#langblr

[useless-catalanfacts]

Idioms in Catalan with a religious origin

There's quite a lot of idioms that we say in everyday life, outside of the context of religion, but that come from religious stories or events.

Most of them come from Christianity, and many of them are shared with other Romance languages or other languages from historically Christian countries. To keep this list accessible to everyone regardless of cultural background, I will include the literal translation to English and also an explanation all of them.

Let's see how many of these you can understand before seeing the explanation. Let us know in the tags!

1. Fer Pasqua abans de Rams = "to do Easter before Palm Sunday", meaning to get pregnant, have a baby, or to have sex before getting married. Nowadays it's used in a more general sense to mean to do something before it's time (like English "put the cart before the horse"). Palm Sunday is a holiday celebrated the week before Easter.

2. Per a més inri = "for more INRI", used to add a bad thing on top of something else, making a situation even worse or more humiliating. It's a reference to the sign that said "INRI" (stands for the initials of "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews" in Latin) that Roman soldiers hanged on Christ's crucifix to make fun of him.

3. A la babalà = "in the babalà way", meaning to do something without having thought much about it. But what does "babalà" mean? This word doesn't exist in the Catalan language outside of this expression. It comes from the Arabic Alà bâb Allâh which means "in God's hands".

4. On Crist va perdre l'espardenya = "where Christ lost his sandal", or on Crist va perdre el barret = "where Christ lost his hat", meaning somewhere very far away and usually in the middle of nothing. I don't know of any story that has Christ lose his sandal or hat.

5. Perdut de la mà de Déu = "lost by God's hand", meaning a place in the middle of nowhere.

6. Ser un calvari ="to be a calvary", meaning that something is a cause of suffering. You can also hear quin calvari! = "what a calvary!". This is a reference to Mount Calvary, where Christ was crucified.

7. Endavant les atxes = "ahead with the candles!", meaning "keep going!", used to encourage to keep going in a negative situation with difficulties or a situation that you would have preferred to avoid. An atxa is a kind of big candle that the first people in a religious procession carry. This was the shout that would start a procession.

(Note: in recent years, Spanish media has used this idiom as supposed proof that Catalan independentists who said it are calling for violence, using a fake translation that assumed that "atxa" must mean the same as Spanish "hacha", meaning "axe" 🪓, because the pronunciation is almost identical. This is false, when people were saying "endavant les atxes" they did not intend any meaning related to "bring the axes". This was used to justify violence against Catalan activists, but has no ground in reality. "Axe"🪓 in Catalan would be "destral".)

8. Net com una patena = "as clean as a paten", meaning very clean. A paten is a kind of small dish used in Catholic mass, where the blessed sacramental bread in placed on.

9. Acabar com el rosari de l'aurora = "to end up like the dawn rosary", meaning to end very, very badly, usually in violence. The dawn rosary used to be a procession that was done in the early morning of certain holidays while praying the rosary. The idiom (which also exists in Spanish) comes from the year 1868. Around those years, there were many anticlerical riots, while the Catholic church kept doing the dawn rosary on the streets and often assigning it political meaning. In Barcelona and other cities, anticlerical protestors tried to stop the dawn rosary from happening, and it ended in violence and blood.

10. Plorar com una Magdalena = "to cry like a Magdalene", meaning to cry a lot and very desperately. This is a reference to Mary Magdalene, a character from the Bible's New Testament who cried when she met Christ.

11. Déu-n'hi-do! = "God gives!". This expression is difficult to translate because I don't think English has an equivalent (the closest I can think of are "wow!" or even "holy shit!"), but Catalan people use it a lot. It's an exclamation used to show surprise, awe or to mean a big quantity.

12. Ser més vell que Matusalem = "to be older than Methuselah", meaning that someone is very very old. Methuselah is a character from the Bible's Old Testament who is said to have lived for 969 years. This comparison is used for comedic value.

13. Rentar-se'n les mans = "to wash one's hands", meaning to say you're not responsible for what happens. This is a quote from the Bible's New Testament: when Christ is being judged by Pontius Pilate, the crowd is asking him to sentence him to crucifixion. He asks Christ to defend himself, but he doesn't. Pilate doesn't want to sentence him to death, but he sees he has no other option. Then, he sees his hands are stained with Christ's blood, and washes his hands as he decides that this situation will not be his responsibility.

14. Arribar a misses dites = "to arrive to mass [already] said", meaning to arrive late when something has already happened.

15. Ser com les palmes d’Elx, que vingueren el matí de Pasqua = "to be like the Elx palms, that arrived on Easter morning", this is used in the Valencian Country to mean to be late. Elx is a city with the biggest palm groove in Europe ever since the Middle Ages, and many of these palm tree leafs are used for making the palms used for Palm Sunday, the celebration that happens a week before Easter.

