In honor of Saint Valentine's day, I thought I would post some colorful love metaphors from around the world. At times, it is difficult enough communicating with someone in your native tongue and from your own cultural background--you know, the whole men are from Mars, women are from Venus thing--this becomes exponentially more difficult when it comes to stepping outside of one's own culture and conventions. Then, why not just throw in the pathos of love and va va voom to make things a little more intriguing?
een blauwtje lopen (Dutch) "to walk a blue moon"
Used to describe being rejected in love; something that might cause an Englishman to sing, rather than walk, the blues.
cavoli riscaldati (Italian) "reheated cabbage"
Pointless attempts to revive a former love affair from the proverb: Cavoli riscaldati ne' amore ritornato non fu mai buono [neither reheated cabbage nor revived love is ever any good].
ndege wangu karuka mtini (Swahili) "my bird flew off the tree"
Pain and rejection expressed in the form of flying birds is a common metaphor in Swahili.
moosh bekhoradet (Persian" "may a mouse eat you"
Traditional Persian term of endearment.
OK, now a moment of total self-indulgence: time to brush up on your French with Oscar nominee and sexiest man alive.
