www.alphadictionary.com

Decent column from the CSM:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0805/p18s01-hfgn.html

I do question the first idiom, though, the Russian one about noodles. I've never heard of it as coming from the one doing the hanging. It's always presented as a command coming from the "hangee." As in, "Don't hang noodles on my ears!"

"Ne veshai mne lapshi na ushi!" as compared to "Ne veshayu tebe lapshi na ushi." Bad transliterations, I'm sure, but my idioms book is in storage at the moment.

Ten lashes with a wet-noodle to many.

Slava,

Is there an explanation for the noodle-hanging idiom that you know of?

Incidentally. the Spanish equivalent of "between a rock and a hard place" is "between a sword and a wall."

Make more sense.

Is there an explanation for the noodle-hanging idiom that you know of?

Nope, sorry. I believe, however, that that is one of the characteristics of idioms; they have little to no explanation. They can be translated, but have to be expressed in different words.

A good one for meandering threads would be, "Let's get back to our muttons." Why mutton, and why in the plural?

Wiktionary simply says that it refers to get back to the
business at hand. I went there after 5-6 other sites
did not have any reference.

This:
To return to one's muttons. [A translation of a phrase from
a farce by De Brueys, revenons [`a] nos moutons let us
return to our sheep.] To return to one's topic, subject of
discussion, etc. [Humorous]

I willingly return to my muttons. --H. R.
Haweis.
(from----http://dictionary.die.net/to%20return%2 ... %20muttons)


Plural? Curious. 1 = mutton, 2+ =muttons. (?)

Nope, sorry. I believe, however, that that is one of the characteristics of idioms; they have little to no explanation. They can be translated, but have to be expressed in different words.

A good one for meandering threads would be, "Let's get back to our muttons." Why mutton, and why in the plural?

I agree that idioms are hard to translate, but "I'm not hanging noodles on your ears" and "let's get back to our muttons" differ from "you're up the creek without a paddle" and "it's raining cats and dogs." The visual images of the two latter ones would work in any language--at least I think so. But hanging noodles on one's ears and getting back to one's muttons beg for explanations.

I've gone on too long. I need to get back to my parakeets.

I see: a teaser: parakeets.
The muttons thing seems to me to give an image of
two shepherds somewhere stopping for an ale or a brew.
Talking has progressed too long, and one realizes
it is time to get home, I've got to get back to my
muttons.

As for noodles, it's a "don't pull my leg' sort of thing,
when someone tries a tall tale.

As for noodles, it's a "don't pull my leg' sort of thing, when someone tries a tall tale.

I vote that we mix "telling a tall tale" and "pulling my leg" to yield two new idioms:

"You're telling my tall leg" and "you're pulling my tail."

Then we should get back to our sheep.

Sort of like 'pin the tail on the donkey" or
a 'three legged race". What a suggestion!

To re-visit the original post, the Smithsonian magazine's "Last Page" section refers to this book. It's a nice little addition to idiom humor.

You can read it in the magazine, or here:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cult ... Canoe.html

I love swallowed like a postman’s sock. Obviously, postmen in Colombia walk rather than drive.

One of my favorite idiomatic expressions is "about a half bubble off plumb," meaning that the person is a little slow.

Here's a book idea, free for the taking. A dictionary of idioms, but not the random way we usually see such items. This one would have the English concept as the heading, and then a listing of how different languages express the idea idiomatically.

So, we have "Slow, mentally dull." Then we'd have a list of "half a bubble off plumb," "two cards short of a deck," etc. for the English, and whatever turns up for all the other languages.

Sounds like a good idea--unless you're hanging noodles on our ears.

No noodles here. I'm just hoping someone will swallow that idea like a postman's sock.

Have to admit, I don't get that one at all.

Swallowed like a postman’s sock

After a lot of walking, the postman's socks would be "swallowed" by his shoes (i.e., the socks would slide down into the shoes because of friction and gravity).

Basketball players have the same problem.