86
votes
Accepted
English equivalent of a Spanish expression that translates to "iron fist, crystal jaw"
Its English equivalent is ‘he can dish it out, but he can't take it’ defined by Cambridge English Dictionary as:
someone easily criticizes other people but does not like it when other people ...
- 18k
72
votes
Accepted
Can "he" and "man" refer to all genders?
You are opening a "can of worms!" This is a topic that can cause strong emotions.
It is also not a matter of grammar, but a matter of style.
English doesn't have a pronoun that singular, non-neuter ...
- 202k
52
votes
Accepted
Is there an English equivalent for the Italian saying "It's another pair of sleeves"?
In British English, you can indicate that two subjects, things or situations are completely different by saying about one of them:
That's another kettle of fish
That's a different kettle of fish
...
- 59k
40
votes
Can "he" and "man" refer to all genders?
Leaving aside current views on gender identity, historically, "man" has been used as an umbrella term for both genders - and it still is, unless someone objects to it. "Mankind" refers to all human ...
- 96k
39
votes
Is there an English equivalent for the Italian saying "It's another pair of sleeves"?
The first thing that came to mind was "That's a whole new ball game" or "That's a different ball game", but that saying is primarily used for situations and not things. As ...
- 12k
33
votes
Is there an English equivalent for the Italian saying "It's another pair of sleeves"?
The first thing that pops into my mind is
That's a horse of a different color.
- 175k
33
votes
How do you say "enchufado" in English?
If we are specifically talking about a family member, nepotism is a good word. (It does not apply for friends, however.)
patronage bestowed or favoritism shown on the basis of family ...
- 878
32
votes
English equivalent of the Russian idiom "притянуть за уши" + opposite of "to abbreviate"
The idiom I would use is ‘grasping at straws’, for which Cambridge English Dictionary gives two definitions:
Grasp at straws:
trying to find some way to succeed when nothing you choose is likely to ...
- 18k
25
votes
Accepted
Is "drawable" a correct word?
English is fairly flexible and open to the creation of 'new' words and compound words from familiar prefixes and suffixes, "-able" being one such example.
A Google search finds quite a lot ...
- 96k
22
votes
Is there an English equivalent for the Italian saying "It's another pair of sleeves"?
In spoken American English you have that's a whole 'nother story, with emphasis on 'whole'. This same structure can be applied to some of the other answers here, such as "that's a whole 'nother ball ...
- 401
21
votes
Accepted
English equivalent to the German "zig"
I don't know who told you that you can't use umpteen before million. M-W's Student Dictionary seems to disagree with that assertion:
umpteen (adj) numerous but not fixed in amount : umpteen million ...
J.R.♦
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21
votes
Accepted
How do you say "enchufado" in English?
From SpanishDict
enchufe
masculine noun
(colloquial) (influence)
a. connections
Yo estoy mejor cualificado, pero le dieron el trabajo a ella porque tiene enchufe. — I am ...
Em.♦
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17
votes
Accepted
Is there a figure of speech for "illlness which passes without a special treatment"?
The first option I think of is "run its course" as in "You'll just have to let the flu run its course"
See: idioms.thefreedictionary.com/run+its+course
- 2,575
17
votes
Geometrically, "face" or "surface"?
The word "face" is correct in a geometrical context, for example "a cube has six faces, twelve edges, and eight vertices". In this context "surface" often refers to the ...
- 6,115
16
votes
Accepted
Which one do you call "pepper", pimienta o pimiento?
Yes, most English speakers do call both foods "pepper". There are few ways to distinguish them if you need to.
This is also known as black pepper (or red pepper, depending on the color):
On the ...
- 386
15
votes
English equivalent of a Spanish expression that translates to "iron fist, crystal jaw"
In the gaming community, there's the phrase glass cannon.
What does “glass cannon” mean?
“Glass cannon” is used to refer to characters or objects that are
extremely powerful offensively yet are also ...
- 207
14
votes
Is there an English equivalent for the Italian saying "It's another pair of sleeves"?
A slightly less common variant is "a whole nuther ball of wax" (with the misspelled "nuther" instead of "other"). It is definitely colorful...
- 878
14
votes
Can "he" and "man" refer to all genders?
Rather than "can these words refer to all genders" I'd propose to think of it as "are there texts in which these words refer to all genders", to which the answer is an emphatic "yes". It was long the ...
- 2,086
14
votes
English equivalent of the Russian idiom "притянуть за уши" + opposite of "to abbreviate"
As you say, притянутый за уши аргумент is an argument that is weak or fallacious. In English you might call it a specious argument, or one that doesn't hold water (i.e. full of holes).
- 240
13
votes
What do you call the metal containers used to cook food (meat, pizza etc.) in the oven? (Translation of ‘fuente’)
Not one word but two, they are often called baking trays or baking sheets. Cambridge Dictionary has
baking tray
noun, UK
(US baking sheet)
a sheet of metal with low sides, used for baking food
They ...
- 16.2k
12
votes
Accepted
Why has Marx's "Das Kapital" been translated to "Capital" in English and not "The Capital"
The article is actually used in other languages as well, for instance:
in French Le Capital, in Italian, Il Capitale, in Spanish El Capital, and in Portuguese O Capital.
In English “Capital” in ...
- 762
12
votes
Can "he" and "man" refer to all genders?
"Man", yes. "He", no - but "him" and "his", yes.
From a historical perspective, this is because "man" was a originally gender-neutral word meaning "person" or "human" (incidentally, "human" comes ...
- 484
12
votes
Do I need to translate these weeds' names?
For a non-technical audience, you could describe Zhumaocao as a sedge, and Yashecao as a pickerelweed or a water hyacinth.
You need to be savvy about the subject and the audience to make an effective ...
- 202k
11
votes
Is "She is under the shower" a proper English sentence?
It is an idiomatic saying in Italian, "stare sotto la doccia" (to be under the shower), and Italian speakers understand perfectly that the person is not being squashed by the shower cubicle, the ...
- 26.2k
11
votes
Is there a figure of speech for "illlness which passes without a special treatment"?
Two planets chat:
"How are you?"
"Not so good; feelin' miserable!"
"Oh? What's up?"
"I have Homo sapiens..."
"Nah, don't worry: it will run its course!"
I would suggest "Nah, don't worry, it will ...
11
votes
Accepted
Phrase for describing a cable without a connector at the end
If the "cable" is used for load bearing, then you could use
unfinished
(source: chinahisea.com)
However, if it is an electronic "cable", then the term
unterminated
can be used.
(source: ...
- 66.1k
11
votes
Words to say about someone being almost the same age as you are
English lacks such precise terms to describe fellow members of an age group.
Occasionally in journalistic usage, we see the term cogenerational, but that feels contrived to a native speaker, and even ...
11
votes
Accepted
Can exams in university be called "session"? (Similarly to Russian "сессия")
I've not seen "session" used for this precise meaning.
A session can be "A period devoted to a particular activity." It could be used, for example as "I'm going to have a study session on Saturday". ...
- 202k
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