Monday 25 February 2013

Fur gloves in a basket

If your relationship ends If you get rejected in German, you'll "get a basket". Namely, to "give a basket" (einen Korb geben) means to dump reject somebody.

On the other hand, if you get rejected in Finnish, you'll get a pair of gloves, typically fur gloves, instead. "To give gloves" (antaa rukkaset) means to reject somebody, for example, reject a proposal. 


If it was good riddance, you might have just avoided being "under the slipper" (unter dem Pantoffel stehen, olla tossun alla) in both languages. That typically means the position of a husband of a bossy wife.

After avoiding all those traps, Finnish couples still need to fight over who "decides where to place the wardrobe" (näyttää kaapin paikan), that is, the partner who makes the decisions in the relationship. In English and German, it's more important who "wears the pants" or "hat die Hosen an".

1 comment:

  1. In English you might give someone the boot, although that's a nounification of kicking, not alluding to giving a gift of footwear.

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