Invent an Idiom

[mapking27]

In Chestuphian:

to be lazy= heuder siuh tortughes
translation= to dance with turtles cuz turtles r slow & slow=lazy


In Pendisqusquian:

to be cheated= cachar ou allé
translation= to catch a whale cuz the pendisqusquians r avid fishermen


In Denalian:

to fall in love= Sin hinjabba' mili Yaddah
translation= to be caught by Yaddah cuz Yaddah is their love goddess


And my favorite in Elcohnese:
to get revenge= gaf zakkuh injuly aten rewyuti ghen sed ritifojik
translation= to put a millipede in your brother's glass of wine (yeah u can see why they call it revenge!)

[Trailsend]

(Note the rules of the game, mapking!)

[cybrxkhan]

Next: to be drunk off one's ass

Aidisese:
ax ton mai lakno - literally sand-shield wield, or to wield a shield of sand; the idea is that a person who is ridiculously drunk is as firm-footed and useful as a shield made of sand, i.e., they are useless and will easily be overwhelmed


Next:
To be as happy as a clam (lit. to be very happy and content)

[treskro]

Proto-Vdangku
qhaong ggank- : to polish the network, referring to the supposed energy network of vazul created by the gods that keeps everyday life running smoothly and happily.

Next:
night turning into day

[con quesa]

Saimiar - night turning into day (or for that matter day turning into night) can be described with the idiom mriu masdac, "lick (one's) lips". The Saimiar words for dawn and dusk are respectively kadhamriu and açimêmriu, morning-lip and evening-lip, and speaking of licking one's lips is a playful way of referring to this.


New concept: being extremely hungry

[Risla]

South Eresian: ahíc cua móchamequihuel náspa, lit. going to the stomach world. When a person is hungry, they act distracted and the South Eresians (jokingly) associate this distraction with spiritual, otherworldly experiences.

Next idiom: bullshitting / bluffing.

[vampireshark]

bullshitting / bluffing

Telèmor: voc̦atère com un tigrat (lit. "to yell like a tiger")
Tigers are seen as animals of mystery and deceit; hence, acting like one implies that somebody's covering up something.

Next phrase: to be chicken

[Jadyndar]

to be chicken

Gomain: ágêrtthí vôhéish údólbó zhgáxámblér (lit. "to shrink under the quetzal's shadow")
Although the quetzal is a large bird of prey in the desert, it doesn't attack people, so being afraid when one of them passes overhead is seen as excessive fear.

Next: something very repulsive

[eodrakken]

Great idea for a thread!

Next: something very repulsive

Tirase: mópluke ov su fúne, lit. "a whale on the beach". From a historical event where a whale washed up on the island and began to rot before it could be completely eaten/removed by animals or people, causing an overpowering stench. The idiom is now used of anything extremely repulsive, whether to the physical senses or morally.

next: someone who is not pulling their weight

[Trailsend]

someone who is not pulling their weight

Feayran:

Turuthúgohùolokku.
Vomit-eater, one who eats from vomit.

From the preferred canine method of producing baby food.

Next: To pretend not to notice an inappropriate thing someone has done, because acknowledging it would be inappropriate.

[Astraios]

To pretend not to notice an inappropriate thing someone has done, because acknowledging it would be inappropriate.

irisar innevedar hálo - lit. "to try to hide the whale"

Next: doing something for the hell of it, because you felt it

[Trailsend]

Next: doing something for the hell of it, because you felt it

Karhrurusháhoshùora.
S/he chases the wind.

Next: to be suddenly sad without knowing why

[cybrxkhan]

Next: to be suddenly sad without knowing why

Aidisese has two variants; the first is not as serious, and would be used, say, by a friend giving advice to another; the second is much more serious, like if a person suddenly got seriously depressed, and implies the need for some serious help:

lauron ha ignokai - literally, to just have eaten the unknown. The Aidisese, like many other real world cultures, believe that your food can influence your mood, so they figure that if you're suddenly sad, it's possible some food you ate might have spurred this on

agron ha sentikaiagme - literally, to just have begun abandoning life. This one is relatively explanatory.

---

Next:
when someone bothers you continuously

[Soap]

It kind of reminds me of birds and some other animals. I'll be walking along a pond, and 2 ducks (a mated couple, I assume) will be basking in the water and theyll see me coming and go "ngwak ngwak ngwak" and fly off to another spot in the pond about 100 feet away. And they'll be fine there for a minute, but since I'm circling the pond I'll end up close to them soon enough, and they'll fly back off to a spot near where they started. And then as I'm completing the trip they see me again and this time they're sure I'm gonna do something mean to them so they fly way up in the air to a whole other lake and hope they'll be finally left alone.

So it's basically pubba bempfa tonesšom, "like a duck in a partygoers' lake". Probably not the best metaphor in the world, but I wanted to use it to turn upside-down the first metaphor that occured to me, namely a human being pestered by an unwelcome animal.

