Some Remarks on Idioms - Antanas Klimas

LITUANUS

LITHUANIAN QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Volume 40, No.1 - Spring 1994
Editor of this issue: Antanas Klimas, University of Rochester

ISSN 0024-5089
Copyright © 1994 LITUANUS Foundation, Inc.

SOME REMARKS ON IDIOMS

ANTANAS KLIMAS
University of Rochester

According to the ATC's Dictionary of American Idioms, we can describe an idiom as follows: "Every language has phrases or sentences that cannot be understood literally. Even if you know the meaning of all the words in a phrase and understand the grammar completely, the meaning of the phrase may still be confusing. Many cliches, proverbs, slang phrases, phrasal verbs, and common sayings offer this kind of problem. A phrase or sentence of this type is usually said to be idiomatic.¹

Every language has many idioms. For example, we-estimated there are approximately 7,000 idioms in the dictionary we've just cited, although this particular dictionary, in addition to the idioms proper, also lists the so-called cliches and other common sayings.²

In this article we are not particularly concerned with American English idioms per se. We would like, rather, to see how successfully these idioms are translated, explained, or described, in the largest and best English-Lithuanian dictionary to date.3 This is a dictionary of about 60,000 words, and since the principal author is Professor Alfonsas Laučka of Vilnius University, for our purposes here we shall refer to it as Laučka's Dictionary, or, abbreviating it, as the LELD, i.e., "Laučka's English-Lithuanian Dictionary," imitating, as it were, the abbreviation for the famous OED: the Oxford English Dictionary.

Of course, we cannot list and discuss all of the English idioms listed in the LELD dictionary—after all, the LELD has 1094 pages, and to be sure, several thousand idioms, and listing them all simply would make this article too long.

As is commonly known, some idioms of one language have almost exact—even word for word—equivalents in another language, and sometimes it is difficult to say whether these idioms arose independently or whether they were borrowed, or simply translated, from one language into another. With other idioms, the translation from one language into another is totally impossible because they are based on some unique, or particular feature of a culture that does not exist in another language. For example there are quite a few American English idioms based on various aspects of baseball, and in many cultures and languages nothing even close to baseball exists. In such cases, some quite different expressions have to be used, expressions approximating the meaning of the culture/ tradition-based idioms.

Thus, we shall select FIVE idioms from each "letter" of the LELD. Since there are 26 letters in the English alphabet, we shall have 130 idioms listed.4

1. to be off the air — baigti radijo laidą /26/
2. it is all over with him — su juo baigta; jis žuvęs žmogus / 29/
3. to lead to the altar — vesti; susituokti /31/
4. to look at the question from all angles — visapusiškai apsvarstyti klausimą /35/
5. assault and battery — įžeidimas veiksmu /40/

1. in the bag — reikalas tikras /62/
2. to let the cat out of the bag — išplepėti paslaptį /62/
3. to drive a hard bargain — daug užsiprašyti, derėtis /67/
4. to get to first base — amer. šnek. — žengti pirmus žingsnius; pradėti /69/
5. to beat it — amer. pasprukti, iškurti /75/

1. piece of cake — šnek. kas nors labai lengvo ir malonaus /119/
2. to call a spade a spade — vadinti daiktus jų tikraisiais vardais /120/
3. cap in hand — nuolankiai, paklusniai, nusižeminusiai /124/
4. that's the card — tai kaip tik tai, kas reikalinga /126/
5. to rain cats and dogs — pilti kaip iš kibiro (apie lietų) /130/

1. like grim death — iš visų jėgų /210/
2. to clear the decks (for action) — pasiruošti (kovoti) /212/
3. the third degree — tardymas kankinant /217/
4. by design — tyčia /224/
5. talk of the devil (and he is sure to appear) — vilka mini—vilkas čia /227/

1. easy street — turtingumas /266/
2. a good egg — šnek. puikus žmogus /269/
3. to go off the deep end — rizikuoti, pasikarščikuoti /275/
4. I've had enough of him jis man labai įgriso /277/
5. to be all eyes — atidžiai sekti, stebėti /292/

1. it's written all over his face — tai matyti iš jo akių /293/
2. to fall over himself — nertis iš kailio /296/
3. to feel low — jaustis prislėgtam /303/
4. not to lift a finger —nė piršto nepajudinti /310/
5. to have other fish to fry — turėti kitų reikalų /312/

