By Augustin
Knowing idioms is useful in everyday conversation to sound more fluent and natural.
ပုဏ္ဏားတိုင်
/poun na̱dain/
• အားကိုးတိုင်တည်ရာပုဂ္ဂိုလ်။
• ကျွန်တော်က ကြားမှ ပုဏ္ဏားတိုင် ပါနေရသေး၏။
• (ဗြာဟ္မဏ = ပုဏ္ဏား=Brahmin)
• A person who is expected to hear and address other people’s grievances.
• Someone who is tasked with listening to the concerns and complaints of others.
• An individual who is responsible for handling and responding to others’ issues and complaints.
In a popular children’s game, “flee-and-chase,” there is a designated spot, often a post, tree, or wall, where exhausted players can take refuge or escape capture when in a precarious situation. This designated area is referred to as the “Brahmin’s post” and serves as a safe zone that players can access. Consequently, someone who becomes a go-to person for others seeking advice or lodging complaints is referred to as a “mid-post”.
The term “mid-post” originates from a children’s game where players seek shelter at a specific location to avoid being caught. This concept is then extended to describe individuals who serve as a source of support, guidance, or comfort for others.
Just as the “Brahmin’s post” provides a safe haven for players in the game, a “mid-post” offers a similar sense of security and refuge to those who approach them for help or consolation. In essence, the term “mid-post” symbolizes the idea of providing a safe and welcoming space for others.
USAGES:
A Safe Harbor
Definition: A place or person where someone can find refuge and protection from difficulties or troubles.
Example: After quitting her job, she found solace in her friend’s home, which became her safe harbour.
A Shoulder to Cry On
Definition: A person who is willing to listen to and offer comfort to someone who is upset or distressed.
Example: My sister was always there for me, offering me a shoulder to cry on whenever I needed it.
A Listening Ear
Definition: A person who is willing to listen attentively to someone’s problems or concerns.
Example: I went to my therapist with my concerns, and she offered a listening ear.
A Refuge in Times of Trouble
Definition: A person or place that provides comfort and support during difficult times.
Example: My grandmother’s house was my refuge in times of trouble; I always felt safe and loved there.
A Friend in Need
Definition: A person who is willing to help someone in a difficult situation.
Example: When I lost my job, my friend was there for me, offering support and guidance as a friend in need.
An Open Door Policy
Definition: A policy or attitude that encourages people to approach and seek help or guidance without fear of rejection.
Example: The company’s open-door policy allowed employees to share their concerns and ideas freely.
A Guiding Light
Definition: A person or influence that provides direction, guidance, and support during difficult times.
Example: My mentor was like a guiding light; she helped me navigate the challenges of starting my own business.
ရေပန်းစား
/jei ban: sa:/
• ကြောင်းတူသံကွဲ = ခေတ်စား
• တွင်ကျယ် ခေတ်စားသည်။ လူသိ လူသုံးများသည်။
• ခင်ခင်ရွှေမှာ ကြည့်ကောင်းသော မင်းကတော်ကလေးအဖြစ် ရေပန်းစားသည်။
• Gain widespread appeal.
• Achieve high levels of recognition.
• Become well-known and admired.
The Myanmar idiom “To produce sprinkling waves” is a metaphorical expression that describes the rapid and widespread popularity or impact of a person, often in the entertainment industry, such as film stars or singers. Just as a boat moving through the water creates waves on either side, a person’s popularity or influence can create a ripple effect, spreading quickly and widely. This idiom suggests that the more attention or recognition a person receives, the faster they can gain popularity and make a significant impact.
The Myanmar idiom “To produce sprinkling waves” is a vivid metaphor that describes the process of gaining popularity and attention.
The idiom is often used to describe the rapid rise to fame of celebrities, musicians, or other public figures. The phrase “to produce sprinkling waves” is a clever play on words, drawing a comparison between the physical waves created by a boat moving through the water and the metaphorical waves of popularity or attention that a person can create.
The idiom is a reminder that success and popularity can be fleeting and that maintaining momentum requires constant effort and attention.
