More great color idioms, this time from Serbo-Croatian: In that language, a phrase that translates as “I can’t see a white cat” means “I’m very tired,” and to “stare like a calf at a colorful door”...
Some speakers of American English use the word whenever to refer to a single event, as in “whenever Abraham Lincoln died.” This locution is a vestige of Scots-Irish speech. This is part of a complete episode.
When speakers of foreign languages try to adapt their own idioms into English, the results can be poetic, if not downright puzzling. A Dallas listener shares some favorite examples from his Italian-born wife, including “I can put my hand to...