I am looking for an idiom that can be used when someone is trying to make fun to alleviate of a unpleasant situation. Example: Stockholm City has a big construction in its center that clearly affects both locals and tourists and of the way to make fun of this is through nice and funny banners. … Read more
I am working on profiling a graphical PC application. In this context, profiling is the act of taking measurements, mostly time based (like “time elapsed while rendering x”), but also some simple values (like “the number of x used” where x is not a unit of time). Multiple of “the same” measurements are taken by … Read more
I remember reading something like “out from something’s mouth/jaws (like a dragon) and into another…” Answer It’s not a dragon, but it’s nevertheless very warm: Out of the frying pan into the fire The phrase out of the frying pan into the fire is used to describe the situation of moving or getting from a … Read more
I need to translate baja financiera (Spanish) or baixa financeira (Portuguese) into English. That idiom is a noun phrase used to describe a partial or total payment of a purchase or sale. I’ll give an usage example of that idiom. If a client uses multiple payment methods (money, check, debit, credit), every baja/baixa consists of … Read more
I’ve noticed there are a lot of alternatives in English to “Thank you”, but I am struggling to come up with any for “You’re welcome”, though it would be said nearly as often. Can someone please point me to some good alternatives, or a resource that could provide them? Answer Responses to “Thank you” could … Read more
The proverb’s meaning is that just as fish prefer muddy waters and avoid clear streams, people generally do not associate with those who are too ideal in terms of ethics, manners, and habits. In other words, being strictly honest and always making the right choice from the standpoint of society-imposed values will result in you … Read more
I was going to go with “protrude” but I’m getting told it is not used in this sense and it wouldn’t be understood. It’s to describe the situation where the TV is on but you are doing something else and not paying attention, so the sound is like a white noise to you. Then there … Read more
I’m looking for a term that is essentially a diversionary tactic, and which I will explain by example. I have been told that some filmmakers deliberately add blatantly gratuitous material into what they submit to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA, the group responsible for censoring/rating movies). This is done so that MPAA reviewers … Read more
There is a Persian proverb (“One habitable village is better than one hundred desolated towns“) which emphasizes that a limited and small-scale but working thing (e.g. a solution or an achievement) is much better than several ones that do not work or could not be leveraged. Is there any equivalent proverb/idiom for that in English? … Read more
So, I have this expression from Portuguese that says that “A dog with two owners dies of hunger” It has the main objective of expressing that if you assign more than one person to take care of something (usually a problem), they’ll all think that the other one will take care of it and end … Read more