16. Va a missa = "goes to mass", meaning whatever is said is exactly what will happen, without complaining or second thoughts.

17. Endiumenjar-se = "to Sunday yourself" or "to Sunday up", meaning to dress up in your best clothes (same as "to wear your Sunday best" in English). Traditionally, people used to wear their best clothes for Sunday mass.

18. Alt com un sant Pau = "as tall as a saint Paul", someone who is very tall. Saint Paul was not tall, in his texts he describes himself as a "little man". The origin of this sentence is in Catalonia centuries ago. People used to celebrate the holiday of Saint Paul's Conversion (January 25th). In the Sant Pau del Camp church area in Barcelona, the tradition for this day had a man yield a huge sword. For this reason, the man had to be tall and strong.

19. Alegre/content com unes pasqües = "as cheerful/happy as Easters", meaning to be very happy and cheerful.

20. Discutir sobre el sexe dels àngels or parlar del sexe dels àngels = "to argue about angels' sex", meaning to endlessly argue heatedly about something insignificant where neither side will ever convince the other to change their minds. Also called una discussió bizantina="a Byzantine argument". This comes from the historical fact that Biblical scholars spent centuries arguing on whether angels can be male or female or not. Legends say that, when the Ottomans were laying siege on Constantinople in 1453 and getting ready to invade it, the Byzantine theologists were arguing about whether angels have sexes instead of doing anything useful.

21. Pagant, sant Pere canta = "if you pay, saint Peter sings". The person who hears it, might answer i sant Joan fa esclops = "and Saint John makes clogs". This means that money will get you anything, even the things that seemed impossible. It might be a reference to the Bible story where saint Peter was asked if he knew Christ after he was taken to crucify, and Peter lied three times and said he didn't know him. "To sing" in Catalan can also mean "to confess". Maybe, if they had paid him he would have confessed.

22. Perdre l'oremus = "to lose the oremus", meaning to lose control of yourself, or to get disoriented or lose memory. "Oremus" (which means "let's pray" in Latin) is the sentence that Catholic priests say during mass to lead a prayer. It's believed that this idiom comes from some incidents where a priest would start the sentence "oremus..." but then couldn't find the prayer he wanted to lead, which he might have misplaced somewhere else in his book. So he would say "oremus... uh... oremus..." while flipping the pages looking for the right one.

23. A bon sant t'encomanes! = "You entrust yourself to a good saint!", said with irony. It's said when you ask for help or rely on someone who is not competent.

24. Ser més papista que el Papa = "To be more Popeist than the Pope", meaning someone who is too dogmatic, too strict or extremist in following the rules, or who believes in or defends something in a more extreme way than the people most affected by it.

25. Qui no coneix Déu, a qualsevol sant li resa = "He who doesn't know God, prays to any saint", used to compare something very good to something worse that someone else likes, usually something worse but that is very popular.

And there's probably others that I forgot.

How many of these are shared with your language?

#llengua catalana #religió #languages #català #catalan #coses de la terra #religions #catholicism #language learning #langblr #polyglot #language #romance languages #cultures #culture

[marilearnsmandarin]

These are the apps and links I currently have on my phone to study Chinese:

SuperChinese: my main study resource. There are currently 7 levels, level 7 (still incomplete, they are still slowly adding lessons to it) being HSK 5 stuff. Each lesson has vocabulary, grammar and a short dialogue where those are used in context (I love context). It has a few free lessons in the lower levels but after that you have to buy a subscription. There are many sales though. When I was a beginner I used HelloChinese instead, which has more free content, and switched to SuperChinese when I finished all the free content there. It also has social network features and chat rooms I don't use.

TofuLearn is like a flashcard app with many pre-made decks (you can also create your own on their website and import decks from Anki) and the option to practice writing hanzi. Anki didn't work for me, but I find Tofu very helpful. Practicing writing helps me with character recognition, and it also helps me remember the tones thanks to the audio in the pre-made HSK decks.

Dot is a reading app with new texts being added every day. It used to be completely free, which actually seemed too good to be true, and then they put practically everything behind a paywall and very strict limits for free users. After a couple of months they made it a little less restricted though - we still can't choose the articles but we can read as many as we want as long as we do the vocabulary exercises after each article (plus, during the Spring Festival, they made all articles available for free for 3 days and we could save the ones we were interested in to read later). It follows the new, not-yet-implemented (and harder) HSK levels, so you should start one or two levels below yours and if the texts are too easy move up.

Google Translator: not the best but helpful when I need to translate whole sentences, plus I can point my camera or open an image and it translates writing.

Pleco: best Chinese to English dictionary.

