Invent an Idiom

[Pogostick Man]

tlǒ yưy é̛ jó te tlǎ an dò₁ yí̛ êsyí̛r "brand-new" (lit. "having fallen from the branch just a few jós ago")
Múy Baơn dialect: Female speech – [tlo᷉ ju᷆j e᷄ ɟo᷄ tē tla᷉ ān dò jı᷄ e᷄sˈjı᷄ɹ]; male speech – [t͜ɬo᷉ ju᷆j e᷄ ɟo᷄ tē t͜ɬa᷉ ān dò jı᷄ e᷄sˈjı᷄ɹ]
⅁ứynǎ dialect: Female speech – [tlǒ jùj e᷄ ɟo᷄ tē tla᷉ ān dò jı᷄ e᷄sˈjı᷄ɹ]; male speech – [t͜ɬǒ jùj e᷄ ɟo᷄ tē t͜ɬa᷉ ān dò jı᷄ e᷄sˈjı᷄ɹ]
Nícưwa̛r dialect: Female speech – [dlo᷄ ju᷇j e᷅ ɟo᷄ te᷆ dla᷄ a᷆n do᷆ jı᷅ e᷄sˈjı᷅ɹ]; male speech – [t͜ɬo᷄ ju᷇j e᷅ ɟo᷄ te᷆ t͜ɬa᷄ a᷆n do᷆ jı᷅ e᷄sˈjı᷅ɹ]

Next: to be in a coma or vegetative state

[IndieAuthor]

Next: to be in a coma or vegetative state

Skaod:
ketrhuă ryȩdu "fate sleep"

Next: the earliest feeling of a romantic/sexual connection with someone

[Matrix]

Next: the earliest feeling of a romantic/sexual connection with someone

Maja:

garkilion bozet wodeil
[gaːɹɾ.kilˈi.on ˈboz.ɛt ˈwo.del]
begin-CONT spin-ADJ dance
beginning to dance in a spin

In maja culture, the spiral is the symbol of love, coming from the nautilus-like shells used by the ancient love-goddess Yanni to cover her breasts. This metaphor extends to physical movement in which spinning is equated to a spiral.



Next: a situation in which nobody wants to give up any ground to anyone else

[Pogostick Man]

óa‘ hódih sang üzrêng sá tû "they stand in night and day"

Holdover from a previous mythos wherein the two moons were personified: The bigger one was a brat whereas the smaller one was the easily-impressionable younger brother. When one was up during the day and the other during the night it was said that they were mad at each other (e.g., the little one tattled on the bigger one to the sun).

Next: lacking or having forgotten something because it is so basic you forgot about it completely (like me and my tendency to forget to bring a comb when I travel)

[Das Baron]

Next: lacking or having forgotten something because it is so basic you forgot about it completely (like me and my tendency to forget to bring a comb when I travel)

Í cuirbhe séon craefen, ar séon peadhan mairr
[i: kʊɾʲvʲə ʃe:n krɛfɪɲ aɾ ʃe:n pʲaðɪn ma:rʲ]
"He packed his shoes, but forgot his feet."

Next: to assume that someone is doing you harm out of deliberate maliciousness, when in fact it's out of simple stupidity or ignorance

[Matrix]

Next: to assume that someone is doing you harm out of deliberate maliciousness, when in fact it's out of simple stupidity or ignorance

Nahakhontl:



Pex ôdur dér þelsan vé yoh čaþ glôžen doĥ (hôga fôl žakír u saônal).
[pɛks ˈo.duɹ ˈdeɹ θɛlˈsan βe ˈjoh t͡ʃaθ ˈglo.ʒɛn ˈdoχ (hoˈga fol ˈʒa.kiɹ ˈu saˈo.nal)]
do.INF wonder.INF think.INF serpent POSS punch.INF V→N alike exact (upon only truth N→A NEG-PRES-be)
To assume the serpent strikes directly (when it does not).

The bracketed part is not always included, sometimes it is merely implied. This idiom comes from how in Shorragite culture, reptiles are associated with Ashkozen, the god of lies and enemy of the world.


Next: when something has gone in a direction that was completely unexpected, yet the outcome was beneficial

[Pogostick Man]

Next: when something has gone in a direction that was completely unexpected, yet the outcome was beneficial

Yí̛ jar an yêtlù só û tle wô ñá̛rtlonc. (male) / Yí̛ jar an yêtlù só ê ơ wô ñá̛rtlonc. (female) "The tree fell, but now we have wood."

Next: to die of a serious illness

[Jerian]

Next: to die of a serious illness

Merantian:
[væl.ɪnirɪl.tæ fɛl ɪ̈t.jælɪn]
valinnirilta fel ytyalin
betray-past-complete from/by nature
Betrayed by nature

Merantia has remarkably good medical care, and thus deaths from causes such as disease, and the like, are very uncommon.

