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Post by jeanne on Dec 20, 2019 17:56:58 GMT 1
I'm not a cat person, so I don't know what furry female mammals of the feline family do, however, when Americans call a girl/woman "catty," it means they are criticizing another person and/or talking about them behind their back... Nope. The one special thing that female cats do is to bear baby kittens. Go catty means have ones. You can also say so about other pets and even farm animals like pigs. Funny. to get swiny Well, I get it when speaking about cats, and maybe rabbits, too, but pigs? Is that what to get swiny means? I would think getting swiny would mean either getting muddy or eating a lot of food indiscriminately...(or "stuffing one's face") 
Plus, I don't think "swiny" is even a word, at least not in English....did you create it out of a Polish word? |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 20, 2019 18:07:41 GMT 1
Plus, I don't think "swiny" is even a word, at least not in English....did you create it out of a Polish word? Of course I did, like always. I also created catty, I had no idea it exists in English. No, get swiny/swiney is similar to get raggy. |
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Post by jeanne on Dec 20, 2019 18:11:30 GMT 1
Plus, I don't think "swiny" is even a word, at least not in English....did you create it out of a Polish word? Of course I did, like always. I also created catty, I had no idea it exists in English. No, get swiny/swiney is similar to get raggy. Does "raggy" mean wearing tattered clothing...or not taking care to make your clothes look presentable? Or in English..."looking ragged." |
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Post by naukowiec on Dec 21, 2019 9:21:41 GMT 1
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 22, 2019 17:42:43 GMT 1
Does "raggy" mean wearing tattered clothing...or not taking care to make your clothes look presentable? Or in English..."looking ragged." Yes, I know ragged in English, that is why I used raggy. But no.  Yes, get swiny or raggy means to become a callous human swine. mollusc - what does it mean in reference to people? |
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Post by jeanne on Dec 22, 2019 19:11:22 GMT 1
mollusc - what does it mean in reference to people? Someone who keeps to themselves and does not react socially with other people? Or someone who does not say anything?...we say someone "clams up" when they won't speak. |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 22, 2019 19:20:39 GMT 1
mollusc - what does it mean in reference to people? Someone who keeps to themselves and does not react socially with other people? Or someone who does not say anything?...we say someone "clams up" when they won't speak. Nope, it means a soft, weak person. Wimp and others. Artist/apparatus about people? |
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Post by jeanne on Dec 22, 2019 19:23:55 GMT 1
Someone who keeps to themselves and does not react socially with other people? Or someone who does not say anything?...we say someone "clams up" when they won't speak. Nope, it means a soft, weak person. Wimp and others. Artist/apparatus about people? Someone who manipulates others, or maybe says things about another person colored by their own opinion of them? |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 22, 2019 19:47:17 GMT 1
Someone who manipulates others, or maybe says things about another person colored by their own opinion of them? Nope, it is a person who fools around and does strange things. Clown, sort of. to hang dogs on sb/sth |
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Post by naukowiec on Dec 22, 2019 22:04:47 GMT 1
To speak badly of someone, to slander their reputation? He did me a bear's service/favour |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 22, 2019 22:41:37 GMT 1
To speak badly of someone, to slander their reputation? He did me a bear's service/favourYes! bear`s service according to La Fontaine: the bear wants to protect his human friend from an obnoxious fly/wasp but kills him instead of the insect.  |
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Post by naukowiec on Dec 22, 2019 22:48:03 GMT 1
the bear wants to protect his human friend from an obnoxious fly/wasp but kills him instead of the insect. I know it as doing someone a disservice, a favour when granted, was more trouble than it was worth. Your example definitely falls into the reins of doing someone a disservice, a deadly one in fact  |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 22, 2019 22:57:59 GMT 1
I know it as doing someone a disservice, a favour when granted, was more trouble than it was worth. Your example definitely falls into the reins of doing someone a disservice, a deadly one in fact Isn`t the idiom international? La Fontaine`s fables were translated into many languages. I thought it also exists in English. |
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Post by naukowiec on Dec 22, 2019 23:03:32 GMT 1
Isn`t the idiom international? La Fontaine`s fables were translated into many languages. I thought it also exists in English. You are probably right, but I've never heard it said in English, so it may not be that common. Only in Polish, Wyświadczył mi niedźwiedzią przysługę. |
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Post by jeanne on Dec 23, 2019 12:37:26 GMT 1
