When English beats around the bush, French circles the pot and German talks around the hot porridge. Then someone lets the cat out of the bag, which German does with the same cat and French does by selling the fuse.
One language at a time: English · French · German · Spanish · Italian · Japanese
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Tourner autour du pot lit. ‘circle the pot’
Um den heißen Brei herumreden lit. ‘talk around the hot porridge’
Irse por las ramas lit. ‘go off along the branches’
Menare il can per l’aia lit. ‘lead the dog around the threshing floor’
お茶を濁す ocha o nigosu lit. ‘to make the tea cloudy’
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Mener quelqu’un en bateau lit. ‘take someone on a boat’
Jemandem einen Bären aufbinden lit. ‘tie a bear on someone’
Tomar el pelo lit. ‘take someone’s hair’
Prendere in giro lit. ‘take for a spin’
一杯食わす ippai kuwasu lit. ‘to make someone eat a bowlful’
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Vendre la mèche lit. ‘sell the fuse’
Die Katze aus dem Sack lassen lit. ‘let the cat out of the bag’
Descubrir el pastel lit. ‘uncover the pie’
Vuotare il sacco lit. ‘empty the sack’
口が滑る kuchi ga suberu lit. ‘your mouth slips’
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Mentir comme un arracheur de dents lit. ‘lie like a tooth-puller’
Lügen wie gedruckt lit. ‘lie like print’
Mentir más que hablar lit. ‘lie more than you talk’
Mentire per la gola lit. ‘to lie through the throat’
真っ赤な嘘 makka na uso lit. ‘a bright red lie’
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Mettre les pieds dans le plat lit. ‘put your feet in the dish’
Ins Fettnäpfchen treten lit. ‘step into the little pot of grease’
Meter la pata lit. ‘put your paw in it’
No Italian idiom yet. Means: to say or do something tactless that embarrasses you or upsets someone
地雷を踏む jirai o fumu lit. ‘step on a landmine’
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No English idiom. Means: to think of the perfect reply only after the moment to say it has passed
L’esprit de l’escalier lit. ‘the wit of the staircase’
Treppenwitz lit. ‘staircase joke’
No Spanish idiom yet. Means: to think of the perfect reply only after the moment to say it has passed
No Italian idiom yet. Means: to think of the perfect reply only after the moment to say it has passed
No Japanese idiom yet. Means: to think of the perfect reply only after the moment to say it has passed
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Sauter du coq à l’âne lit. ‘jump from the rooster to the donkey’
Vom Hölzchen aufs Stöckchen kommen lit. ‘to get from the little piece of wood onto the little stick’
Salir por peteneras lit. ‘to go out by way of peteneras (a flamenco song)’
Saltare di palo in frasca lit. ‘to jump from pole to leafy branch’
話が脱線する hanashi ga dassen suru lit. ‘the talk derails’
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En faire tout un fromage lit. ‘make a whole cheese of it’
Aus einer Mücke einen Elefanten machen lit. ‘make an elephant out of a mosquito’
Hacer una montaña de un grano de arena lit. ‘make a mountain out of a grain of sand’
Fare di una mosca un elefante lit. ‘make an elephant out of a fly’
針小棒大 shinshō bōdai lit. ‘needle-small, pole-big’
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Être bavard comme une pie lit. ‘to be as chatty as a magpie’
Reden wie ein Wasserfall lit. ‘to talk like a waterfall’
Hablar por los codos lit. ‘to talk through the elbows’
Parlare come una macchinetta lit. ‘to talk like a little machine’
口から先に生まれる kuchi kara saki ni umareru lit. ‘to be born mouth first’
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Raconter des salades lit. ‘to tell salads’
Quatsch mit Soße lit. ‘nonsense with sauce’
Contar cuentos chinos lit. ‘to tell Chinese tales’
Dare i numeri lit. ‘to give out the numbers’
嘘八百 uso happyaku lit. ‘eight hundred lies’
Phrases in bold with a red marker are written up. The rest are waiting for their own page and a check by a native speaker.