Idiosyncratic idioms

I always think idioms are invented to 欺負 (take advantage of) the foreigners or ones with a foreign tongue, as the meaning of which, more often than not, cannot tell literally from its component words.

“neck of the woods” (neighborhood) is nothing to do with the neck. What’s “raining cats and dogs” (heavy downpour) got to do with cats and dogs?  It is hard to guess “to let the cat out of the bag” is to reveal a secret. If she “has a bee in her bonnet”; she is obsessed.  If a doctor says “it sounds like run of the mill cases”; it means cases being discussed are “average, nothing special”.

Bill Watterson likes to use idioms in his Calvin and Hobbes comic strips.  “give someone a run for the money” means “to be as good at something as someone who is very good”.

“hit the spot” or “hit the bull’s eye” is to be exactly right.

In A Dream of Red Chamber, “雨村閒居無聊” is translated as “Then Yucun, finding time heavy on his hand”, which is a good translation as time seems to go slowly [the heavier the slower the time travels] when one has nothing to do.

“born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth” is to say born into wealth and privilege.  In A Dream of Red Chamber we read “胞胎 嘴裡便啣下一塊五彩晶瑩的玉來” (the birth of a son who came into this world with a piece of clear, brilliantly colored jade in his mouth”.) Since this was talking about a prominent family, so I think East and West thought are in the same line.

Color is unique to each culture. “Once in a blue moon” (occurs rarely) and “out of the blue” (unexpected). “Feeling blue” is a melancholy mood.  One should never give a Chinese gentleman a green hat, as “戴绿帽” (wearing a green hat) tells he is being cheated by his wife.  黄色小說 (yellow novel) is often referred to sex or pornographic novels.  After reading D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterly’s Lover, I am not sure I would call it 黄色小說 or not.  To compare Fifty Shades of Grey with Lady Chatterly’s Lover  is to elevate the former.  Call one’s wife 黄臉婆 (yellow face old lady) is very unflattering.

Charles told me there are thousands of set phrases in Chinese and gave some examples, such as 相見恨晚, 招蜂引蝶, 拈花惹草, and  窈窕淑女，君子好逑 , which were first used 2,300 years ago.  Chinese set phrases or idioms are much more poetic and cannot be translated literally.