Next: A place you go to cry (or otherwise release intense emotions) where no one will see you

Feel free to turn it into a verb if it works better.

[maıráí]

hachetènoti kaòbùtòn - Lit. "a Hache clan fire pit" or "a Hache closet"
Hache is one of the more extravagant clans, with large "closets" that were once fire pits for large (now extinct) animals. These have thick doors, walls, and ceilings. They're now used mostly for secret clan meetings, and the cliched setting of countless love stories.

Hachetènoti kaòbùmòn wr na. She's off sobbing her eyes out somewhere.


next idiom: to be unable to make up one's mind, or decide or choose between things

[LinguistCat]

next idiom: to be unable to make up one's mind, or decide or choose between things

I don't have the language yet, but one of my Tarn cultures would say, that someone was swimming two currents. The other culture might say that the individual's tail (if they are lower ranking) or rudder (if at a level to make large decisions for their harem) is split. Tarn are semi-aquatic, so water and boats are common in their idioms across cultures.

Next: Cat's got one's tongue/one is unable to speak.

[Trailsend]

Next: Cat's got one's tongue/one is unable to speak.

Feayran:
Kìirusegetokuvási tií?
Are you tucking your tongue?

The verb for "tuck" here is that used to describe the tucking of one's tail to show deference or submissiveness. The tone of the phrase is teasing/condescending, suggesting the addressee is a fool who does not know how to carry himself.

Next: To pursue someone in the hope of sexual relations. (How has this not come up yet?)

[cybrxkhan]

Next: To pursue someone in the hope of sexual relations. (How has this not come up yet?)

Aidisese:
par skudeis yo luko - literally, to journey on a great boat. From a famous Aidisese satire of a hedonist man who sailed around the world by boat looking for women of all types, purely for sexual relations.


Next:
to be frustrated at something to the extent that you want to physically injure yourself


(EDIT: For those of you who might have suspected it, yes, this is a reference to the Nice Boat meme, if you know what that is. (If you don't, you don't need to know.))

[Jadyndar]

to be frustrated at something to the extent that you want to physically injure yourself

It's time to have fun with popular culture!

Gomain yónggláksshí vüs úkóiund, "to rage against the machine"
From the common experience of getting angry at some machine or other when it malfunctions.

Next: annoyingly fond of someone

[eodrakken]

Next: annoyingly fond of someone

Tirase: Rámam meríb, lit. "The puppy is thirsty". The image is of a puppy pestering its mother for milk, and refers to a person who annoyingly seeks attention from someone they like. Also rámam ki meríb "thirsty puppy", etc.

next: bringing up a topic that has become old and tiresome

[Jipí]

next: bringing up a topic that has become old and tiresome

To serve last week's leftovers the third time already.
tapyyam marin hapangley bihanena sarisa kayanyam iri
put-PTCP front remains-P.INAN week-GEN previous three_times already

Stuff warmed up for the third time... ew. You know you shouldn't reheat certain things, they get bitter, and you get sick. And it's from last week, so it's probably gone bad by now anyway. Maggots and Mildew!

Next: to play the smart-ass

[cybrxkhan]

Next: to play the smart-ass

Aidisese:

ngo nimo ha avawo - literally, to be a fox, or, rather, "to act like a fox", or "to be in the manner of a fox". Like in many real world cultures, foxes are believed to be cunning and intelligent. In Aidisese folklore, the fox oftentimes plays the role of an intelligent but sarcastic deadpan snarker.



Next:
losing one's grasp of reality or going insane

[treskro]

Proto-Vdangku:

ledde deizet- - punching the ocean

Next:
How to avoid the doctor (something along the lines of An apple a day keeps the doctor away)

[maıráí]

Nènkènoyo wr’ngotko aíthòtr sènkenoto.
Doctors; people who use portals please them.

Meaning, if you walk places instead of portaling to a building two blocks away, you're more healthy.
Also, there's still the chance that a portal can close with someone half-in, half-out it.
Wr'ngo implies that the doctors are evil and to blame for this.

Any derivation of this works, eg:
Nènkèko aíthòtr wateto. Let us please the doctors. Let's just walk.

Next: to have some kind of a spasm, such as when you're about to fall asleep and your leg kicks.

[WanderlustKoko]

Karani:

Duhi nuli(0)- /Lit. to be zero/ to have restless legs (includes: "Restless leg syndrome"), to be unable to have a good night's sleep, to have insomnia, to be an insomniac, to have light pains, to not quite be satisfied (Sexually, still hungry (for food), still thirsty, still needing something), to have unsatisfiable needs, be needy (in a relationship), to not have enough of (something/someone), have no energy (implying that Coffee or whatever didn't help either). to be sick of doing nothing, to be sick of (someone, something), to have spasms.

To be outraged by horrible customer service