LL-L "Idiomatica" 2012.01.11 (01) [EN]

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 L O W L A N D S - L - 11 January 2012 - Volume 01
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From: M.-L. Lessing marless at gmx.de
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2012.01.109 (02) [DE-EN-NDS]

Funny, dear Ingmar, I have slightly different notions of what some of these
expressions mean. You write:

"ik kan het gras horen groeien" I can hear the grass growing = it's very
silent
"luisteren naar groeien van het gras" listen to the grass growing = to be
very lazy


Now what I learnt is: If you say "Er hört das Gras wachsen" or "Er kann das
Gras wachsen hören" then you mean "He is very attentive, he can perceive
what is practically inaudible/invisible, he knows in advance what nobody
else would have known" -- maybe even "He has second sight". *Sometimes*, if
said with a derisive undertone, you mean "he sees what is not there, he
fantasizes".

You write:
"ik vraog ow toch ok neet, of ene koo grös vret?" I won't ask you either,
whether a cow eats grass? = I 'won't ask you for something obvious either?

In this case you say "Ist der Papst katholisch?" This is a relatively new
idiom, I didn't hear ist in my childhood, but it seems perfectly logical.
"Möchtest du einen Schoko-Keks?" "Hey, ist der Papst katholisch?!" It is
just a strong form of "Yes".

Hartlich!

Marlou

From: Ingmar Roerdinkholder <roerd096 at PLANET.NL>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2012.01.09 (02) [DE-NDS]

In Dutch we have a few expressions with "gras":
"ik kan het gras horen groeien" I can hear the grass growing = it's very
silent
"er geen gras over laten groeien" don't let the grass grow over it = you
start right away with something
"luisteren naar groeien van het gras" listen to the grass growing = to be
very lazy
"iemand het gras voor de voeten wegmaaien" to mow away the grass in front
of someones feet = to give someone no opportunity
"er schuilt een addertje onder het gras" there's a viper hiding under the
grass = there's a hidden, secret problem
"er groeit nou gras op zijn buik" grass is growing on his belly now = he's
dead and buried now
"het gras is altijd groener bij de buren / buurmans gras is altijd groener
" the neighnours' grass is always greener
"het gras is altijd groener aan de andere kant van de heuvel" the grass is
always greener at the other side of the hill
=it always seems if it's better somewhere else, that they have less
troubles somewhere else

A Low Saxon one (from the Netherlands):
"ik vraog ow toch ok neet, of ene koo grös vret?" I won't ask you either,
whether a cow eats grass? = I 'won't ask you for something obvious either?
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