Odd Regional Phases and Expressions

[FinnLassie]

Welp, here we go with the Finnish ones!

• (They) don't have all the moomins in the valley
• Pushing (out) soy
• Better have a hazel hen in your grasp than ten on a branch
• Cobbler's kids have no shoes
• Crying won't help you at the market
• Evaporated like a fart in Sahara
• (Got it) like from the pharmacy shelves
• Your own cow's in the ditch
• Oh wits, don't leave
• What summer wets, it dries
• Laughter makes your life longer, unless you die of laughter
• Let's put the cat on the table

[truemane]

Are you from Labrador? If so what counts as as a big metro area over there?

No, Nova Scotia. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to be precise. The bustling metropolis of Sydney. It was, indeed, the largest town within a three or four hours' drive.

Welp, here we go with the Finnish ones!

Wow! Those are so good! Next time someone complains at me for anything I'm going to give them a stern look and be all, "Listen. Crying won't help you at the market, okay?"

I also love 'What summer wets, it dries.' It's almost like a little Zen koan.

What do you use 'They don't have all the moomins in the valley' for?

And by 'Let's put the cat on the table' are you saying more like let's get everything out in the open or more like let's be silly and not worry about what people think or something else?

[FinnLassie]

Wow! Those are so good! Next time someone complains at me for anything I'm going to give them a stern look and be all, "Listen. Crying won't help you at the market, okay?"

I also love 'What summer wets, it dries.' It's almost like a little Zen koan.

What do you use 'They don't have all the moomins in the valley' for?

And by 'Let's put the cat on the table' are you saying more like let's get everything out in the open or more like let's be silly and not worry about what people think or something else?

Haha, yeah. I think the saying comes from when you've forgotten to take your money with you, and try to get your way through begging and sobbing. Like no. That's not helping. People need their money haha. But you nailed the meaning alright!

Yeah. It's one of my favourites. Like. "I know this happened, but you know what, it's not that big of a deal - it'll be over soon."

Someone's a lil' lost. You know, somewhat cuckoo. An example is someone on Facebook complaining that the internet isn't working, but they're still on FB. They insist on internet not working and just won't understand that FB is a website on the internet. There's a lot of variants: not all priests are at the altar, bowl's missing its cereal, all indians aren't in their canoes, the deck is missing some of its cards...

It's the former. I've been using it a lot in the past three years - my class had A LOT of drama, so our... uh... well we're assigned a lecturer that guides us through the degree. One meeting she put pics of cats on the smartboard. It was a clear "y'all need to stop so let's get these damn cats on the table". Because it isn't always quite easy to grab that cat and have it stay where you place it...

[Keltest]

Maybe finnish cats are different, but I have a hard time keeping mine off the tables.

Also, what the heck is a moomin, and what does it do in valleys?!

[Peelee]

Maybe finnish cats are different, but I have a hard time keeping mine off the tables.

They tend to have some pretty hip threads, daddio.

[FinnLassie]

Maybe finnish cats are different, but I have a hard time keeping mine off the tables.

Also, what the heck is a moomin, and what does it do in valleys?!

The point is likely more in the fact that you're grabbing a cat against its will somewhere it doesn't care to be. Cats I have met tend to just escape from those situations.

You are verily deprived, my fellow human.

Spoiler: Moomins, greatest creation to come from Finland

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The Wikipedia article
The media spans across the books, animated series created by the Japanese as well as doll animations made in Poland, as well as comics (which are my favourites). There's also all sorts of mugs and bowls and glasses picturing them which are highly collectible, the most valuable going for as much as 5000€ today. My most valuable one could be sold for 120€... and I am going to do that soon.

[Honest Tiefling]

You're far too generous Honest Tiefling, as municipalities without multiple restaurants each serving the cuisine of a different nation, multiple bicycle shops, cafes that aren't Peet's or Starbucks, bookstores that aren't Barnes & Noble, and at least one place that has brown ale on tap, do not count as "towns", they are "frontier settlements".

Well, I don't drink so I don't care about the last one...But otherwise you're really not wrong. I mean, what would you EAT otherwise!?

I'm with Keltest, every cat has enjoyed being up on a table, a cat tree, a shoulder, or on ladders. Keeping them off is impossible. What do Finns do to their tables to make them unappealing? Not sure what the phrase is supposed to mean. Especially since my parents have a tubby kitty who would literally just zoom straight to the food.

Also, MOOMINS DON'T HAVE MOUTHS!?!? My image of them has been shattered!

[Aedilred]

In Finland, if it's on the table, it gets eaten. After many cats were devoured by their owners, the survivors have learned to stay off the table.

[Xuc Xac]

Someone in the Bay Area, please recommend good donuts!

I don't live there anymore, but I can recommend Home Town Donuts at 5040 International or ****'s Donuts at 3417 High in Oakland.

[2D8HP]

I don't live there anymore, but I can recommend Home Town Donuts at 5040 International or ****'s Donuts at 3417 High in Oakland.

Oh wow! I worked for seven years (in the 1990's) right between them at East 14th/International Blvd. and 45th Ave.

[TheodoraGordon]

As Fri and I mentioned earlier, they're normally worn indoors at primary schools, either as part of a uniform or for indoor sports.



Have you considered safety work boots I find them perfectly fine, although there's normally plenty of space for a cushioned liner and if you cover them with a silicone protective spray before their first use, they last a few years and not too expensive to replace (they typically run to about £40 over here when not on sale).

The only real issue I find is that I have to remember to take them off whenever I'm passing through metal detectors in security zones.

As Fri and I mentioned earlier, they're normally worn indoors at primary schools, either as part of a uniform or for indoor sports.



