AS A FRENCH speaker who uses English in her professional and personal lives, I am very familiar with untranslatable idioms. Just a few days ago, I was telling my English-speaking partner that trying to change his mind was like “pissing in a violin”, i.e. “useless”. Obviously, he had no idea of what I was attempting to say and I can’t blame him.

Below is a list of idioms from around the world and their hilarious English literal translations put together by CityBase apartments. Check them out if you don’t have “other cats to whip”.

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