USAGES:
To make a splash
Definition: To cause a sudden and significant impact or excitement, often in the context of entertainment or media.
Example: The new movie star made a splash with her debut performance.
To be on everyone’s lips
Definition: To be widely talked about or popular.
Example: The new smartphone app was on everyone’s lips for weeks after its release.
To take the world by storm
Definition: To make a sudden and significant impact or impression, often in the context of business or entertainment.
Example: The startup took the world by storm with its innovative new product.
To be in vogue
Definition: To be fashionable or popular at a particular time.
Example: The new fashion trend was in vogue for several seasons.
To create a buzz
Definition: To generate excitement or interest, often in the context of marketing or promotion.
Example: The new music festival created a buzz among fans who were eager to attend.
To be on fire
Definition: To be extremely popular or successful, often in the context of entertainment or sports.
Example: The rock band was on fire during their concert tour, selling out shows left and right.
To make waves
Definition: To cause a significant impact or stir, often in the context of business or politics.
Example: The new CEO made waves by introducing sweeping changes to the company’s operations.
မြားဦးလှည့်
/ hmja: u: hle/
• မြားဦးလှည့်သည်။ တစ်ဖက်သို့ပြောင်းသည်။
• တစုံတရာကို ညွှန်ပြ ဖော်ညွှန်းလိုသောအခါ မြားသဏ္ဌာန်ပုံဖြင့် မြားဦးကို ပြလိုရာဘက်သို့ လှည့်ညွှန် ပြထားတတ်ကြလေသည်။
• ကွန်ဒီကို လက်လျော့ကာ အီနီဂို မာတီနက်ဇ်ဘက်ကို မြားဦးလှည့်လာတဲ့ ဘာစီလိုနာ….
• ရင်ခုန်သံတွေ ဆူညံနေဦးမယ့် ပရီးမီးယားလိဂ် … ချဲလ်ဆီးက ယူနိုက်တက်ကစားသမားတွေဘက်ကို မြားဦးလှည့်လာပြီ…
• Turning the point of an arrow
• Adjusting the tip of an arrow
• Redirecting the arrowhead
• Orienting the arrow’s point
The point of an arrow refers to the direction or focus of a criticism, accusation, or attack. In a situation where the target or victim of the criticism changes, it is said to be “turning the point of an arrow.” This idiomatic expression implies that the focus or direction of the attack has shifted from one person to another.
The Myanmar idiom “The point of an arrow turns” is a metaphorical expression that describes the change in direction or focus of a criticism or attack from one person to another.
This idiom is often used in everyday conversations, particularly in situations where someone is being accused or criticized for something, but then the focus shifts to another person. The idiom is a reminder that opinions and criticisms can be fluid and adaptable and that people can change their targets or focus depending on the circumstances.
USAGES:
To shift the blame
Definition: Redirecting responsibility or blame from one person to another.
Example: After the scandal broke out, the CEO tried to shift the blame to his subordinate.
To turn the tables
Definition: Reversing the direction or focus of an attack or criticism.
Example: In a surprising turn of events, the company’s competitors turned the tables on them by accusing them of unfair business practices.
To change horses in mid-stream
Definition: Abandoning one approach or strategy and switching to another in response to changing circumstances.
Example: The company decided to change horses in mid-stream and pivot to a new business model.
To redirect one’s fire
Definition: Shifting one’s energy, attention, or criticism from one person or target to another.
Example: After realizing his mistake, he redirected his fire to his colleague, who had been responsible for the error.
To switch targets
Definition: Changing one’s focus or attention from one person or thing to another.
Example: The politician switched targets and began criticizing his opponent’s policies instead of his own.
To shift gears
Definition: Altering one’s approach or strategy in response to changing circumstances.
Example: The team had to shift gears quickly when their star player got injured, and they had to adjust their game plan.
To take aim at a new target
Definition: Redirecting one’s energy, attention, or criticism from one person or target to another.
Example: After being criticized for its lack of diversity, the company took aim at a new target by announcing plans to increase diversity in its hiring practices.