Stroke Order: not an app but a website, does what it says in the tin: shows stroke order for a specific character.

YouGlish: also a website, you can put a word or phrase and it shows videos where people say that word/phrase. Very cool.

Todaii is a graded news app that has only two levels: easy and hard. I'm around level HSK4 and the "easy" level is quite hard though (but I admit reading is my nemesis).

I also use YouTube and Spotify a lot.

#personal #resources #langblr #language learning #learning chinese #chinese langblr #chinese language #mandarin #中文

[mehilaiselokuva]

Why did you learn Finnish?

To communicate with my parents and extended family. At age 1 I started to feel a bit hungry and decided I should start speaking so that my parents would feed me.

Hope this helps!

#finnish #langblr #langblog #language #suomen kieli #suomitumblr #finnish language

[serious-crime-theory]

#hades #the lord of the rings #sculpture #idris elba #Bailey Brooke #betty cooper #nepeta leijon #valerie cossette #kaeya smut #langblr #Bocchi the Rock #jordan torres

[from-body]

https://tracey-865.ftgae.xyz/m/7TpA6vi

https://tracey-865.ftgae.xyz/m/7TpA6vi

#breakfast club #valerie cossette #kaeya smut #langblr #Bocchi the Rock #jordan torres #sexy chick #tardis #swimming #sex worker #pancut #the adventure zone

[bimdraws]

Free Palestine

Palestina Libre

Palestina Livre

Palestina Libera

Wolna Palestyna

Freiheit für Palästina

Befria Palestina

Palestina Aurrera

#Palestine #Palestina #Palestina libre #palestina libera #palestina livre #free palestine #languages #polyglot #langblr #basque #italian #portuguese #spanish #english #castellano #español #swedish #german #deutsch #idiomas #language learning

[tokidokitokyo]

お知らせや案内を読もう

Vocabulary for reading notices and information.

お知らせ おしらせ notice; notification

案内 あんない guidance; information; notice

日時 にちじ date and time (of a meeting, notice, etc.)

上旬・初旬 じょうじゅん・しょじゅん the first 10 days of the month

中旬 ちゅうじゅん the middle 10 days of the month

下旬 げじゅん the last 10 days of the month

第＃〇曜日 だい＃〇ようび the #nd/th 〇day of the month (e.g. 第2月曜日 = だいにげつようび = the second Monday of the month)

年末年始 ねんまつねんし the year-end and the beginning of the New Year (usually holidays in which businesses and the government are closed)

正午 しょうご noon

祝日 しゅくじつ national holiday

休館日 きゅうかんび day on which a museum, library, etc. is closed; closed day

ただし however (used when an exception is given) 「だだし、…」 は例外と言うとき

なお further (used when an explanation is added) 「なお、…」 は説明をつけくわえるときに使います

向かい むかい across from/opposite

ななめ向かい ななめむかい diagonally opposite

向こう むこう across from/opposite/beyond

手前 てまえ before

角 かど corner

四つ角 よつかど crossroads

交差点 こうさてん intersection

有料駐車場 ゆうりょうちゅうしゃじょう paid parking lot

つきあたり the end of

前方 ぜんぽう ahead

後方 こうほう behind

右折する うせつする to turn right

左折する させつする to turn left

徒歩 とほ on foot

面している めんしている facing

一方通行 いっぽうつうこう a one-way street

横断歩道 おうだんほどう a pedestrian crossing; crosswalk

#日本語 #japanese #japanese language #japanese langblr #japanese studyblr #langblr #studyblr #japanese vocabulary #語彙 #単語 #jlpt n3 #tokidokitokyo #tdtstudy

[helenstudies]

me: hey, japanese language might be convoluted but it's still very enjoyable to learn!

japanese language: oh! by the way the kanji for おいしい is 美味しい :)

me: one day i will kill you with my bare hands

#head in hands #gods give me the hardest battle (I have a god complex and this is all my fault) #studyblr #langblr #100 days of productivity #japanese language #japanese studyblr #japanese langblr #nihongo #why did I learn japanese #I did this to myself

[indictivity-mu]

multilinguals love when you translate a spelling error and keep it for a similar vibe they will eat that shit up

#toki pona #tokipona #langblr #conlang #lingustics #meme translation

[jiabei-hanzi]

hello!! you’re in my chinese mandarin langblr, a place where you’ll see me crying & sobbing, but never giving up. I intend to major in psychology in the second semester of 2024 if the goddess intends.