Note, the idiom can also be used to describe any death not caused by humanity.

next: What can go wrong, will go wrong (murphy's law)

[IndieAuthor]

next: What can go wrong, will go wrong (murphy's law)

ăot tȩtru dròkidãt Rhuã uãrsāgã hrō tri sidȩãt

Translation: Expect Rhua's bite before her kiss
Rhua is the goddess of fate.


Next: to trick some in a harmless/non offensive way

[Pogostick Man]

Next: to trick some in a harmless/non offensive way

Á‘a3 istón no‘a cen 3é ngung3e no‘a. "He took the bullets out of my ngung3e (a kind of recreational firearm)."

Next: To take revenge on the wrong party thinking it is the right one

[Colonel Cathcart]

Next: To take revenge on the wrong party thinking it is the right one

Icastrian:

tachtais Maronalaisku
[taxtaʃ ˈmaɾonalaʃkʊ]
do-INF Maronalais-ESS
To do a Maronalais

Maronalais is the protagonist of the tragedy The House of Jardey (Ar Jardeya tere) by Ilona Sarmath (1692-1761), a female playwright who is comparable to Shakespeare in the English-speaking world. In the play, Baron Inarastey tells the boy Maronalais that his father has been killed by the Baron's brother, the Duke of Jardey, because he was having an affair with the Duchess. Fearing the Duke will kill Maronalais as well, the Baron sends him to far-off Turomaa (western Norway), warning him never to return. Years later Maronalais returns to Jardey to avenge his father's death. He presents himself as a nobleman under a false name, and works himself into the ducal house by ingratiating himself to the Duke's daughter. Maronalais eventually kills the Duke, but in the Duke's last moments he reveals that the story was a lie. Maronalais senior was not killed by the Duke, he was killed by the Baron. After Maronalais is arrested, the Baron reveals to the audience via soliloquy that it was he who had been having an affair with the Duchess, and he had killed Maronalais senior when he found out and threatened to tell the Duke. Moreover, the Baron knew who Maronalais was from the moment he returned to Jardey, and deducing that he had come to kill the Duke, he curried the young man's favor because he wanted to take over the House of Jardey for himself.

Next: Wanderlust; to have an irresistible urge to travel

[Pogostick Man]

‘Éam í3í ü m pûlínam cen "he prefers the smell of a distant land"

Smell is an exceptionally sensitive sense in, and therefore important to, those who speak this language.

Next: To give the cold shoulder to someone

[Jerian]

Next: To give the cold shoulder to someone

[dɘs.tɾa sɤ stæksa kam]
Destra so staksa kahm
to.believe.that 3s death in.a.state.of
To believe that someone's dead.

next: realize the flaw in a design/paper/etc... immediately after handing it in/presenting it/etc...

[Click]

next: realize the flaw in a design/paper/etc... immediately after handing it in/presenting it/etc...

That happens to me all the time.

káo tòto nani
[káó̯ tòtō nāɲ]
open eye~DU too.late
"to open your eyes too late"

[Imralu]

Next: to neglect your duty in a group activity, necessitating someone else to do it for you.

[din]

Tormiott:

cathi sionten da soddomaden cantarhian – not everybody is fulfilling their duties, not everybody is helping out
hand be.free-3P 3P wave.at<IPFV>-3P work
/'kɛθjə 'ɕontən da 'sod:omɛðən 'kɛntaɾjɛn/

lit.: free hands are waving at the work

-----


next:
To resemble one's parents

[Pogostick Man]

next:
To resemble one's parents

tézur ‘á3 ü sang cen the crops rise around him (not a very good translation)

Farming is a large part of Tim Ar culture. The word tézur more literally means rise and is not used of creatures (for this they use tûk grow); the Tim Ar do not consider plants living things.

Next: To intend to do something, find out you can't/it's not going to work, then do something else because you're in the area and end up having fun/success

(Edited a few times to add/correct things)

[Pogostick Man]

Any takers?

[kusuri]

Nvomi:

yui(ki)nji sugar-(into)-fall
Sometimes preceded by kinko(ngo)nrama salt-(out.of)-rise-and.

"Nantarahanbòjima nàragi boashínva. Me hoi súmu òdoshi me."
"Tayùinji ere."
"Kínko narákiri."
"I went to Ntarahanbo and missed the local festival, but I caught this big sale."
"Fell into the sugar, huh."
"I would have preferred the festival, really."

Next: someone who expects/wants more than is actually possible.

[Pogostick Man]

Next: someone who expects/wants more than is actually possible.

mó nöng lum cen. . . "he would burn bedrock. . ." – to expect more than actually possible (used with an NP to state what is wanted)

Next: to unsuccessfully look for a job

[Pabappa]

My conworld has gotten a bit weirder lately since Ive been working in a video game world. In that world, there is a race of walking, sentient Bombs somewhat similar in outward appearance to SMB2 Bob-ombs (the ones with arms) but more sad and slow moving. They are video game experts, and all have hundreds of lives, so they can have fun setting themselves on fire and exploding and then coming back time after time to do it again.

