This week we have a little fun looking at idioms from around the world! One of our favorite examples: the Swedish “if there’s room in the heart, there’s room for the butt” meaning, basically, “if we like you, we’ll make room for you.” We explore where idioms come from and how they are related to culture, and then go through some of the best ones from around the world! Tune in for some laughs and, weirdly, revelations about porridge.
In language news this week, we take a peek at the Irish language. Did you know that only 9% of the world’s languages have a verb-subject-object order? Well, Irish is one of them! We will continue this close, fascinating analysis in a future episode.
Check out some of the resources we used this week:
- The intimate relationship between culture and idioms: http://www.macmillandictionaries.com/MED-Magazine/February2008/49-LA-Idioms.htm
- Some hilarious idioms: https://takelessons.com/blog/idioms-in-different-languages-z14 and https://www.fluentu.com/blog/idioms-from-around-the-world/
- Fun facts about the Irish language: http://mentalfloss.com/article/49480/8-fun-facts-about-irish-language
- A super interesting video on the different accents around Ireland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee_N3g4ORLk
- The podcast about gene coding and forensics that Rachel mentioned: https://www.bearbrookpodcast.com/
- The Korean drama that Rachel mentioned, “Boys over Flowers”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_Over_Flowers_(TV_series)
Don’t forget to shoot us your Lost in Translation moments in the contact section!
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