Adam Sharp

19 Oct 2024

My latest book is a collection of idioms, proverbs and slang from around the world. It's called The Wheel is Spinning but the Hamster is Dead and in the UK you can get it from these places (geni.us/yDxa). Outside UK, Blackwell's do free/fast international delivery... blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...

David M. Perry@lollardfish.bsky.social

Welcome to Bluesky. If you're a writer, don't forget to TELL US ALL ABOUT YOUR BOOK!

Happy National Apple Day! Speaking of apples, the most brutal Irish curse I’ve ever come across is go ndéana an diabhal dréimire de chnámh do dhroma is é ag piocadh úll i ngairdín Ifrinn. It means “may the Devil make a ladder of your backbone while he picks apples in the garden of Hell.”

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” from other languages… 1. The son of a duck is a floater (Arabic) 2. A snake’s offspring will always be a long thing (Igbo) 3. A frog’s child is a frog (Japanese) 4. Like pig, like oink (Slovak) 5. Where will the sauce be poured if not on the rice? (Malay)

A phrase from Manchester (where I'm from) that can be used to describe someone with very messy hair is “did you comb your hair with a toffee apple?”

A German equivalent to “biting the bullet” (doing something unpleasant because you have to) is in den sauren Apfel beißen, or “biting into the sour apple”

Five international equivalents of “the apple of my eye” (to describe someone you adore)… 1. The sloe of my eyes (French) 2. The little girl of my eyes (Spanish) 3. The baby of my eye (Turkish) 4. The gem of my eye (Tamil) 5. The candle of my eye (Welsh)

A Greek variant of “comparing apples and oranges” is άλλα τα μάτια του λαγού κι άλλα της κουκουβάγιας. It means “the hare’s eyes are one thing, and the owl’s eyes are another.”

In English, the thing people argue over is often referred to as the bone of contention. My favourite Italian equivalent is il pomo della discordia, which means “the apple of discord”

A Mandarin equivalent of “one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch” is 一粒老鼠屎，壞了一鍋粥. It basically means “one piece of mouse shit spoils the whole pot of rice congee”

“Defibrillator” in ten languages: 1. Defibrillator (German) 2. Defibrillator (Dutch) 3. Defibrillator (Hindi) 4. Defibrillator (Igbo) 5. Defibrillator (Indonesian) 6. Defibrillator (Samoan) 7. Defibrillator (Swahili) 8. Defibrillator (Yoruba) 9. Defibrillator (Afrikaans) 10. Hjertestarter (Danish)

This thread is of course to mark today being Restart a Heart Day (cue influx of people pointing out that defibrillators technically stop the heart)

events.humanitix.comAdam Sharp - An Idiom Abroad - FREE EVENTGet tickets on Humanitix - Adam Sharp - An Idiom Abroad - FREE EVENT hosted by Tamar Valley Writers Festival . River's Edge, Invermay TAS 7248, Australia. Sunday 18th October 2026. Find event informa...

And while I have you, if anyone reading this happens to be in Tasmania this Sunday and wants to come see me do my one-man show on international idioms, please do come along…

Adam Sharp reposted

Peadar Ó Guilín

@thecallya.bsky.social

I got feet, but I never feature...

Adam Sharp@adamcsharp.bsky.social

A list of lyrics if all lyrics were as profound as “I got soul, but I'm not a soldier” by The Killers... 1. I got hips, but I’m not a hipster 2. I got plums, but I’m not a plumber 3. I got toes, but I’m not a toaster 4. I got badge, but I’m not a badger 5. I got meow, but I'm not a homeowner

I've been offline for a few months but I had to return to post that important list about The Killers because “All These Things That I’ve Done” was released on this day in 2004 (22 years ago!)

If all lyrics were as profound as lyrics by The Killers (and The Killers were into geography)… 1. I got Seoul, but I’m not a Seouldier 2. I got stones, but I’m not Estonia 3. I got goals, but I’m not Angola 4. I got choice, but I’m not AndOrra 5. I got a mam, but I’m not Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya

Adam Sharp reposted

19 Jan 2025

I’d just like to let you all know that I’ll be taking a break from mental health to focus on my social media

Today is National Biscuit Day so here’s a list of ten biscuity musical artists to listen to… 1. Bourbon Jovi 2. Florentina Turner 3. Fleetwood Macaroons 4. HobNob Dylan 5. Viscounting Crows 6. TimTammy Wynette 7. Garibaldi Barlow 8. Oreo Speedwagon 9. Lionel Rich Tea 10. Jaffas on Airplane

Before the Jaffa-Cakes-are-cakes-actually crowd start arriving with their flimsy "but but the VAT case" or "the clue is in the name" or the sham soggy/hard science arguments let me just say that Jaffa Cakes will always be biscuits to me and it's not even worth trying to move me on this.

Adam Sharp@adamcsharp.bsky.social

I don’t think starter packs are a thing anymore but as today is National Biscuit Day I’m bringing back this Very Important Pack of biscuit connoisseurs…

The D stands for Disappointment

I don’t think starter packs are a thing anymore but as today is National Biscuit Day I’m bringing back this Very Important Pack of biscuit connoisseurs…

Adam Sharp reposted

@jenaciousd.bsky.social

28 May

Replying to @adamcsharp.bsky.social

Behold my manatea.

28 May

Reposting this because today is World Dugong Day (as I'm sure you all already know)...

