“Looks like you’ve caught the sun.”
Analysis:
While the meaning of this saying seems quite obvious—to have caught the sun is to be sunburnt, but I had never heard of this phrase before. The informant has not lived in America for longer than two years, so I thought this saying originated from the UK, however, I cannot find any evidence to its origins.
طلعله من الجمل اذنه
Transliteration: Telaalu min al jamal ednu.
Translation: “He got only the camel’s ear.”
When someone works hard to get big share of a deal but the outcome turns out to be very small because many other people shared it with him.
Background information: An expression known in Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. This is a common figure of speech in the Arabic language.
Context: The informant told me about this expression in a conversation about folklore.
Thoughts: This is a very interesting way to describe this situation, one that appears to be quite common all throughout history to today. I find the use of metaphors in other languages to be fascinating and a colorful way to carry out the language. I don’t think I use nearly the amount of metaphors as other languages (such as Arabic) when I speak English.
Juha had a house he liked very much. But, he needed some money so he had to sell it. For him, to keep a connection to his house, he put in the contract that he is selling all of the house, except a nail on one of the walls. After a week, Juha knocked the door, and when the new owners opened, he told him “Excuse me, I am here to check on my nail.” And he kept doing this almost every day and especially during lunch or dinner time, to be able to share the owner’s meals. After a while, the owner was so tired of Juha’s visits, he left the keys with him and departed. The phrase “Juha’s Nail” stayed as a expression for when you use an excuse to keep coming back for something you are attached to.
Background information: This is a piece of folklore read about in school in the Middle East. The informant found the story for the phrase, “Juha’s Nail,” particularly funny. Juha is a recurring character in many Middle Eastern stories.
Context: The informant told me about this story in a conversation about folklore.
Thoughts: I think it’s so cool and interesting to have a metaphor used in language that started as a story/joke. I have not learned about Arabic metaphors, so it’s fascinating to learn about the origins of one of them.
“Tu no vas a cojer mangos bajito”
English:
You will not grab the mangos when you’re down low.
This metaphor is basically telling the listener that they must aim high in order to reap the benefits of labor. As my informant was a cuban immigrant who was raised by other cuban immigrants from whom she heard this saying from, this metaphor is appropriate in that not only does it make an agricultural reference when the majority of her family were once field workers, but also refers to the ideal that hard work leads to wonderful rewards. According to my informant, this ideal is one of the main reasons they risked life and limb to come to America in the first place.
“Al que quiere azul celeste, que le cueste.”
English:
To the one who wants sky blue, let it cost them- If you want something specific in life, its going to cost you.
This metaphor has deep ties to the communist idea of not wanting more than everybody else. The idea in communist culture that someone may want more or something special or different is, of course, not uncommon, but this saying is a sort of caution about the price of desiring better than what others settle for. My informant, having grown up in a family full of cuban refugees, heard this metaphor from two of her elder cousins regarding higher education. In this context, it was more or less a warning as to the amount of time, money, and effort it takes for one to get a higher education, though it was not neccessarily a dissaproval.
This metaphor seems to stem from the dying of clothing in Cuba, and how certain shades had to be mixed carefully and took considerable time,money, and effort to create instead of simple, naturally occuring shades that most citizens wear.