1. get away with you! — juok. atstok nuo manęs! netaukšk nesąmonių! /342/
2. to give somebody the creeps — įvaryti kam baimės /344/
3. to go the way of all flesh — mirti /348/
4. to grin and bear it — ištvermingai pakelti kančias /357/
5. a man with plenty of guts — stiprus žmogus /362/

1. to split hairs — dėl smulkmenų ginčytis /364/
2. to live from hand to mouth — gyventi su ta diena /366/
3. I don't care a hang — man nusispjauti /367/
4. hat in hand — nuolankiai /370/
5. with half a heart — nenoriai /374/

1. to skate/be on thin ice — perk. būti sunkioje būklėje; žaisti su ugnimi /395/
2. to do somebody an ill turn — padaryti kam meškos patarnavimą /397/
3. to have it in for somebody — pykti ant ko /403/
4. to have too many irons in the fire — daug ka iš karto pradėti /dirbti/ /429/
5. to lord it — dideliu ponu dėtis /429/

1. the cut of one's jib — žmogaus išvaizda, išorė /433/
2. to lie down on the job — dirbti atbulomis rankomis, nerūpestingai /435/
3. to jump the track — a/nukristi (nuo bėgių); b/ perk. išklysti iš kelio /438/
4. it's just splendid — tai tiesiog puiku /440/
5. he did justice to the dinner — jie prideramai įvertino pietus (valgė su apetitu) /440s

1. to keep one's shirt/hair on si. — nesikarščiuoti /442/
2. it nearly killed me — aš vos nemiriau iš juoko /444/
3. to kiss the dust — a/ pralaimėti; b/ būti užmuštam; c/ nusižeminti; d/ šliaužioti (prieš) /446/
4. to knock somebody off his pins — apstulbinti ką /448/
5. I know better than ... — aš ne toks kvailas, kad... /448/

1. what's his line? — kuo jis užsiima? /471/
2. to live on air — neturėti pragyvenimui lėšų /474/
3. look before you leap — būkite atsargūs /479/
4. he will not be lorded over — jis neleis sau ant sprando joti / 480/
5. for love of money — bet kuria kaina, žūt būt /482/

1. mad as a hatter — visiškai išprotėjęs, pamišęs /464/
2. to make oneself at home — jaustis kaip namie /490/
3. one man's meat is another man's poison — katei juokai, pelei verksmai; kas vienam naudinga, tas kitam kenksminga /502/
4. to make both ends meet — suvesti galą su galu /503/
5. to give somebody a piece of one's mind. — pasakyti kam atvirai savo nuomone /511/

1. the nays have it — dauguma prieš (balsuojant) /535/
2. to make a night of it — praūžti visą naktį /542/
3. a big noise — žymus asmuo; didelė asmenybė /545/
4. to pay through the nose — mokėti pašėlusią kainą, permokėti /548/
5. number one /No. 1/ — savo "aš"; pats /551/

1. to put in one's oar — kištis į kalbą; kištis į svetimus reikalus /554/
2. of the old school — senos mados /560/
3. to come into the open — būti atviram /564/
4. the lower orders — platieji gyventojų sluoksniai /566/
5. she was all over him — ji nežinojo, kaip geriau jam įtikti / 573/

1. a pain in the neck — įkyrus žmogus /579/
2. a square peg in a round hole — žmogus ne savo vietoje /595/
3. to have a good press — gauti gerus atsiliepimus spaudoje / 635/
4. to pull the strings/ropesIwires — slapta daryti įtakos /kam/ /651/
5. to put two and two together — suprasti, sumesti, padaryti išvadą iš faktų /656/

1. from no quarters — iš niekur /659/
2. to ask for quarter — prašyti pasigailėti /659/
3. it is out of the question — apie tai negali būti nė kalbos /660/
4. the matter in question — svarstomas klausimas /660/
5. to cut/touch to the quick — paliesti jautrią vietą /661/

1. to paint the town red — triukšmingai linksmintis, girtauti / 678/
2. to reduce to the ranks — pažeminti eiliniu /679/
3. to kiss the rod — nuolankiai, klusniai pakelti bausmę /705
4. to take rough with the smooth — ištvermingai pakelti likimo staigmenas; narsiai sutikti nelaimes, vargus /709/
5. to rub it in — aitrinti žaizdą /711/

