The German idiom Du gehst mir auf den Keks means “You’re annoying me” or “you’re getting on my nerves.” The literal translation? “You go me on the cookie” or “You’re walking on my cookie.” This makes more sense in German because “cookie” is slang...
“Half-filled pots splash more” is the literal translation of a Hindi expression suggesting that those who make the most noise have the least worth noticing. Another Hindi idiom translates literally as “who saw a peacock dance in the woods?” In other...
A listener from Texas heard an NPR report from Asia in which an interpreter translated a speaker’s words into English as “a whole new ball game.” He wants to know if that’s a literal translation from an Asian language, and if so, is it a reference...