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24 Ridiculous Foreign Language Idioms (and their Pronunciations)

August 15, 2017 By Sophie Austin 10 Comments

French idioms

The Oxford English dictionary defines idioms and phrases as:

A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words.

Put another way: idioms are sentences that sound ridiculous to everyone but the native speakers who use them.

That’s why it’s always fun to learn idioms in a foreign language. If you randomly bust out one of these idioms in conversation with native speakers, they will be pleasantly surprised.

Then in that moment of surprise, they may realize for the first time just how ridiculous that idiom sounds. Then they will laugh, and think you’re even cooler than you already are.

But you won’t get your desired effect on the audience unless you nail the pronunciation. 

That’s why we’ve included slowed down audio and phonetic transcription for 24 idioms in Portuguese, Mandarin, Spanish, Italian, French and German.

If you find yourself struggling with any of the sounds, be sure to download our free Audio PDF pronunciation guide for your target language.

Portuguese Idioms

Portuguese idiom

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/PT-1.mp3

How to pronounce it: [kẽĩ / n̪ɐ̃ũ / t̪ẽĩ / kɐ̃ũ / ka / sɐ / kõ / ga / t̪ʊ]

When to use it: If someone asks you for something you don’t have

Portuguese idiom

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/PT-2.mp3

How to pronounce it: [#i / rax / u / ka / va / li / ɲʊ / d̪a / ʃu / vɐ]
Variation:
Vou tirar meu cavalinho da chuva (“I’ll take my little horse away from the rain”):
How to pronounce it: [vou / #i / ra / mɛʊ / ka / va / li / ɲʊ / d̪a / ʃu / vɐ]

When to use it: When someone asks you to do something you won’t do

 

Portuguese idiom

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/PT-3.mp3

How to pronounce it: [t̪eh / ma / ka / ki / ɲʊs / n̪a / ka / be / sɐ]
Variation: Tenho macaquinhos na cabeça (“I have little monkeys in my head”)
How to pronounce it: [t̪e / ɲʊ / ma / ka / ki / ɲʊs / n̪a / ka / be / sɐ]

When to use it: When someone says something strange

 

Portuguese idiom

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/PT-4.mp3

How to pronounce it: [ba / &a / t̪ɐ / t̪ɔn̪ / t̪ɐ]
Variation: Que cara é essa? Parece que você está igual barata tonta! (“What kind of a face it that? You look just like a silly cockroach!”)

How to pronounce it: [ki / ka / &ɐ / ɛ: / sɐ // pa / &ɛ / si / ki / vo / seɪ / st̪a / i / gwaʊ / ba / &a / t̪ɐ / t̪ɔn̪ / t̪ɐ]

When to use it: If you or someone else drops something

 

Spanish Idioms

Spanish idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/SP-2.mp3

How to pronounce it: [gä / t̪o̞ / ko̞ŋ / gwän̪ / t̪e̞ / zno̞ / kä / sä / +ä / t̪o̞ / n̪e̞s]

When to use it: If someone’s not sure whether they can do something in order to reach their goal

 

Spanish idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/SP-3.mp3

How to pronounce it: [se̞ / me̞ / fwe̞ / lä / βjo̞n̪]

When to use it: When someone has asked you to fetch something and you forget

 

Spanish idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/SP-1.mp3

How to pronounce it: [mu /  #o̞  /+wi  / do̞ / i / po̞ / kä / sn̪we̞ / se̞s]

When to use it: When your friend refuses to get up to get the snacks

 

Spanish idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/SP-4.mp3

How to pronounce it: [e̞ / &e̞ / sbje̞n̪ / ko̞ / do̞]

When to use it: When someone is acting frugally

 

French Idioms

French idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/FR-1.mp3

How to pronounce it: [ʒɛ / d̪o / t̪χ(ə) / ʃa / z̪a / fue / t̪e]

When to use it: When someone asks you to do something you don’t have time for

 

French idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/FR-2.mp3

How to pronounce it: [le / ka / ʁɔt̪ / s̪ɔ / kɥit̪]

When to use it: When it’s too late

 

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/FR-3.mp3

How to pronounce it: [d̪ɔ / n̪e / s̪a / lɑ̃ / go / ʃa]

When to use it: When you’re losing a game of ‘guess what’

 

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/FR-4.mp3

How to pronounce it: [a / vwaʁ* / lə / mu / t̪aʁ* / d̪ə / ki / mɔ̃ / t̪o / n̪e]

When to use it: When you or someone else is getting mad

 

Italian Idioms

Italian idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/IT-1.mp3

How to pronounce it: [ä / ve̞ / &e̞ / ʎɔ / ki / fo̞ / de̞ / &ä / ti / di / p+o̞ / ʃu / to̞]

When to use it: When someone can’t find something that’s literally right in front of them

 

Italian idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/IT-2.mp3

How to pronounce it: [säl / tä / &e̞ / fɔ / si / pe̞ / &i / luŋ / go̞]

When to use it: When someone comments they find something difficult, respond ‘in my day, we jumped ditches the long way’

 

Italian idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/IT-3.mp3

How to pronounce it: [t+ä / tä / &e̞ / ä / pe̞ / ʃin / fä / #ä]

When to use it: To treat someone rudely

 

Italian idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/IT-4.mp3

How to pronounce it: [u / b&jä / ko̞ / ko̞ / me̞ / u / nä / ʃi / mjä]

When to use it: Describing how much you had to drink

German Idioms

German idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/GR-1.mp3

How to pronounce it: [aʊs / aɪ / nɐ / mʏ / kə / aɪ / n(ə)n / e / lə / fan / ʔtn / ma / xən]

When to use it: If someone is exaggerating a situation

 

German idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/GR-2.mp3

How to pronounce it: [ɪç / glaʊp / maɪn / ʃvaɪn / p͡faɪft]

When to use it: Whenever something surprising happens

 

German idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/GR-3.mp3

How to pronounce it: [a / ləs / hat / aɪn / ɛn / də / nuɐ / di / vʊɐst / hat / ͡tsvaɪ]

When to use it: When you want to sound philosophical in conversation

 

German idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/GR-4.mp3

How to pronounce it: [zi / ʃpil / di / bə / laɪ / dɪç / tə / le / bɐ / vʊɐst]

When to use it: When your sibling refuses to eat their greens

 

German idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/GR-5.mp3

How to pronounce it: [aʊf / aɪ / (nə)m / baɪn / ʃtet / ma / nɪçt / gut]

When to use it: To encourage someone to stay for another beer

Mandarin Chinese Idioms

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MN-1.mp3

How to pronounce it: [duì niú tán qín]

When to use it: When you are speaking to someone and it’s falling on deaf ears, it means they don’t understand you. There’s also an element of speaking about something intellectual to someone unintellectual.

 

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MN-2.mp3

How to pronounce it: [huà shé tiān zú]

When to use it: When someone tells you a story with unnecessary details

 

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MN-3.mp3

How to pronounce it: [hún shuǐ mō yú]

When to use it: This has a negative connotation, it refers to a situation where someone is profiting illegally or immorally from a bad situation

Did we miss any of your favorite sayings in other languages? Let us know in the comments below.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: best idioms in other languages, french idioms, funny idioms, funny sayings, german idioms, italian idioms, mandarin idioms, Portuguese idioms, spanish idioms

Sophie Austin

Sophie is a creative writer and Mimic Method team member, based in Stockholm, Sweden. Originally from London she speaks English, French and is currently learning Swedish.

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