Friday, 10 July 2015

On Romanian Expressions

"The limits of my language means the limits of my world"
- Ludwig Wittgenstein

As I re-read old entries on this year's scrapbook/diary/design/inspiration/life book I stumbled upon several expressions I jotted down once which are quite funny. Romanian is a fascinating language in many ways, and one of those is the idioms it has. They're not only funny, but if you imagine them being said in a villager's accent, they are even picturesque.

Here's the list of the favourites I collected:

  • A Romanian is not surprised - his face has fallen off (L-a picat fața).
  • A Romanian won't lose his temper - his mustard will jump off (Îi sare muștarul).
  • A Romanian won't lie to you - he'll sell you doughnuts (Vinde gogoși).
  • A Romanian won't tell you to stop wasting time - he'll tell you to stop rubbing the mint (Freca menta).
  • A Romanian doesn't have unusual ideas - he has a curly mind (Minte creață).
Of course, there are more, but these are the ones I chose and saved on my book as the funniest and most interesting of all.