If someone sneezes while you’re saying something, a Yiddish speaker might say “G’nossem tsum emes,” or “The sneeze confirmed the truth,” meaning that what you just said is true, and the sternutation proves it. An...
He’s a native English speaker who’s fluent in Spanish. She grew up in Cameroon speaking French. They’re planning a family, and hoping to raise their children to speak all three. What are the best strategies for teaching children to...
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...
A native Japanese speaker is mystified by the expression “happy as a clam.” In Japanese, she says, if you had a good night’s sleep you might say you “slept like a clam” or “slept like mud.” So why do English...
If you’re driving and need to turn 180 degrees, you make a U-turn. But what do you make if you speak a language that doesn’t include the letter “U”? If you’re a Hindi speaker, what do you call wearing a V-neck sweater...
cashed-up adj.—Gloss: Having a lot of money. «Another speaker at the summit, futurist Ross Honeywill, points out that boomers or the “cashed-up and cranky,” as he calls them are active and immediate holiday-takers, with half...