Regional sayings

[Thipu1]

Here in NYC, a fairly close equivalent to 'chuffed' would be the Yiddish 'Kvell'. 

You can kvell when your child gets into Harvard.

The two terms are very close but not exact in meaning.

So kvell is when something good happens, and kvetch (=complaining) is the rest of the time?

-An Israeli with very little Yiddish

 

Think of 'Kvell' as a rooster at dawn.  The bird throws out his chest and displays beautiful feathers on wings and tail.  He lifts his head high and announces the arrival of the sun. 

When a person receives wonderful news such as a Grandson being granted a full scholarship to Yale or a daughter receiving a Pulitzer Prize, s/he might say, 'I'm so happy I could kvell'.  Of course the person doesn't actually do it but everyone can see how proud the speaker is. 

'Kvetch' is the exact opposite.  To 'kvetch' is to make a big deal of complaining about things that don't really matter very much.

  'This nail polish is all wrong! I wanted cherry and this is raspberry!'
  'There weren't enough noodles in the soup'.
  'Who told him he could sing?'

This is 'kvetching' and it's never pretty. 

Of course, that's how we see things here in NYC.  Others may have very different definitions for these terms.   

[Slartibartfast]

"Plumber's crack" is pretty common - there are other variations on the same theme but I'm having trouble thinking of them    The only one I can think of is a whale tail, which is when someone is wearing a thong and you can see the whale-tail-like shape at the top because their jeans/shorts are too low 

ETA: Ooh, similar issue is "camel toe," which is when a woman's pants/shorts are so tight they present a, er, cloven appearance from the front.

[Shopaholic]

In my family, 'kvetch" is used as a noun.
When someone is a "kvetch" it meand that they are not feeling so great, mostly fatigued and irritable.
The best illustration of it is a toddler who is tired, hungry and nothing can please him. "Someone's a kvetch."
I guess it could come from complaining.

Here we say that "a plumber effect is going on" and a camel's toe is known as "Army lips" because it is commonly caused by the standard-issued women's uniform pants *shudder*.

I guess the most common Israeli saying is "leave it in your mother", but that's really a mistranslation. It means leave it, let it go but there was supposed to be a comma before the second part, just like "let it go, by ...'. Since the mistranslation has become popular abroad amongst Israeli backpackers, the English verse is currently used in Israel.

[Pippen]

My favorite one of all time is the Finnish translation for 'Do Not Disturb'. DO NOT Goggle this is you are of a sensitive disposition.

I vote the Finns as having the best insults of any language.

[Ereine]

Pippen, you've made me very curious as googling didn't bring up anything and the translation Älä häiritse means just Do not disturb and as a Finn I can't think of anything. Can you pm me?

I also can't think of any particularly inventive Finnish insults, the most common ones are just different combinations of curses or stupidly illogical. Some circles are probably more creative but I assume that they exist in every country. Our curse words are maybe stronger than in some other languages or at least they sound that way.

There are also people whose hobby it seems to be make Finns seem as crazy and strange as possible to foreigners, including making up sayings and odd customs (though some people do it, it's not compulsory to roll in snow after sauna, pronounced like sauerkraut, no matter how many victims/visitors have been told that).

[PastryGoddess]

My favorite one of all time is the Finnish translation for 'Do Not Disturb'. DO NOT Goggle this is you are of a sensitive disposition.

I vote the Finns as having the best insults of any language.

I googled it too and I didn't see anything weird/special about it

[Thipu1]

Here, in NYC, kvetch can also be used as a noun.  If someone's in a bad mood and complains about everything in sight a relative or close friend could chide that person by saying, 'Don't be such a kvetch'.

My German Grandmother used a different term with identical meaning.  Even if the person being fussy was a young child she'd tell that person not to act like such an 'Old Schnull'. 

Somehow, 'Old Schnull' sounds worse than 'Kvetch' especially when a child is involved.   

FWIW, the comedian Soupy Sales used a character who was a detective. The name of the character was Philo Kvetch. 

[Pippen]

Pippen, you've made me very curious as googling didn't bring up anything and the translation Älä häiritse means just Do not disturb and as a Finn I can't think of anything. Can you pm me?

I also can't think of any particularly inventive Finnish insults, the most common ones are just different combinations of curses or stupidly illogical. Some circles are probably more creative but I assume that they exist in every country. Our curse words are maybe stronger than in some other languages or at least they sound that way.

There are also people whose hobby it seems to be make Finns seem as crazy and strange as possible to foreigners, including making up sayings and odd customs (though some people do it, it's not compulsory to roll in snow after sauna, pronounced like sauerkraut, no matter how many victims/visitors have been told that).

OK I will send you a link to this  page with loads of sayings on it. I just need to try and find it. Everyone I have shown it too agrees the Finns win the Awesome Insults of Any Language Award hands down.

[GeauxTigers]

What is this?




I call it a shopping cart.

Down here the locals call it a "buggy".

In the Boston area it becomes a "carriage". (How grand!)

What do you call it?

[Outdoor Girl]

I call it a cart.

[jmarvellous]

Cart.

[Bluenomi]

What is this?




I call it a shopping cart.

Down here the locals call it a "buggy".

In the Boston area it becomes a "carriage". (How grand!)

What do you call it?

Shopping trolley or just a trolley.

[Sharnita]

It is a cart.

[Mental Magpie]

I call it a cart, and I swear it was Dark Boyfriend, but he denies it, who I have heard called it a buggy.  Now I must search for this "buggy" person so I can find the specific region from which the term comes...maybe it was his mom (those silly Texans  ).

[katycoo]

Its a trolley.