I know it as doing someone a disservice, a favour when granted, was more trouble than it was worth. Your example definitely falls into the reins of doing someone a disservice, a deadly one in fact Isn`t the idiom international? La Fontaine`s fables were translated into many languages. I thought it also exists in English. I had never heard of that idiom as well... I did read a bit of LaFontaine when studying French in college. I don't remember the bear fable, though. (Perhaps my French was so poor that I didn't know what I was reading!)  |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 23, 2019 15:52:07 GMT 1
I had never heard of that idiom as well... I wonder if it isn`t a French invention. Today in a mobile phone network company outlet I heard a customer saying: dog`s weather. What does it mean? |
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Post by jeanne on Dec 23, 2019 16:03:03 GMT 1
I had never heard of that idiom as well... I wonder if it isn`t a French invention. Today in a mobile phone network company outlet I heard a customer saying: dog`s weather. What does it mean? No idea...what was the weather like? |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 23, 2019 16:13:40 GMT 1
No idea...what was the weather like? I thought you would guess it instantly. Don`t you know under the dog expression? |
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Post by jeanne on Dec 24, 2019 2:34:32 GMT 1
No idea...what was the weather like? I thought you would guess it instantly. Don`t you know under the dog expression? No...I don't know "under the dog" expression. I do know what an "underdog" is...the person/group/team who is least likely to win, be successful, come out on top of things, etc. But, "under the dog???" How does that fit in here...what am I missing? |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 24, 2019 7:56:41 GMT 1
No...I don't know "under the dog" expression. I do know what an "underdog" is...the person/group/team who is least likely to win, be successful, come out on top of things, etc. But, "under the dog???" How does that fit in here...what am I missing? Yes, both expressions share the same characteristics - they are negative. Doggy means bad weather. the rule of strong hand |
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Post by jeanne on Dec 24, 2019 12:41:09 GMT 1
Governing with force/threat rather than being open to input from others? |
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Post by naukowiec on Dec 28, 2019 10:45:56 GMT 1
Generally means it's raining. We have an idiom - It's raining cats and dogs which means it's raining very heavily. Autocratic rule? Exercising power and sovereignty over people ruhlessly to maintain discipline? To punish those who do not comply and oppose the rule/regime? |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 28, 2019 14:03:49 GMT 1
Governing with force/threat rather than being open to input from others? Autocratic rule? Exercising power and sovereignty over people ruhlessly to maintain discipline? Yes, both answers are right. Generally means it's raining. Exactly. the days of sb/sth are counted |
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Post by jeanne on Dec 28, 2019 18:36:28 GMT 1
Governing with force/threat rather than being open to input from others? Autocratic rule? Exercising power and sovereignty over people ruhlessly to maintain discipline? Yes, both answers are right. Generally means it's raining. Exactly. the days of sb/sth are countedSomebody won't have long to live, or something won't last very long...it's about to end! |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 28, 2019 20:19:32 GMT 1
Somebody won't have long to live, or something won't last very long...it's about to end! Yes. to put out coffee on the coffee table. |
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Post by jeanne on Dec 28, 2019 20:28:21 GMT 1
Somebody won't have long to live, or something won't last very long...it's about to end! Yes. to put out coffee on the coffee table. Here's a wild guess: To discuss things that are only relevant to the purpose of the discussion...not to add superfluous information or digress from the topic? |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 28, 2019 21:16:43 GMT 1
Here's a wild guess: To discuss things that are only relevant to the purpose of the discussion...not to add superfluous information or digress from the topic? You are very close, the idiom means to talk sincerely about sth, especially unpleasant matters. I heard it in my fav comedy Airplane as: I will level with you. Everything is OK and you needn`t worry. and then the character grows a very long nose in Pinocchio manner. In Polish it is a rhymed idiom: wyłożyć kawę na ławę. to loo (loo as a toilet) |
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Post by naukowiec on Dec 29, 2019 19:23:15 GMT 1
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 30, 2019 0:31:26 GMT 1
nope, it means to spend a lot of time in one place - kiblować from kibel - loo. What are stories from moss and fern ? |
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Post by naukowiec on Dec 31, 2019 8:58:59 GMT 1
it means to spend a lot of time in one place Strange. One could equally spend a lot of time in other places too. stories from moss and fern ? An animated series of Czechoslovakian production for kids? The main characters are 2 gnomes. Based on the book Bajki z mchu i paproci by Václav Čtvrtek. |
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