Thanks to Catster for the pic!

“You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear”, is an English idiom meaning you can’t make something nice from rotten ingredients. Idioms cause real problems for translators. An idiom is a part of speech that has another meaning to its literal translation All languages have idioms, but Japan seems to really get into cats?

From Japanese translators Yasushi Aoki and Emi Kamiya:

The idiom: 猫をかぶる
Literal translation: “To wear a cat on one’s head.”
What it means: “You’re hiding your claws and pretending to be a nice, harmless person.”

The idiom: 猫の手も借りたい
Literal translation: “Willing to borrow a cat’s paws.”
What it means: “You’re so busy that you’re willing to take help from anyone.”

The idiom: 猫の額
Literal translation: “Cat’s forehead”.
What it means: “A tiny space. Often, you use it when you’re speaking humbly about land that you own.”

The idiom: 猫舌
Literal translation: “Cat tongue.
What it means: “Needing to wait until hot food cools to eat it.”

CLICK here for idioms (including cows, ducks, and swans) from other languages!