"Che colpa ha il gatto se il padrone è matto."
So part of my studies into the italian language also includes proverbs and such. (Plus it's kinda fun to figure out what they mean.) Translated into english it reads something like*: "Please pardon the cat, his owner is crazy."
This one didn't make a lot of sense to me, so I Googled it. Basically, it stands as lesson meaning: "Don't shoot the messenger." Jack and I both liked that one!
Anyone have some proverbs to share from their culture/region?
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@Leo: *I realize that translation might be somewhat inaccurate...I've only been doing this for a week. 
(Nevyn's Note: I recently set-up my keyboard from English-U.S. to English-International...So I can write "è" for instance...This definately takes some getting used to!!!)
| "The truth speaks for itself, I am just the messenger." -Lyta Alexander |
dutch - literally translated - right translation
"Zoals de klok thuis tikt, tikt hij nergens " - "Like the clock ticks at home, it ticks nowhere else" - "Home sweet home"
"Een gewaarschuwd mens telt voor twee" - " A warned person counts for two " - "Forwarned is fore-armed"
"Je moet geen oude koeien uit de sloot halen" - "you shouldn't take old cows out of the ditch" - " Let bygones be bygones"
Il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué. - You mustn't sell the bear's skin before killing it. - (I don't know of any equivalents in English; I'd say it's something alons the lines of "Don't anticipate too much" but that doesn't convey the exact meaning)
I think the equivilent of that in English would be our saying of: "Don't count your chickens before they hatch (from the egg).
| "The truth speaks for itself, I am just the messenger." -Lyta Alexander |
"Che colpa ha il gatto se il padrone è matto."
So part of my studies into the italian language also includes proverbs and such. (Plus it's kinda fun to figure out what they mean.) Translated into english it reads something like*: "Please pardon the cat, his owner is crazy."
This one didn't make a lot of sense to me, so I Googled it. Basically, it stands as lesson meaning: "Don't shoot the messenger." Jack and I both liked that one!
LOL. I've never heard that proverb.
The proverb "Don't shoot the Messenger" has a more literal equivalent in Italian which is "Ambasciator non porta pena". It is actually a direct quote of the famous artwork of Alessandro Manzoni "I Promessi Sposi" :P
Lol...I'll post the source later...Obviously I'm between places at the moment!
Sent from my HTC Tilt™ 2, a Windows® phone from AT&T
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Edit: Here's the webpage I used to better understand the quote:
http://www.tutorino.ca/proverbs/che-colpa-ha-il-gatto.html
So far, not luck in finding the citation for the source of proverb. (I've simply visited too many italian sites in the last week while doing research....)
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Edit 2: http://dictionary.reverso.net/italian-english/male
il giallo sta male con il rosa
"Yellow does not go well with pink?" Who the heek would ever need to say that? Further, (from a different search)...Why would anyone ever need two kilos of fruit*?
(*Nevyn's Note: Who carries around that kind of vitamin deficiency?!?)
| "The truth speaks for itself, I am just the messenger." -Lyta Alexander |
These things are quite often pretty absurd.
The poor cat has nothing to do with how poor you feel the day after you drank far too much. Nevertheless in German you say "Ich habe einen Kater" (I have a tomcat).
And I still remember when we heard of "it rains cats and dogs" at school for the first time...
Sometimes it´s also interesting to have a look at the roots of the proverbs.
These things are quite often pretty absurd.
The poor cat has nothing to do with how poor you feel the day after you drank far too much. Nevertheless in German you say "Ich habe einen Kater" (I have a tomcat).
We say that too! It is kind of ridicoulous yeah >.>
Nevertheless in German you say "Ich habe einen Kater" (I have a tomcat).
In the US a bit of the "Hair of the dog" to lessen your tomcat.
I don't know if any of these are "real" sayings/proverbs, or just weird crap my dad says. But they amuse me and so i will share them.
A few that he says while frustrated, but due to surrounding company, he opts not for a simple "*%0&@# !!":
"Wouldn't that frost the balls off a brass monkey!"
"Enough to make a preacher swear!"
and my personal favorite (which makes absolutely NO sense lol) "For cryin out loud in a bucket of snipe water!"
And a few others, with various meanings:
"There's more <blank> there than Carter has liver pills." (indicating a large quantity of <blank>)
"I don't see a piano tied to your butt" (chastisement for someone being lazy)
"I don't give a rat's pajama's" (indicating contempt and/or apathy)
"Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a scoop shovel" (another contemptuous one, relating particularly to a person's lack of accuracy or aim)
anyway, there's more, but I have a piano tied to my butt :P