Well Paint me Blue and Call me Babe!

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elemtilas
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Well Paint me Blue and Call me Babe!

Post by elemtilas »

I don't think color & animal idioms have come up yet, but I wonder how your conlangs handle them, or if they even have them. If you have some culture worked out, have you found any interesting idioms of this sort, or colors & animals that differ from English (or your mother tongue)?

Near as I can figure, "paint me blue and call me Babe" translates into English as "I'll go t'foot of our stairs". Ages ago, I came up with the following, color having been replaced by animals:

:con: Kerno
dom-olia cwn le ngat e le mbroch
[dʌmoljə kõlə͂gat ə lə͂mrox]

PVB-to-1s-barrel-3s PREP-with DEF.ART.masc.obl MUT.NAS-cat-obl.s CONJ-and DEF.ART.masc.obl MUT.NAS-badger-obl.s

lit. To me it barrels with the cat and the badger. An exclamation of mild surprise or (non-alcoholic) befuddlement.

Another fun animal idiom: The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse eats the cheese.

il tenós mathin la ngwerm ys raph; mays il luchets le secund le nges ys comedh.
[əl tɛnos matʰin lə͂gwerm ɛs raf majs əl luxɛt lɛ sɛkʌnd lə͂gɛs ɛs kʌmɛð]

DEF.ART.masc.s bird-NOM.sing early DEF.ART.fem.s MUT.NAS-worm-obl.s PERS.PRON.3.s.masc grab-PRES.3.sing CONJ DEF.ART.masc.s mouse-NOM.sing DEF.ART.obl.s NUM-second DEF.ART.obl.s MUT.NAS-cheese-obl.s PERS.PRON.3.s eat-PRES.3.s

A color/animal idiom:

She's certainly the black sheep in that house! In English, this means the girl in question is the most deviant or unusual or different of a group. In Queranaran, it means that the girl in question is fickle.

:con:Queranaran
eiyem : le-tugano-milu cromio-nan-nahangcu derí
[ejɜm lɜtʉgäno̞mɪlu kromjo̞ nän nähäŋku dɜri]

EVID-certainty LOC-PRON.DIST.RIGHT.that-house.s black-LINK-sheep.s 3.s.fem

In The World, domestic sheep come in two broad varieties: red (well, dark reddish) and black-and-white dappled. A very small minority of either kindred evince a genetic mutation that causes the sheep's hair to turn black. Sometimes, the condition resolves and the hair turns reddish or dappled again, sometimes the change is permanent. Hence the notion of an idiom for fickleness.


His feet walk green. This idiom is kind of like "green thumb" in English.

galennil yan-we-sayan-boadhonye sarnuwandrondalcarhrt-eril-em
[gälɜnɪl jänwe säjän buäðo̞njɜ särnʉwäɳdroɳdälkär̥tɜrɪlɜm]

green-ADV EVERPRESENT-ERG-3.s.masc.RELATIONAL.PRON-foot-PL walk-ITERATIVE-IMPF

This is a fine compliment to pay a gardener, farmer or dendrothaumaturge. There is a connexion between this idiom and the mythic motif of the hero or goddess in whose footsteps flowers and herbs and green things spring up and grow.
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