[Lexicog] new idiom

[Fritz Goerling]

Polish “pantoflarz” is the same as the German “Pantoffelheld” (“slipper
hero” or the expression I mentioned below “he stands under the slipper of
his wife”). We also call a wife who is bossing her husband around a
“Drachen” (dragon) or “Hausdrachen” (house dragon). 

 

Fritz Goerling

 

In Polish there is a phrase ,,pantoflarz" (lit. "the one who is under his
wife's slipper") - the equivalent of a 'hen-pecked husband'. 
On the other hand, if we say that somebody 'has testicles' (or, to be more
precise, 'has balls' - ,,z jajami"; the Polish word being decidedly less
formal and ruder than 'testicles') it is by no means a pejorative statement
and means that somebody has 'the guts'. It is used in Polish with reference
to women who are courageous, know exactly what they want to do, and are not
afraid of the consequences. It can be expressed in two ways: "Ta kobieta ma
jaja" (literally: 'This woman has balls'), or "To jest kobieta z jajami"
(literally: 'It is a woman with balls')

Filip Rudolf

----- Original Message ----
From: Hayim Sheynin <hsheynin19444 at yahoo.com>
To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, March 3, 2007 8:41:48 PM
Subject: RE: [Lexicog] new idiom

In Russian there is an idiom  Ona  baba  s iaytsami  (lit. she is a woman
with testicles). This is about very active or attacking female personality.

Hayim Sheynin  

Fritz Goerling <Fritz_Goerling@ sil.org> wrote:

Wayne,

 

Today I read a funny extension of the expression “hen-pecked” in English:

“He’s so hen-pecked he moults twice a year.” “Hen-pecked” is an expression I
have not found in other languages.

Other expressions conveying the same idea are in German “er steht unter dem
Pantoffel” (he stands under the slipper) or “”er steht unter der
Knute/Fuchtel seiner Frau” (he stands under the club/rod of his wife) or
“sie hat die Hosen an” (she wears the pants). In French we have “il est sous
la férule de sa femme” (he is under the rod of his wife; under her thumb) or
“elle porte la culotte” (she wears the pants).

There is quite some similarity with some interesting differences. What other
colorful idioms do other languages have to express the same idea?

 

Fritz Goerling

 

I enjoy learning new idioms in any language. Yesterday I heard a new 
Cheyenne idiom:

Náma'xene'enéseha He'haévêháne. 'I came down with a bad cold.' [lit. Cold 
(personified) beat me up bad.]

Have you heard any new idioms lately?

Wayne
-----
Wayne Leman

 

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