is sometimes a really hilarious thing.
For example: In England, there is a phrase "spend a penny" to refer to someone in need of the bathroom. In context, someone would say "I'm going to go spend a penny". Now the first time I ever heard that, I laughed my head off, because the translator in my head decided it was a pun on "have a pee" (the penny being also called 1p). A few weeks later I found out that I was totally wrong! It isn't a pun-- according to my colleagues, it comes from the fact that they used to have to pay a penny to use the public toilets... (my translation was definitely funnier).
also lately the phrase "no use barring the gate after the horse has bolted" has been in my head. I've heard it both ways-- barring the gate and barring the door, but either way it means past the point of no return, can't change some things. Like turning the oven temperature down after the meal has already burned.
Posted by kristen at February 14, 2004 10:16 AM