Adam Sharp@adamcsharp.bsky.social

In Portuguese a manatee is called peixe-boi (or “bull fish”) and in Dutch zeekoe (or “sea cow”). In English a group of manatees is called an aggregate of manatees, though I think a better term would be either a “manateam” or “manytees” (in the same way a group of dugongs should be called a “dugang”)

25 May

The second best phrase I’ve heard for very warm weather is from the US South and goes “it’s hotter than two hamsters fucking in a wool sock.” And the best phrase I’ve heard is from Afrikaans and goes die hond die kat jaag, maar beide loop. It means “the dog is chasing the cat, but both are walking.”

Adam Sharp reposted

SwissMiss

@fraupage.bsky.social

24 May

this needed to be reposted today

Adam Sharp@adamcsharp.bsky.social

This is the second greatest ever TV news clip btw...

21 May

Happy International Tea Day! My favourite phrase for when given a non-full cup of tea is “are you expecting stormy weather?” And my favourite phrase for when given a cup of tea that isn’t strong enough is “that tea’s as strong as a fortnight.“

20 May

Happy World Bee Day! Here’s a list of how bees buzz in ten different languages… 10. Bzzz (Czech) 9. Bzzz (Bulgarian) 8. Bzzz (French) 7. Bzzz (Slovene) 6. Bzzz (Catalan) 5. Bzzz (Polish) 4. Bzzz (Portuguese) 3. Bzzz (Italian) 2. Bzzz (Spanish) 1. Wing wing (Korean)

19 May

I'll take any excuse to post this again...

This post is unavailable.

19 May

And while I'm bringing old Donald Glover content back to the timeline...

Adam Sharp@adamcsharp.bsky.social

Does anyone know of any other examples of where a video synchs perfectly to other audio, like the This Is America video clip set to Call Me Maybe?

Melina ~looking for an alien symbiote~

14 May

A list of the top ten most pleasing sounds ever… 10. This 9. Is 8. Too 7. Subjective 6. So 5. Impossible 4. To 3. Rank 2. Them 1. Ducks quacking

Adam Sharp reposted

@defoni.bsky.social

My favourite Finnish one is "Ei menny niin kuin Strömsössä" [Didn't go like in Strömsö]. STRÖMSÖ is a Finland-Swedish TV show where they cook and craft and everything's so easy-breezy and lovely and quaint and always goes according to plan, presenting this Finland-Swedish utopistic way of existence

Adam Sharp@adamcsharp.bsky.social

My favourite phrases for when things go wrong… 1. It’s a shitshow at the fuck factory (English) 2. Now the turnips are cooked (Dutch) 3. A donkey is inside another donkey (Persian) 4. The Devil is loose in Salmonstreet (Danish) 5. A finger in the ass and screaming everywhere (Brazilian Portuguese)

Five more international ways of describing a total shambles that I've come across (as usual, several rare)… 1. A devilish soup (Swedish) 2. A crazy naked man (Peruvian Spanish) 3. A burning brothel on wheels (Polish) 4. A Devil in the crab-trap (Finnish) 5. An un-mothering (Mexican Spanish)

Another (very old) Polish phrase for a shitshow is przejebane jak w ruskim czołgu. It means “fucked up like in a Russian tank”

My favourite French phrase for being up shit creek without a paddle is c’est parti en couille, which basically means “it went testicle-esque”

In Chinese, a scene that is complete chaos can be described with the phrase 雞飛狗跳. It means “chickens flying, dogs jumping”

A clusterfuck or a shitshow can also be described in Dutch slang as a teringzooi, or a “tuberculosis mess”

An Icelandic way of describing messed up situation is allt á hvolfi í ánni. It means “everything upside down in the river”

Another Dutch phrase for when the shit hits the fan is nu heb je de poppen aan het dansen. It means “now the dolls are dancing”

11 May

One of my favourite awful puns is from when former Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos was at risk of being sacked and the commentator speculated whether his players could be heroes… “just for Juande”

Adam Sharp reposted

Steve Foster

@slfoster22.bsky.social

4 May

Maybe they also should have reconsidered Tatooine each others names on themselves so early in the relationship

Adam Sharp@adamcsharp.bsky.social

Couple about to sign divorce papers… WOMAN: I wish I'd never joined that Star Wars dating app MAN: You were looking for love in Alderaan places WOMAN: And I wish I'd never married a guy addicted to Star Wars puns MAN: It was a wookie mistake WOMAN: Just sign it MAN, SIGNING: May divorce be with you

4 May

The second best phrase I’ve heard for when someone has the zipper of their pants undone is the Chinese 天安门开了. It means “The Gate of Heavenly Peace is open.” The best phrase I’ve heard is the Spanish la farmacia está abierta y el doctor dormido. It means “the pharmacy is open, and the doctor asleep.”

By the way, today is National Zipper Day. It commemorates this date (in 1913) when Swedish-American inventor Gideon Sundback was issued a patent for what he called “hook-less-fastener,” which, despite similar contraptions existing since the 1850s, is considered to be the first modern zipper.

Last Zipper Day someone shared this exchange… I was on the train when a lady leaned over and said, “Excuse me, you’ve left your garage door open.” Embarrassed I zipped up and said, “I hope you didn’t see my Rolls Royce parked in there.” “No,” she said, “just an old Mini-Minor with two flat tyres”

The best Icelandic phrase that I know about an undone zipper is hellirinn er opinn en drekinn sefur. It means “the cave is open, but the dragon sleeps.”

A colloquial Mexican phrase about someone whose flies were undone is la cantina abierta y el borracho ni en cuenta. It means “the bar was open and the drunkard didn’t even notice.”

Another Spanish way of telling someone their flies are open is se te va a escapar el canario, which means “your canary is going to escape.” A Dutch version is je schaapjes lopen weg. It means “your sheep will run away.” And a Finnish variant is hevoset karaka, or “the horses are running away.”

Adam Sharp reposted