It's funny because I can't recall examples 2-4. Are we talking about the same Polish language? :)

Those are English ones as far as I know. I'm quite familiar with them.

I recently confused our French developer by suggesting something was a "rod to his own back".

The problem was I couldn't further explain it without going into the phrase "spare the rod, spoil the child". I then aborted. I think he thinks me some kind of monster.

My bad :)

Around me, people tend to use "apo 'do kapernaoum", to mean ironically "yeah, count on that". It's from the punchline of an old joke (about a priest always repeating the tired old same sermon about jesus going to capharnaum, and, the day his annoyed public finishes his sentences for him -"and he weeent to capharnauuuum"- he yells something like "caphernaum my ass, this time he went to jerusalem").

So, "apo (e)do" (litterally "over here" - showing one's own butt) "capharnaum". BUT i don't know if it's an actual idiom, or just a catchphrase running in the family...

"Perlen vor die Säue (werfen)" - (to throw) pearles before the sows
It means giving someone something of which they can't even begin to appreciate the true worth/usefullness.

"Den Löffel abgeben" - to give away the spoon
"Ins Gras beißen" - to bite into the grass
"Die Radieschen von unten sehen" - to look at the radishes from below
All of them are idoms for dieing.

hmm...

"Snakke i munnen på hverandre": Talking in each others mouth = talking at the same time
"Få ut fingeren": Get your finger out = Get a move on (can be used in the full sentence "Få ut fingeren av ræva", which is less nice)
"Å gå som katta rundt den varme grauten": To walk like the cat around the hot porridge = Be very indirect, beat around the bush
"Å være midt i smørøye": To be in the middle of the melted butter (on the porridge) = to be in a very nice place
"Frisk som en fisk": Healthy as a fish = to be very healty
"Bare blåbær": Just blueberries = it is easy, no big deal, piece of cake
"Sitte med skjegget i postkassen": Sitting with the beard in the mailbox = Been left over with something not very good. The last one out.
"Saken er biff": The thing is beef = it is done.

A few Hungarian idioms that came to my mind:

ritka mint a fehér holló - as rare as a white raven = extremely rare
egészséges, mint a makk - as healthy as an acorn = very healthy (person)
we also say "makkegészséges", wich translates to "acorn-healthy", and it also means "very healthy (person)"
mintha dézsából öntenék - like if they were pouring it from a barrel = "it's raining cats and dogs"
csapjunk a lovak közé! - let's whip the horses! = let's start working now!
nyúlfarknyi - like a rabbit's tail = very small (area)
szájbarágni - to chew into the other's mouth - to give step-by-step instructions for total dummies
ha van rajtad sapka azért, ha nincs, azért - if you wear a hat then because of that, if you don't wear a hat, then because of that = no matter what you do, there will always be someone who finds a mistake in you

beadja a kucsot - to give the key in
feldobja a talpát - to threw one's feet up
alulról szagolja az ibolyát - to smell the violet from below
all of them mean "to die" (and they are not very polite, so you won't hear them on a funeral...)

The term "donkey bridge" is also used in German language ("Eselsbrücke"), but it means something completely different. The English word for it seems to be "mnemonic", which means a construct of thought to help you remember something that is hard to remember. That reminds me of an interview German football player Thomas Müller gave to Russian journalists in English. What he wanted to say was: "Wir haben eine breite Brust." - "We have a broad/wide/big chest." It's an idiom that means someone is very self-confident. The German word "Brust" is used for both the chest and the breast. So what he actually said was: "We have a big breast." :D

A few more:

German: "Blau sein." - English: "To be blue." - Means: To be drunk.
"Einen Kater haben." - "To have a tomcat." - To have a hangover.
"Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen." - "Peace, joy, pancake." - Love, peace and harmony.
"Zum Lachen in den Keller gehen." - "To go to the cellar for laughing." - A person who is so extremely uptight, he or she might even be ashamed of laughing in public.
"Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei." - "Everything has an ending, only the sausage has two." - All good things come to an end.
"Du kannst mir den Buckel runterrutschen." - "You can slide down my back." - Polite way of saying "fuck you".
"Am Rad drehen." - "To turn the wheel." - To go nuts.
"Was der Bauer nicht kennt, das frisst er nicht." - "If the peasant/farmer doesn't know it, he doesn't eat it." - People who are conservative, not open minded and only stick to what they know.
"Vom anderen Ufer sein." - "To be from the other side of the river." - To be homosexual.
"Rechts ist da wo der Daumen links ist." - "Right is where your thumb is left." - Idiom to mock somebody who confused right for left or vice versa.
"Viel Holz vor der Hütte habe." - "To have a lot of wood outside your cabin." - To have big boobs.
"Es ist im Arsch." - "It's in the ass." - It's broken.
"08/15" - "Zero eight fifteen" - It means that something is trivial and ordinary, or lame and boring. Could also mean something like "no big deal" or "piece of cake". Depends on the context.

Or perhaps a devotee of le vice anglais.

Well, that one's biblical. Matthew 7:6.

These ones I recognise from Swedish as well - translations:

"Prata i munnen på varandra"
"Få tummen ur (häcken/röven)" - though it's "thumb" in our case, not "finger"
"(Gå) som katten runt het gröt"
"Sitta med skägget i brevlådan"
"Saken är biff"

And another few:

"Klart som korvspad" (Clear as sausage broth) - perfectly understandable (not visual clarity as in clear weather)
"Lättare sagt än gjort" - this one's the exact same in English as well "Easier said than done"
"(Att vara) uppe med tuppen" ((To be) up with the rooster) - To wake early
"Gräddan/Grädde på moset" (Cream on the mash) - exists in English as "Icing on the cake"
"Först(en) till kvarn (får först mala)" ((The) first to the mill (may mill first)) - very similar to "Early bird (catches the worm)", though the latter seems to imply there's only one "prize" while the former implies the later ones simply have to wait for their turn.
"Ett rent samvete är bästa huvudkudden" (A clear concience is the best pillow)
"Har man tagit fan i båten får man ro honom i land" (If one brings the devil on the boat, one has to row him to land) - He who's stirred up trouble shall also clear it up.
"Nära skjuter ingen hare" (Close doesn't shoot a hare) - Almost hitting a hare doesn't get you hare for dinner, almost succeeeding means you didn't actually succeed.

If you replace "rots" with "stinks", then this one is also found in the Greek language and has more or less the same meaning.


Ah, these bring back so many memories...