serves as a cautionary tale against carelessness. But nowadays it takes on a lighter connotation.<\/p>\n

And like \u201ccomme ci, comme ca\u201d in French, \u201chorse horse, tiger tiger\u201d isn\u2019t quite as commonly spoken as non-native speakers would assume.<\/p>\n

Language continues to be an ever-evolving and always entertaining way to not only appreciate other cultures, but also note the similarities. Words might change slightly, but ultimately we’re all expressing the same things.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared three years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You probably know what it means to hit the hay, tie the knot or buy a lemon. Maybe…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":31965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[26919,26916,26917,285,5980,6772,16478,1759,26918,159,1763,67,132,68,424,837],"class_list":{"0":"post-31964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-beaver","9":"tag-beaver-dam","10":"tag-beavers","11":"tag-climate-change","12":"tag-desert","13":"tag-drought","14":"tag-global-warming","15":"tag-nature","16":"tag-planet-earth","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-sustainability","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-utah","23":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114782365742066974","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}