Have you considered safety work boots I find them perfectly fine, although there's normally plenty of space for a cushioned liner and if you cover them with a silicone protective spray before their first use, they last a few years and not too expensive to replace (they typically run to about £40 over here when not on sale).

The only real issue I find is that I have to remember to take them off whenever I'm passing through metal detectors in security zones.

I have had a pair of Grisport safety boots for years now, they offer lots of different styles, safety ratings and have a good range of sizes. have you seen them?

I have also heard good things about Cat Safety boots?

[snowblizz]

The point is likely more in the fact that you're grabbing a cat against its will somewhere it doesn't care to be. Cats I have met tend to just escape from those situations.

Cats aren't supposed to be on tables (whether they go there by themselves is immaterial), so you shoo it down, bad kittie! This empahsizes the oddity of the action of a person actually putting one there for all to see.


Also am saddened my favourite expession wasn't on the list.


"Even fire doesn't burn truth".

Oh, and to quote grandma, "every little bit helps, the mosquto said as he peed in the ocean".

Speaking of cows in ditches I got to use that one very creatively once. A local politician borrowed a businessman's Dodge Viper (without permission, in fact had been specifically mentioned as someone who should never be allowed near it). He crashed the car through a ditch, a farmyard and ending up on top of a trailer. All the while never going above the legal speedlimit of 50 km/h. Which noone believed except the very partial witness passenger. So naturally I note it is totally explained by the many cow's in the ditch... he must have bounced off their backs. Otherwise the car would never have cleared the ditch at legal speeds.

[ForzaFiori]

As a Carolinian, or really just as a southerner in the united states, sometimes I think half of our dialect are idioms. I'm sure most of the really famous southern phrases have probably already been posted in the previous 6 pages, so I apologize if I'm repeating, but here's a decent list:

Spoiler

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any amount of time is just called a minute - I'll have the car fixed in a minute, meaning an hour, but I also need just a minute to finish saying something that actually only took 10 seconds.

"Mash" - we're about the only place I've seen where this word is used to refer to things other than smushed up potatos. Here, anytime you push something small (a button, for instance) you can say you mashed it.

No one gets ready to do something - they're just "fixin' to" do it.

Fine as frogs hair - Means something is incredibly fine, since any hair a frog might have is so fine you cant even see or feel it.

I didn't just fall off the turnip truck - southern for "I wasn't born yesterday"

That dog don't hunt - The idea/thing is baseless or useless, like a hunting dog that wont hunt.

"Younder" - refers to whichever direction you are curently motioning in.

"reckon" - to make a guess, or decide something: I reckon it'll take about an hour, or I reckon I'll head to the store.

"as all get out" - alot, or very. Someone is smart as all get out, or rich as all get out, etc.

[ve4grm]

any amount of time is just called a minute - I'll have the car fixed in a minute, meaning an hour, but I also need just a minute to finish saying something that actually only took 10 seconds.

I think that one's fairly common in North America, though generally as an interjection of "Just a minute" or to get someone to wait, rather than used as an actual estimate.

"Mash" - we're about the only place I've seen where this word is used to refer to things other than smushed up potatos. Here, anytime you push something small (a button, for instance) you can say you mashed it.

Canada here, and we use that. Specifically, it means to press a button (or whatever) a lot/rapidly/probably more than necessary. If you're trying to make an elevator come faster, for example, you might mash the call button ineffectually.

I think it's a British-ism maybe?

I didn't just fall off the turnip truck - southern for "I wasn't born yesterday"

Also around in Canada, though more with the older generation.

[Yora]

Last month I had to do three one hour drives on the highway and back, and I got reminded of "Elephant Race".

An Elephant Race is when you have trucks on a highway and they have a lower speed limit than the rest of the traffic. And you always get someone who thinks the truck in front of him is going only 99 kmh and tries to overtake it at 100 kmh. They completely take up two lanes and seem to be awefully slow when you're stuck behind them.

Couch Rat and Foot Honker for small dogs.

Most other funny German expressions I can think of are forbidden to translate here.

[Peelee]

As a Carolinian, or really just as a southerner in the united states, sometimes I think half of our dialect are idioms. I'm sure most of the really famous southern phrases have probably already been posted in the previous 6 pages, so I apologize if I'm repeating, but here's a decent list:

Spoiler

Show

"Mash" - we're about the only place I've seen where this word is used to refer to things other than smushed up potatos. Here, anytime you push something small (a button, for instance) you can say you mashed it.

I didn't just fall off the turnip truck - southern for "I wasn't born yesterday"

"as all get out" - alot, or very. Someone is smart as all get out, or rich as all get out, etc.

Those seem pretty universal, from my experience. Except "mash" for potatoes, thats weird and may be a your-area-only-thing.

[Mith]

Alas, the only Canadian expression I can add to this list is the archetypal "eh?", and "bunnyhug" for a pull over hoodie.

There are others, but they are not really censor friendly. Such as trades speak for lazy workers.

[Vinyadan]

any amount of time is just called a minute - I'll have the car fixed in a minute, meaning an hour, but I also need just a minute to finish saying something that actually only took 10 seconds.

And just today I was thinking "well, Americans may beware of metrics, but at least they have the same time units as us."

[Peelee]

And just today I was thinking "well, Americans may beware of metrics, but at least they have the same time units as us."

Of course we do. Everyone knows the normal time units - there's 10,000,000 shakes to a jiffy, 275 jiffys to a Martian second, and 83,857.996 Martian seconds to a sidereal day (an Earth sidereal day, not a Mars one. Obviously).

The best sign of whether a joke is funny is how much research and math went into it.