#inlanguagewedontsay

In Urdu we don’t say “I won’t give you what you want” if that person went out of line and then asked for a favour, we informally say “تیرے باپ کا راج چل رہا ہے؟ (Teray baap ka raaj chal raha hai ? [“ch” as in “chair”])” which roughly translates to “Is this your father’s kingdom?” and I think that’s beautiful. 

Submitted by @armedwithsarcasmandrandomfacts, with the help of @pseudomomnas,@allela21 and @mino-lingual 

[general resources by the fantastic @mino-lingual: for grammar this drive,Urdu lessonsandUrdu English Dictionary]

In Norwegian, we have this saying “Ta en spansk en” which translates to “Take a Spanish one” which we use if we want to take a rough turn or do something a little wild. 

Submitted by @galx-a, with the help of @marilingo

[resources:bab.la,“Norwegianisms Part II: Full Pupp !”,“Tar du en spansk en ?” (in Norwegian) and “Kjenner du opprinnelsen til disse fem uttrykkene ?” (in Norwegian)]

In Finnish, we don’t “I’ll go out even if it rained cats and dogs”, we rarely use the old saying “Menen ulos vaikka sataisi ämmiä äkeet selässä” which literally means “I’ll go out even if it rained bitches/hags with harrows on their backs”. 

Just another Finnish linguistic badassery.

Submitted by @decaffeinated, with the help of @neeleys,@bling-a-ling,@artniila,@holayshiteand@rragnaroks

[resources:Wiktionary,Urbaani Sanakirja (in Finnish)andSynonyymit.fi (in Finnish)]

In Romanian we don’t say “Mind your own business”, we say “Nu-ți băga nasul unde nu-ți fierbe oala” which roughly translates to “Don’t stick your nose where your pot ain’t boiling” and I find it so funny.

Submitted by @the-useful-human, with the help of @valiantlyjollynightmare,@dontbringthebiggunsand@so-theycallme-razorboy

[resources:Dicţionar român-englez,WordReference.comandReverso Context]

In French, we don’t say “thong” to refer to the clothing item, we say “(le) string [(\lə\) \stʁiŋ\]”. But in European French, we also have the word “(la) tong [(\la\) \tɔ̃ɡ\]” that translates to the beach slippers/sandals commonly known as “Flip-flops”  and I always found it confusing.

Submitted by @sweet-kokoro-15

[resources:Wiktionnaire about “string” (in French)andWiktionnaire about “tong” (in French)]

In Sylheti Bengali, there’s a sweet dish called “ফিদা (phida)” and it sounds like the word for “punch/hit” which is also “ফিদা (fida)”. So as a joke, cousins and siblings would ask “ফিদা খাইটা নি ? (Fidā khā'iṭā ni ?)” which means “Do you want ‘fida’ ?” and if you say yes they might punch you playfully because after all you agreed to a punch (fida), not a sweet dish (phida).

Submitted by @nanacians, with the help of @bonedholt

In Finnish we don’t say “dragon” we say “lohikäärme” which roughly translates to “salmon snake” and I think that’s beautiful.

Submitted by @noasadventures, ​with the help of @rragnaroksand@neeleys

[resources:Wiktionary,Wikipedia (in Finnish),Sanakirja.fiandWikisanakirja (in Finnish)]

In Bengali we don’t say “squirrel” we say “কাঠবিড়াল (kāṭhabiṛāla)” which translates to “wood cat” and I think that’s just damn cute.

Submitted by @bonedholt

[resource:Shabdkosh | शब्दकोश,WordHippo,bdwordandWikipedia/বাংলা উইকিপিডিয়া (in Bengali)]

In Mandarin Chinese we say “再见 (zài jiàn)” as “goodbye” or “farewell”, which roughly translates to “see (见) you again (再)” and I think that’s beautiful, because that means there is no true goodbye in the Mandarin Chinese language, and we only ever part ways for the time being.

Submitted by @fawn-ly

[resources:bab.la,Collins Dictionary,Yabla,Purple Culture,Han Trainer DictionaryandPin Pin Chinese]

In Danish, when the wind is really strong we can say “Det stormer/blæser en halv pelikan”, it directly translates to “It’s storming/blowing half a pelican” and I have absolutely zero idea why.
It is an older saying though, so not everyone will know it.

Submitted by @grapethranen, with the help of @ezhs

[resources: the article “Hvorfor siger vi, at det blæser en halv pelikan ?” in the Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish),  this blogpost “Det blæser en pelikan” by TALEMÅDER - SJOVE ORDSPROG(in Danish)and this video “Derfor siger vi, at det blæser en halv pelikan” by the weather and news stationDR (Danmarks Radio)(in Danish)]

In Korean we don’t say “It is correct”* we say “맞아요 (maj-ayo)” which literally means “It fits”* and I think that’s sweet.

Submitted by @girl-from-the-otherworld, with the help of @mykoreanstudy

[resource:WiktionaryandNAVER Dictionary]

[*Note: corrected, 12.09.2018]