Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Do you know or can you guess the language?
As Happy As A Shoe
When you’re happy, there are various idioms to express this in English, including:
- as happy as a clam (at high water)
- as happy as a sandboy
- as happy as Larry
- as happy as a lark
- as happy as a pig in muck/clover
- as happy as a dog with two tails
Do you know/use any others?
Clams are apparently free from predators at high water, therefore might be thought to be happy. Or, their shape when open looks like they’re smiling
Sandboys were men, and boys, who delivered sand to pubs, homes and other establishments in the 18th and 19th centuries. They had a reputation for being happy perhaps because they were often drunk.
Larry was possibly Larry Foley (1847-1917), an Australian boxer who never lost a fight, or might come from the slang term larrikin, which originated in Cornwall, and ended up in Australia and New Zealand. It refers to a rough type or hooligan who tends to lark around.
Idioms meaning you’re happy in Scottish Gaelic are a bit different:
- cho sona ri bròg = as happy as a shoe
- cho sona ri luchag an lofa = as happy as the mouse of the loaf
- cho sona ri bò ann an loch = as happy as a cow in a lake
- cho sona ris na h-uisegan = as happy as the larks
- cho sona ri òthaisg = as happy as a one year old ewe
- cho sona ri crodh an Taoibh Siar = as happy as cattle of the West Side
- cho sona ri cuthag ann an nead a coimhearsnaich = as happy as a cuckoo in the nest of the neighbour
- cho sona ris an Rìgh = as happy as the King
- cho sona ‘s a tha an latha fada = as happy as the day is long
Are there interesting equivalents in other languages?
Sources: The Phrase Finder, Am Faclair Beag
Language Quiz
Water Trumpets
Last night while talking about the weather in French, as you do, one expression that came up was une trombe d’eau, which means a cloudbust, downpour or waterspout [source]. There have been several of these this week.
The word trombe [tʁɔ̃b] on its own means waterspout or whirlwind [source]. It comes from the Italian tromba (trumpet, horn, bugler, well, shaft), possibly from the Frankish *trumba (trumpet), which is of imitative origin [source].
Other phrases featuring trombe include:
- entrer en trombe = to burst in, storm in
- sortir en trombe = to burst out, storm out
- partir en trombe = to accelerate away
- passer en trombe = to zoom past, hurtle past
A related word from the same roots is trompe [tʁɔ̃p], which means a trumpet, the trunk of an elephant [source] or a squinch (a small arch, corbelling, etc, across an internal corner of a tower, used to support a superstructure such as a spire) [source].
Another word with the same roots is tromper [tʁɔ̃.pe] (to deceive, cheat on, disapoint, elude), which comes from the Old French tromper (to tramp, trump, delude), from trompe (horn, trump, trumpet) [source].
The English word trumpet also comes from the same roots, via the Old French trompette (trumpet), a diminutive or trompe [source]. As does the word trombone, via the Italian trombone (trombone, annoying or boring person), from tromba (trumpet) and -one (augmentative suffix) [source].
The trump an elephant makes, which is also a slang word for flatulence in the UK, and used to mean a trumpet, comes from the Old French French trompe (horn, trump, trumpet) [source]. However trump as in a trump card or a suit in cards is thought to come from the French triomphe (triumph), or the Old French triumphe, from the Latin triumphus (a hymn in honour of Bacchus, a triumph or celebration), from the Old Latin triumpus, from the Etruscan *𐌈𐌓𐌉𐌀𐌌𐌐𐌄 (*θriampe), from the Ancient Greek θρίαμβος (thríambos – a hymn to Dionysus) [source].
Language Quiz
Short Shrift
The other day I heard the expression short shrift being used, and started wondering what a shrift might be, and why it’s a short one that’s usually given or received.
The expression to give short shrift means to ignore, disregard or exclude (sb/sth); to give (sb/sth) very little time or attention. For example “Despite its urgency, ministers are giving the issue short shrift in parliament.” [source].
The word shrift means the act of going to or hearing a religious confession; a confession to a priest, or forgiveness given by a priest after confession. It comes from the Middle English shrift (confession, penitence, repentance), from the Old English sċrift (penance, penalty, a judge), from sċrīfan (to prescribe absolution or penance; to pass judgment), from the Proto-Germanic *skrībaną (to write), from the Latin scrībō (I write), from the Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- (to scratch, tear) [source].