1. no great shakes — nekoks, niekam tikęs /756/
2. to sow one's wild oats — audringai praleisti jaunystę /801/
3. from sun to sun — nuo saulėtekio ligi saulėlydžio /855/
4. to be sweet on — būti įsimylėjusiam ką /865/
5. sink or swim — kas bebūtų /866/

(NB. We shall list 13 here, instead of the usual 5. We simply want to keep 130 samples, and we found none under X, and only two under Z. Therefore, we added eight under T.)

1. to take it or leave it — kaip sau norite /874/
2. to talk nineteen to the dozen — į vieną žodį atsakyti dešimčia /875/
3. to tear along the street — dumti gatve /881/
4. let me tell you — aš užtikrinu jus /883/
5. not all there — nepilno proto /890/
6. as thick as thieves — artimi draugai /891/
7. it amounts to the same thing — tai tas pat /892/
8. first think, then speak — prieš sakydamas pagalvok; žodis ne žvirblis, išskris — nepagausi /893/
9. to throw good money after bad — rizikuoti iš paskutiniųjų; beviltiškai priešintis /897/
10. she is near her time — ji tuojau gimdys /902/
11. tooth and nail — iš visų jėgų, įnirtingai /909/
12. he touched me for a large sum — jis iš manes iškaulijo didelę sumą (pinigų) /913/
13. to turn over a new leaf — pradėti gyvenimą iš naujo; pasitaisyti /935/

1. under the influence — sl. išgėręs, įkaušęs /946/
2. he is up to this job — jis tinkamas šiam darbui /961/
3. to be up and about — būti ant kojų; pasveikti /961/
4. he thinks himself ill used — jis mano, kad su juo blogai elgiamasi
5. I feel used up — aš jaučiuosi visiškai išvargęs /964/

1. in the same vein — taip pat, tuo pačiu būdu /970/
2. nothing ventured, nothing gained — nerizikuosi — nelaimėsi /971/
3. a man of vision — ižvalgus žmogus /978/
4. to speak/ tell volumes — daug ką pasakyti, išreikšti /980/
5. to vomit smoke — išmesti dūmų kamuolius /981/

1. to walk the plank — a/ būti paskandintam piratų papročiu; b/ būti priverstam pasitraukti iš užimamos vietos /984/
2. walls have ears — ir sienos turi ausis /984/
3. to wash one's dirty linen in public — išnešti šiukšles iš namų /988/
4. still waters run deep — tyli kiaulė gilią šaknį knisa /989/
5. white elephant — šnek. daiktas ar dovana, kurią nežinia kur dėti /1002/

X. /None/

1. to spin a yarn — pasakoti nebūtus dalykus; plepėti /1021/
2. to look young for one's years — jaunai atrodyti /1021/
3. tender years — jaunystė /1021/
4. the night is young — dar nevėlu /1023/
5. you are not quite yourself — jus atrodote nesavas /1023/

1. their hopes were reduced to zero — jų viltis žlugo /1024/
2. zero hour — a/ kar. puolimo laikas; b/ perk. lemiamoji valanda /1024/

The readers who know both languages, English and Lithuanian, will have noticed that only a small part of these 130 idioms agree, more or less, in both languages in their imagery, but most have a completely different "wording" in English and in Lithuanian.

Before we start a brief analysis of these idioms, I would like to quote extensively from an article by Professor William R. Schmalstieg (The Pennsylvania State University) published in Lituanus almost a quarter of a century ago: "Linguistic Problems in Translation" (Lituanus, Vol. 15, Fall 1969, No. 3, pp. 5-6.)

"Literature has value in so far as it impinges upon the human consciousness, in so far as the literary text differs from the usual or everyday method of expression. The non-native, however, will be struck and impressed by the most casual cliche, the most trite phrase, if it differs from the thought pattern imposed by his native language. To the English speaker the expressions short cut, if worst comes to worst and in the face of difficulties are trite. But a Russian friend of mine once commented upon what a marvelous expression short cut was; according to him irt epitomized American inventiveness and ingenuity. "There is nothing like it in Russian," he said. Let us take the second example, if worst comes to worst. A Czech friend said that this was an excellent expression, because he could picture in his mind how two disasters were approaching each other, each one perhaps a huge glob of thick, dark substances which would merge, congeal and form an impenetrable difficulty. In addition he thought (because of his knowledge of German) that these two worsts may well be in the shape of mammoth sausages."

