

When to use it: To encourage someone to stay for another beer Mandarin Chinese Idioms When to use it: When your sibling refuses to eat their greens When to use it: When you want to sound philosophical in conversation When to use it: Whenever something surprising happens When to use it: If someone is exaggerating a situation When to use it: Describing how much you had to drink German Idioms When to use it: When someone comments they find something difficult, respond ‘in my day, we jumped ditches the long way’ When to use it: When someone can’t find something that’s literally right in front of them When to use it: When you or someone else is getting mad When to use it: When you’re losing a game of ‘guess what’ When to use it: When someone asks you to do something you don’t have time for When to use it: When someone is acting frugally When to use it: When your friend refuses to get up to get the snacks When to use it: When someone has asked you to fetch something and you forget When to use it: If someone’s not sure whether they can do something in order to reach their goal When to use it: If you or someone else drops something Variation: Que cara é essa? Parece que você está igual barata tonta! (“What kind of a face it that? You look just like a silly cockroach!”)

When to use it: When someone says something strange Variation: Tenho macaquinhos na cabeça (“I have little monkeys in my head”) When to use it: When someone asks you to do something you won’t do Variation:Vou tirar meu cavalinho da chuva (“I’ll take my little horse away from the rain”): When to use it: If someone asks you for something you don’t have
FOREIGN FUNNY WORDS IN ENGLISH PDF
If you find yourself struggling with any of the sounds, be sure to download our free Audio PDF pronunciation guide for your target language. That’s why we’ve included slowed down audio and phonetic transcription for 24 idioms in Portuguese, Mandarin, Spanish, Italian, French and German. Then they will laugh, and think you’re even cooler than you already are.īut you won’t get your desired effect on the audience unless you nail the pronunciation.

Then in that moment of surprise, they may realize for the first time just how ridiculous that idiom sounds. If you randomly bust out one of these idioms in conversation with native speakers, they will be pleasantly surprised. That’s why it’s always fun to learn idioms in a foreign language. Put another way: idioms are sentences that sound ridiculous to everyone but the native speakers who use them. The Oxford English dictionary defines idioms and phrases as:Ī group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words.