About 40 years ago, about 75000 Bombs crossed the ocean in a ship so they could help Sabeevolattaetegax the Lizard fight a war. But when they arrived, Sabeevolattaetegax found that they were easily defeated and thus useless in a war. So he let the Bombs loose in the wilderness to fend for themselves. Most Bombs found their way into cities inhabited by humans and other animals, intending to get jobs in mining and other industries where they could put their explosive talents to use, but found that civilian society had little use for them either. That left only the possibility of holding mundane jobs such waste removal and transporting heavy objects (Bombs were very physically strong despite being slow on their feet). They accepted these jobs, but did poorly at them because they did not have a chance to use their fuse and they were depressed because they had no audible voices, and could communicate with humans effectively using just their hands.

At one point, one human settlement trapped all the Bombs in a cage, saying they were too dangerous to be allowed to mix with humans. Then the humans became defenseless against other species, so one of the humans rescued the Bombs and trapped the other humans in the cage instead. But still the memory of the incident made humans wary of Bombs, and reluctant to hire them for even the safest and most basic of jobs unless they had their fuse tied down and a light placed on top to indicate to others that a Bomb was in the area.

So basically it's "a Bomb with a lamp on", which in Poswa would be tuba pfwupfuwusa. Poswa is the only language that has a distinct word for an animate Bomb. This was made by taking the inherited word for bomb, tura, and adding the infix -ab-, which by sound rules then contracts into tuba. Even though this is a noun, it would be the same form in Poswa for a verb form. i.e. for metaphors they just say "I'm a Bomb with a lamp on", and it can either be a noun or a present tense/habitual verb.

Now in the non-video game conworld, I consider the Bombs to be like penguins since they come from a cold climate and have a difficult time communicating with humans and sometimes even with each other. I can;'t quite see the humans in my conworld being afraid of a flock of penguins eating them or something, even thoiugh humans in my conworld are basically delicate helpless things that would bleed to death if they bumped into a flower the wrong way, because penguins are just not that intimidating. Nor would they want their beaks cut off, or anuything. On the other hand the increasing absurdity of the image of humans running scared away from penguins and forcing them to put on lamps makes the analogy even more proper for someone desperate for a new job. Anyway the word for penguin is twombap (actually there are dozens of words, because this is a society that lives with penguins, not just reads about them, but this is the most popular general cover-all word). So it would be twombap pfwupfuwusa.

next: To be frightened and intimidated by someone you thought was a harmless new friend who was going to give you much needed help.

(The image I cant get out of my mind is again from my conworld, where a human explorer befriends some monkeys in the tropics and all is well until he sees the monkeys eating coconuts with just their teeth, and realizes they would have no trouble chewing through any human villages that were in their way. He had previously thought monkeys were no different than humans and has trouble even saying the words "Are you ... eating ... a coconut?" because he knows that his own weakness will be even more obvious.

A more realistic example perhaps is going on a date and then finding out the person you've just fallen in love with is a known sex offender, in some indirect way, such as he makes a comment that seems odd until you ger some time alone and figure out what it really means. There are probably 86000 horror movies that have captured the exact same emotion in a better way, e.g. even just now i slapped a cockroach and thought it was gone but when i looked back a few minutes later it wa still crawling around is if nothing had happened which i thought would be a good way to start a horror movie about cockroaches that for some reason cant be killed by humans.)

[smappy]

Hi guys! First post on this forum in like 3 years!

Durv Mendỹ:

doruran’uryriv kiuto chunu
d<or>uran’-ury-riv kiuto chunu
cover.PASS-face-DYNAMIC skeleton FOCUS.EMPH

'what was veiled turned out to be a skeleton'

In Mendỹ culture the bride at a wedding is always veiled until the end of the ceremony. Finding out that your new wife is a skeleton would be a horrible shock.

Next: to habitually tell the same stories over and over

[Toasterbot959]

OMG smappy, I was just about to post one and you got in first. I'll do your one, but here is what I was gonna do

next: To be frightened and intimidated by someone you thought was a harmless new friend who was going to give you much needed help.

Ya'áucho ro kyendítaso

Literally 'Eating the dítaso fruit'. The dítaso fruit is a purple berry-like fruit the size of an average apple. It smells sweet, and tastes wonderful, but contains a deadly neurotoxin. The reason why is because the seeds of the plant grow best in the environment that rotting corpses provide. It's smell attracts an animal, it's taste encourages it to eat lots (and therefore consuming more seeds) and the neurotoxin provides the rotting corpse. 'Eating the dítaso fruit' is a term that people use to refer to people that have are falling into this kind of trap. Say if you're about to make a bad trade, your friend might advise you that your eating the dítaso fruit.

Next: someone who has incredible luck

[Toasterbot959]

Next: to habitually tell the same stories over and over

Že kranu partun ro wainu

Your mind belongs to the tides. This is referring to the way that the tides are predictable and preform the same movements every day.

Next: Someone who is incredibly lucky

[Velvet_Violetta]

Someone who is incredibly lucky

Xolhoralhefena ney.

They have a friend that is the world.

Next: having nothing to do