the joy of translation

how babelfish translates certain french idioms:

to drown in a water glass (make a mountain out of a molehill)

keep a pear for thirst (save for a rainy day)

it's not necessary to push yourself into the nettles (going a bit far)

to make a cinema of something (make a big deal of it)

to fall into the oubliettes (become obsolete: oublier is french for forget. an oubliette is a dungeon.)

all is not pink in life (life is not a bed of roses)

to cry one's coil dry (cry your eyes out)

to make a fatty morning (to sleep in--i love this one.)

to fall into the apples (to faint)

to have a puppet in the drawer (to be pregnant)

to search for the small beast (to nitpick)

occupy yourself with your onions (mind your own business)

the dress does not make the monk (don't judge a book by its cover)

and then there's window-licking, the french way of saying window shopping.