English: Everyday the bucket goes to the well, but one day the bottom must drop out
collected: Astoria, Queens (04-28-2016)
origin: an old proverb her grandmother used to say to her growing up in Guyana, which means: every day one keeps on doing wrong in secret, one day the truth will be revealed
042816001
English: You’d lose your head if it wasn’t screwed on
collected: Astoria, Queens (04-28-2016)
origin: told to him by his wife (who is originally from Boston) because he’s so disorganized.
032716001
English: You’ve got one foot in the grave, and the other on a banana peel
collected: Ridgewood, Queens (03-27-2016)
origin: He heard it in North Carolina, from a contractor who was talking about a friend who was old and really clumsy and careless. Meaning you’re on the verge of death at any moment. Such an understated, witty quip combined with a slapstick visual component is common to North Carolina humor.
013016002
Finnish: Pyörii kuin puolukka pillussa
English: twirling like a lingonberry in a vagina.
collected: Helsinki, Finland (01-31-2016)
origin: Something you say to someone who is acting aimless or being useless. It is a reference to a story in the Kalevala, the national epic poem of Finland, in which a virgin, Marjatta, is immaculately impregnated by a lingonberry.
013016001
Finnish: Nenä vuotaa kuin sulhaspojan kyrpä
English: Your nose is dripping like a bridegroom’s penis
collected: Helsinki, Finland (01-31-2016)
origin: something you say to someone with a running nose. She heard it when she was a teenager from her first boyfriend, in eastern Finland.
011016054
Lithuanian: užsipisk grabais [“grabais” – old dialect/slang term ]
English: go fuck yourself with caskets
collected: Kaunas, Lithuania (01-10-2016)
origin: common Lithuanian insult, originating in Soviet times. comes from a jail dictionary. Heard it said in Kaunas. meaning go fuck yourself
011016053
Lithuanian: tu kaip šūdas, pajudinai ir pasmirdo
English: you are like shit. when someone moves you, it stinks.
collected: Kaunas, Lithuania (01-10-2016)
origin: she heard her grandmother say this to her mother
011016052
Lithuanian: Tau ne visi namie
English: you don’t have everybody at home
collected: Kaunas, Lithuania (01-10-2016)
origin: old Lithuanian insult
011016050
Lithuanian: ilgas kaip kaminas, durnas kaip avinas
English: tall as a chimney, stupid as a ram
collected: Kaunas, Lithuania (01-10-2016)
origin: a childish joke she remembers from grade school
011016049
Lithuanian: jeigu dar nervuosi, nepakviesiu į laidotuves
English: if you annoy me further, i won’t invite you to my funeral
collected: Kaunas, Lithuania (01-10-2016)
origin: she heard her grandmother say this