When you use a cart made of legs ( de benenwagen), you are traveling using your legs. Sayings related to people or body parts To use a cart made of legsĪlthough this expression sounds very gruesome, it actually makes sense (kind of). In this case, it’s hidden up someone’s sleeve, until the behavior comes out and someone’s true character is revealed. Some linguists argue that this expression originates from artists who had literal monkeys hidden up their sleeves, which they made appear at random moments in time.Īnother – more rational – explanation is that the monkey derives from ‘behaving like a monkey’ (i.e., like a brat). When something or someone’s true character is revealed, it’s very normal in the Netherlands to say that ‘now the monkey comes out of the sleeve’ ( nu komt de aap uit de mouw). So if you find a dog in the pot, you know there’s nothing left to eat. If you happen to be an hour late, you might find the dog in the pot ( de hond in de pot vinden).ĭating from the Middle ages, dogs were often allowed to clean out the pots and pans once the people were done with dinner. When you agree to meet them for dinner at six, then you have to show up at six. The expression goes way back to the Middle Ages and most likely has to do with the availability of chicken and geese for eating. This is the same as in French and Spanish, who also have chicken-related idioms ( chair de poule and la piel de gallina). Dutch people, on the other hand, get ‘chicken skin’ ( kippenvel). In England and Germany, this is known as goose flesh (goose bumps and gänsehaut). In other words, you look like plucked poultry. When you’re cold or scared, the airs on your arms will stand up and create little bumps along your skin. Interesting fact: in 2005, a judge ruled that people could use the word without punishment. Linguists often argue that it originates from the Bible, where in Matthew 23:24, Jesus says the Pharisees “strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” However, a more likely explanation is that the expression is related to the French enculeur de mouches, meaning ‘fly fucker’. It’s the same as the English nitpicker, but slightly more insulting. When you bother a Dutch person with endless remarks about the minutest of details, they might call you an ‘ant fucker’ ( mierenneuker).
To elicit more giggles about ejection in your home, try using it to describe an exit: “Let’s go kids! Hurry up! Through the vomitories, single file!”Īnd if you’re looking for more funny words to start using around the house, read through this slideshow (because we can’t get enough either).Get the app Animal-related expressions Ant fucker It is evidenced in English around 1595–1605. The word vomitory comes from the Latin vomere (“to vomit”). If you tweak the word vomitory slightly to vomitories, you can use it to describe “an opening through which something is ejected or discharged” (much more fun than talking about puke, in our opinion).
Why would someone want to do that, you ask? There are a whole host of medical reasons to induce vomiting (like when a poison has been ingested), and a vomitory can be helpful in an emergency. (Although we’d argue that there’s nothing funny about vomit when you’re the one producing it … or the one cleaning it up … and especially not if you’re the one doing both.) A vomitory is something you take to induce vomiting. Here’s another word that’s funny because of the word that appears within it.
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