Let us now, first of all, look at these 130 idioms, both in English and in Lithuanian, and consider which ones are really close, similar, equivalent, or almost the same.

In our opinion, only a few fall in this category, namely: A-3, A-4, B-3, C-3, D-5, E-4, F-4, H-4,1-5, J-3, L-3, M-2, 0-2, Q-3, S-3, T-3, V-1, and W-2. Only 18 out of 130. And not all of them are really "the same." As a matter of fact, all 18 of them differ somewhat in the semantic selection in their imagery. Take, for example, S-3: "from sun to sun" : "nuo saulėtekio ligi saulėlydžio" which, literally, in Lithuanian means "from sunrise until sunset." If you say exactly what we have in English, i.e., "Nuo saulės ligi saulės"— it simply makes no sense in Lithuanian.

Very close is also J-4, but, in Lithuanian, it is used primarily in its real practical meaning, i.e., when the real train jumps from real rails-If we glance at H-4 ("hat in hand" : "nuolankiai") and H-5 ("with half a heart" : "nenoriai"), the meaning of the English idioms, if translated in Lithuanian literally, would make some sense to a native Lithuanian who does not know English, but, possibly, with some twist not found in the English idiom.

To illustrate this in practical terms, let us take, for example, the five idioms listed under E. Let us translate all five of them—word for word—into Lithuanian:

1. easy street — lengva gatvė'
2. a good egg — 'geras kiaušinis'
3. to go off the deep end — 'nušokti į gilųjį galą'
4. I've had enough of him — 'aš jau jo pakankamai turėjau'
5. to be all eyes — 'būti visos akys.'

In Lithuanian, only /2/ and /3/ are grammatically possible, but semantically they do not mean the same as in English. /2/ 'geras kiaušinis' simply means that this is a proper egg, not rotten and that's all. /3/ 'nušokti i gilųjį galą' means only that, i.e., to jump into the deeper end of some pool, pond, lake, any water body, and that's all. Nos. /1/, /4/ and /5/ are impossible in Lithuanian—both gramatically and semantically. Or one could say they are un-Lithuanian.

The LELD translates "easy street" as Lith. "turtingumas" which literally means "being wealthy; wealthiness; wealth." Since, until recently, about 70 percent of Lithuanians lived in rural villages, with practically no "streets" as we imagine, but only highways and village roads, the imagery with a Lith. "gatvė" 'street' could not develop.

Therefore, we must come to the inevitable conclusion: there is a need for a special Lithuanian—English and particularly for an English-Lithuanian idiom dictionary. What a blessing that would be for translators, interpreters in all areas of the modem Lithuanian as well as English life.

To illustrate the old Latin saying: Audiatur et altera pars "Let the other part be heard also', let us take one single Lithuanian idiom the equivalent of which does not exist, as far as I know, in English. This, of course, is my beloved personal idiom which I have been using all my life— for many occasions. Here it comes:

Lith. "Kvailą/durną ir bažnyčioj muša"—literally, "They beat up a stupid one even in church', or If you are so stupid you'll get it in church too', or even: "You'll get it even in church if you are so dumb'.

Now, what English idiom would come closest to this Lithuanian saying, idiom, proverb? here are only a few personal suggestions:

a/ No rest for the wicked.
b/ To be born a loser.
c/ To be totally hopeless.
d/ To never get the word.
e/ To be terribly stupid.

Notes

1 Richard A. Spears, NTC's American Idioms Dictionary. National Textbook Company, Lincolnwood, II, 1992 Printing, p. vii.
2 Cf. Spears, op. cit., p. xiii.
3 A. Laučka, B. Piesarskas, E. Stasiulevičiūtė, English-Lithuanian Dictionary, III leidimas, Vilnius, "Mokslas," 1986. About 60,000 words. 1094 pages.
4 Naturally, this could be done vice versa: namely, how are Lithuanian idioms rendered into English.