✦ (br) portuguese native, english C1, spanish A2, chinese A1

✦ diagnosed neurodivergent (bipolar I + ADHD)

✦ ENFJ (Fe-Ni) 9w1 sp/so

✦ likes : neuroscience, writing, fashion, cats, plants, cozy games, organizing stuff, meditation etc.

my tags:

-> #jiabei’s study log ★ — study posts

-> jiabei living ★ — lifeblr

-> jiabei rambling ★ — other stuff

#jiabei’s study log ★ #jiabei living ★ #jiabei rambling ★ #study blog #studyblr #studystudystudy #langblr #chinese langblr #chinese language #study motivation #studyblr community #study aesthetic #study inspiration #student life #studying #study community

[ros3ybabe]

Daily Check-in: May 5, 2024 🎀

I disappeared for a few days, I'm sorry! life got busy, I was working non stop and really bad nothing to post about other then work and sleep it felt like. But Sunday was a semi productive day despite having woken up at 1am and not gone to sleep until 10pm that following night. But, we have finals go study for so we persevere.

🩷 What I Accomplished:

did an actual hair oiling routine before I showered

used the Beauty of Joseon Red Bean Pore Cleansing Mask

did my morning journal and skincare

read 13 pages of Good Vibes Good Life

purchased a new book on my kindle app! (You are a Badadd at Making Money, I can't wait to read it. There's another I want to buy soon too)

washed all my towels and put them away

washed my laundry (haven't put it away)

made pasta

planned out my week

studied Spanish for 11 minutes (trying to build a daily habit right now, so consistency is key)

made a packing list for my work in Colorado this summer

had a date night with my boyfriend (we watched two movies over video call together <3)

💞 Good Things That Happened

rested and relaxed

took a 2 hour nap in the morning

had a really long, nice shower

had enough money to order more coffee creamer

my friend was able to book the same flight as me for our work in Colorado!

spent some good time with my boyfriend

talked to my dad on the phone for a bit

💗 Stuff For Monday

study Spanish 10 minutes minimum

read 10 pages minimum of a book

complete some re opened chemistry homework

study for chemistry final

prepare for psyc exam

take psyc exam at 1pm

work a ~7 hour shift

Sunday was good, Monday will hopefully be good as well. I'm feeling positive!

💕 Song of The Day: IVE - Holy Moly

IVE songs have been on rotation for me once again. I love their sound and their energy.

til next time lovelies 🩷

#pink pilates girl #pink pilates princess #self development #wonyoungism #it girl #mental health #self care #physical health #that girl #self love #becoming that girl #it girl energy #pink academia #pink blog #pink aesthetic #college student #student life #studying #student #spanish studyblr #college studyblr #studyblr community #studyblr #language studyblr #uni student #uniblr #university student #langblr #clean girl #that girl energy

[languagesruletheworld]

I feel like most of the langblr Blogs I've been following overs the years have become inactive and the langblr community as a whole has kinda disappeared?

Are there any active langblrs focusing on

Spanish,

Norwegian,

French and/or

Korean?

#french #spanish #korean #langblr #linguistics #norwegian #languages #vocabulary #studyblr #french langblr #korean langblr #norwegian langblr #spanish langblr

[a-word-a-day-for-writers]

𝘼𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚

to blind by placing hot irons, or metal plates, in front of the eyes

#dark academia #light academia #litblr #langblr #english language #oxford english dictionary #words #spilled ink #spilled words #beautiful words #writers and poets #writing #creative writing #writeblr #writer #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #resources for writers #writebrl #writing inspiration #writing advice #writing prompt #writing ideas #writing community #definition #vocabulary #vocab #language

[gratiaveneris]

grace’s studyblr

18 | she/her | lesbian | US | college student majoring in biological anthropology and classical language (2nd year)

languages…

Latin: have been studying for 5+ years

Welsh/Cymraeg: self-studying (A1)

Starting Russian and Ancient Greek in the fall

Would love to learn Gaelige, Italian, German, Hebrew, and Aramaic someday <3

interests…

Academia

Medieval Europe and Medieval Latin

Celtic studies

History of the church + theology

#studyblr #intro #introduction #langblr #study blog #study motivation

[ruhua-langblr]

Duolingo Sucks, Now What?: A Guide

Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:

"I just want an identical experience to DL"

Busuu (Languages: Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Korean)

"I want a good audio-based app"

Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)

"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"

Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)

Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)

*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.

"I have a pretty neat library card"

Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)

Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)

"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"

AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)

"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"

AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone

"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"

lingory

"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"

ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)

"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"

Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)

#EDIT: Added a great resource for ESL and African languages that weren't found elsewhere #I do NOT recommend memrise and will talk about it another day but #langblr #duolingo #duo #language learning #language learning apps #mandarinblr #resource #reference

[not-your-lawyer]

“French is such a beautiful, romantic language.”

“Cat, I farted.”

#langblr #French #I love language puns #and I’m making that everyone’s problem