Short shrift is a rushed sacrament of confession given to a prisoner who is to be executed very soon; a speedy execution, usually without any proper determination of guilt; a short interval of relief or time, or something dealt with or overcome quickly and without difficulty [source].
The word shrive (to hear or receive a confession; to prescribe penance or absolution) comes from the same roots [source]. So does shrove, an old word that means to join the fesitivities of Shrovetide or to make merry. It appears in the name Shrove Tuesday, the day before the beginning of Lent, also known as Pancake Day, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday [source] or Jif Lemon Day [source]. Other names are probably available.
So now we know.
Language Quiz
Myriads
The word myriad [ˈmɪɹi.æd/ˈmɪɹi.əd] means a countless number or multitude, and in the past it meant 10,000. It comes from the French myriade (myriad, 10,000), from the Latin Latin myrias (10,000), from the Ancient Greek μυριάς (muriás – countless, 10,000), from μῡρῐ́ος (mūríos – numberless, countless, infinite) [source].
A myriad of stars
The use of 10,000 to mean countless or infinite happens in other languages as well. For example in Chinese 万 [萬] (wàn) means 10,000 or a great number [source]. The same character 万 (man) in Japanese means 10,000, a myriad, everything, all or various. When pronounced ban it means completely, absolutely or totally [source].
Do other languages do something similar?
Other English words that refer to a large but unspecified number include um(p)teen or umpty, which come from umpty (a colloquial name for a dash in Morse Code used as World War I army slang) and -teen [source].
Also zillion, gazillion, bazillion, jillion, bajillion and squillion [source].
Do you have any others?
Language quiz
Tidy!
The Dutch word ruimen [ˈrœy̯mə(n)] means to clean up, to clear or to remove. It comes from the Middle Dutch rumen, from the Old Dutch *rūmen, from the Proto-Germanic *rūmijaną (to make room, to clear), from *rūmaz (roomy, spacious, open) and *-janą (a suffix that makes adjectives) [source].
Words from the same roots include ream (to enlarge a hole), and rim in English; arrimer (to stow, secure) in French; räumen (to vacate, move out of, clear, shift) in German; and rymma (to hold, escape, flee, evacuate) in Swedish [source].
When ruimen is combined with suffixes, the meaning changes somewhat:
- afruimen = to clean up, to pick up, to clear (a table), clearing
- inruimen = to put away, to fit in, to accept, to load (a dishwasher)
- leegruimen = to clean out, clearing out
- ontruimen = to clear, to evacuate, to vacate
- opruimen = to clean up, to clear, to tidy up
- puinruimen = to clear the debris, rubble
- uitruimen = to clean out, to clear out, to unload, unloading
- verruimen = to boarden, to expland, to extend
- wegruimen = to get rid of, clearing away, disposal
Related words include ruim [rœy̯m], which means spacious, roomy, large, ample, generous; more than, over, and also the cargo hold (of a ship) or a wide, open space; and ruimte, which means a space, room or area, and also (outer) space. A spaceship is a ruimteschip or ruimtevaartuig (“space faring thing”), and an astronaut is a ruimtevaarder (“space farer”), who might go on a ruimtewandeling (spacewalk) [source].
I’m good a tidying up (opruimen) and putting things away (inruimen), but not so good at getting rid of things (wegruimen). I tend to accumulate a lot of things, thinking they might come in handy one day. Occasionally I clear out the cupboards, drawers, sleeves and other places where such things tend to end up.
How tidy are you?
By the way, tidy is cognate with the Dutch word tijdig (timely, in/on time), and used to mean in good time or timely in English. The Dutch for tidy is netjes [source].
In Wenglish (Welsh English), tidy! as an exclamation means fine or splendid, a tidy spell is quite a long time, a tidy few is quite a number, a tidy feller is a decent chap, probably ‘good with his hands’, a tidy swill is a wash involving at least the face and hands, and talk tidy! means speak properly! [source].
Some details provided by Anna Rutten