Thursday, July 10, 2008

Horses


straight from the horse's mouth
直接本人から

Example:
I got it straight from the horse's mouth.
直接、本人から聞いたよ。

Comment:
Apparently this saying originates from horse-races. Usually, the people who tend to the horse can give the most accurate guess of which horse will win, and getting information straight from the horse's mouth is even more direct than that.

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dark horse
穴馬的/ダークホース

Example:
I don't really get that dark-horse candidate.
あの穴馬的なダークホースの選手、よく分からんな。

Comment:
I was surprised to see this as katakana in the dictionary. Is it fairly normal to know this idiom?

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Hold your horses!
ちょっと待て!

Comment:
When someone is very excited about starting something, you might say this. Also originates from horse-racing, probably.

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beat a dead horse
無駄に繰り返す

Example:
Trying to get the professor to buy a new HMD is like beating a dead horse.
先生に新しいHMDを買ってもらおうとしても無駄やで。

Comment:
Because no matter how hard you beat a dead horse, it won't move.

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Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
贈り物にけちをつけるな。

Comment:
I do believe in this myself as well.

2 comments:

Miki said...

ダークホースって、普通に言うよー。

あと、
「先生に新しいHMDを買ってもらうのは無駄やで。」
だと、

Getting the professor to buy a new HMD is like beating a dead horse.

になって、tryの意味が含まれへんよw

「先生に新しいHMDを買ってもらおうとしても無駄やで。」
かな。

Anuraag said...

確かにtryを入れたかったけど、自然っぽい言い方は見つけられなかった。「しても」に変えていけるね。