Idioms and expressions play a vital role in everyday conversations, offering valuable cultural insights and infusing language with vitality. They serve to paint vivid pictures, render conversations memorable and nurture stronger connections between individuals.
These linguistic tools contribute to the enrichment of language, injecting discussions with liveliness and diversity. Moreover, the use of idioms facilitates the understanding of different cultures and promotes smoother social interaction.
In human communication, words act as threads that weave understanding and unity. Conversations resemble rhythmic dances, bridging gaps between individuals and fostering a harmonious blend of shared experiences. Language serves as a conduit for connection, expression, and exploration of our innermost thoughts, thereby promoting unity and embarking on a collective journey of humanity.
ရွှေလမ်းငွေလမ်းဖောက်
/shwei lan: ngwei lan: hpau’/
Fig: establish cordial relations
တစ်ပြည်နှင့်တစ်ပြည်၊တစ်ဒေသနှင့်တစ်ဒေသချစ်ကြည်ရင်းနှီးစွာ
ကူးလူးဆက်ဆံနိုင်ရန် ဆက်သွယ်သည်။
ချစ်ကြည်ရေးအတွက် နှစ်တိုင်းနှစ်ပြည် ရွှေလမ်းငွေလမ်းဖောက်ခဲ့သည်လည်းရှိပေသည်။
To construct a gold-and-silver road.
DEFINITION
When two states have established friendly relations, a flow of trade between them, including the exchange of gold and silver, is inevitable. Therefore, the establishment of friendly relations between two states is figuratively referred to as the opening of a gold-and-silver road.
The phrase “constructing a gold-and-silver road” is similar to the English idiom “building bridges” between two parties or “forging a golden connection,” both of which signify the establishment of positive and friendly relations leading to increased trade or exchange.
Example sentences:
* After years of conflict, the two countries finally started building bridges and opened up opportunities for mutual cooperation.
* The new trade agreement between the neighbouring nations has forged a golden connection, leading to a surge in economic activity.
Here are some additional sayings and examples:
1. “Bridging the gap”: This expression conveys the idea of bringing together two disparate entities or groups, often to facilitate understanding and cooperation.
Example: “Through cultural exchange programs, we’re working on bridging the gap between communities.”
2. “Extending an olive branch”: This phrase is derived from the ancient Greek tradition of offering an olive branch as a symbol of peace. It is used to describe making a gesture of reconciliation or friendship.
Example: “After their argument, he extended an olive branch by inviting her to lunch.”
3. “Breaking the ice”: This saying refers to initiating conversation or interaction with someone to alleviate tension or create a comfortable atmosphere, especially in new or awkward situations.
Example: “The team played an icebreaker game to break the ice at the start of the workshop.”
4. “Making connections”: This phrase can be used literally to refer to establishing links between objects or people, but it is also commonly used to describe networking, forming relationships, or finding common ground.
Example: “Attending industry events is crucial for making connections in the business world.”
5. “Getting in touch”: This expression is often used to mean reaching out to someone or making contact, whether to express interest, communicate, or reconnect.
Example: “I need to get in touch with my old friend from college.”
ဂြိုဟ်မွှေ
/gjou kja. hmwei/
• ဒုက္ခပေးသည်။ ဒုက္ခရောက် သည်။
မင်းကတော့ တော်တော် ဂြိုဟ်မွှေတာပဲ။
To be molested by the planets.
Fig: 1. Give or cause trouble.
2. be in trouble
This Myanmar idiom definition is as follows:
People commonly believe that planets in space exert certain influences on living creatures on Earth. If a person is considered lucky or unlucky, it’s often attributed to the dominant influence of the planet they are associated with at the time of their birth. Therefore, being in a precarious or adverse situation is described as being affected by the planets.
Here are English idioms, sayings, and examples with meanings similar to the Myanmar idiom:
1. “Born under a bad sign”: This expression is used to suggest that someone’s life may be influenced negatively due to their birth circumstances or astrological signs.
Example: “Ever since he was born, it’s like he’s been born under a bad sign – nothing seems to go right for him.”
2. “Stars aligned”: When things come together perfectly or go well, people might say that the stars aligned for them.
Example: “I can’t believe how smoothly everything went today. It’s like the stars aligned for me.”
3. “Heavenly bodies at play”: This phrase can be used to describe situations where external forces or factors seem to be at work, influencing events.
Example: “It feels like the heavenly bodies are at play whenever she’s around – everything just falls into place.”
4. “Cosmic interference” Refers to when outside forces seem to be affecting a situation or outcome.
Example: “I can’t explain it, but it feels like there’s some cosmic interference causing all these mishaps.”
5. “In the stars”: When something is predestined or believed to be influenced by fate.
Example: “Their love was written in the stars – they were meant to be together.”
These idioms and expressions capture the idea of external forces, fate, destiny, and astrological influences on people’s lives.
Here are a few more idioms and expressions that centre around fate, destiny, and external influences:
1. “Fortune smiles on someone”: This idiom is used to indicate that someone is experiencing good luck or favourable circumstances.
Example: “It seems like fortune always smiles on her – she’s constantly winning prizes and opportunities.”
2. “Twist of fate” Refers to a sudden and unexpected change in one’s circumstances or the course of events.
Example: “Their meeting was a twist of fate that changed their lives forever.”
3. “Karma comes around”: This expression suggests that the consequences of one’s actions will eventually catch up to them.
Example: “He should be careful – karma has a way of coming around when you least expect it.”
4. “Written in the stars”: Similar to “in the stars,” this phrase implies that something is destined or predetermined.
Example: “Their paths crossing was written in the stars, and they were meant to meet.”
5. “Wheel of Fortune”: Refers to the unpredictable nature of luck and fate.
Example: “Life’s like a wheel of fortune.
အတိုင်အလှည့်ညီ /a.tuing ahle nji/
“အတိုင်နဲ့ အလှည့် ပြောင်းပြီးတော့ မောင်းကြည့်ရအောင်
ထိုနွားနှစ်ကောင်မှာ နွားနင်း(အလှည့်)နှင့် နွားပြေး(အတိုင်)တို့ ဖြစ်ကြသည်။
Fig: to be well harmonized on the yoke
When two oxen work together to pull an ox-cart, their cooperation is crucial, especially when navigating corners. If one ox doesn’t cooperate, the cart cannot be pulled smoothly or at a steady pace. Similarly, when two people cooperate effectively, they are said to be well-aligned on the yoke.
Here are English idioms, sayings, and examples with meanings similar to the Myanmar idiom:
1. “Working hand in glove” Means working closely together or cooperating seamlessly.
Example: Sarah and John work hand in glove to ensure the project’s success.
2. “On the same page”: Meaning being in agreement or having the same understanding.
Example: It’s important for the team to be on the same page to avoid any misunderstandings.
3. “In sync”: Meaning working or moving together in harmony.
Example: The dancers were perfectly in sync, creating a mesmerizing performance.
4. “Rowing in the same direction” Means working together towards a common goal.
Example: The committee members need to row in the same direction to achieve their objectives.
5. “United we stand, divided we fall”: This means the importance of unity and cooperation in achieving success.
Example: The family knew that united they stood, but if they let differences divide them, they would fall.
SOURCES:
• မြ န် မာ စာလုံး ပေါ င်း သတ် ပုံ ကျ မ်း (မြန်မာစာအဖွဲ့၊ ၂၀၀၃ ခုနှစ်)
• Myanmar Idioms, written by Saya Hla Thamein
• THEIDIOMS.COM
• MMPROVERBS.PRO
