En todas partes se cuecen habas.

[Enrique]

Hello everyone,

The forums have been inaccessible for the past couple of days, and this is the third instance of such downtime in the past month. We are having serious problems with bots slamming the server, and everything is suspended as a result. I have put a solution in place that should stop this from happening, at least for a while.

If you see that the forums are inaccessible, just keep checking back. Rest assured that we know about it and are on the case!

Don't worry, Chris. I've seen a very famous cable television channel putting an large menu window in my TV screen all day long, and the movie in the background (the window did not let the movie to be seen, except for the borders). Those are the niceties of electronics and IT.

[Quijote]

En todas partes se ceucen habas = "Beans are cooked everywhere". Nice expression, Enrique ! The gringo version would be It's the same story everywhere.

[Enrique]

You are welcome. I think I'll try to get a book with English phrases and proverbs. I had a lovely edition of a Merriam-Webster, a little pocket book our English professor made us buy at high school. It came with a lot of phrases (not proverbs) both in Latin and other languages. There I learned Verbatim, the famous computer media brand, is pronounced
Ver-'ba-tim and not Ver-ba-'tim as everybody does in my country. It comes from verbatim ac literatim, word by word and letter by letter, a very appropriate name for these artifacts.

[Quijote]

I love the different expressions one finds in various languages. I have found that there is often 'a common theme' that translates (or transliterates?).
I remember my mother would shout at us as kids when we complained about something she wanted us to do. We would say (for example, after being told it was time for bed):
Us kids: "But Mom, we're not tired !"
Our Mom: "No 'buts' que valga! Bed!"

[Translates very roughly as: "Enough of your 'but Mama'! Time for bed, I say!"]

Another one is the English expression "And pigs might fly". The French say (transliterated) "When chicken have teeth". Both are impossible!
Enrique:my Ma never taught me "When pigs fly". Can you tell me?

[Enrique]

Mas vale tarde que nunca. Sin peros que valgan could be Don't give me (your) buts? Or just No buts. For when pigs fly I know Cuando los sapos crien cola (my English is too rudimentary to translate this). We also have Para las calendas griegas as in Él vendra a visitarnos para las calendas griegas (for when the Greek calends). While Romans had calends in their month, Greeks had not. With this, Quijote, I say good bye.