blacknomi said:Another proverb, "sell a pig in the poke." In my language, we say something like "to hang up a sheep's head and sell dogmeat"
sabrina :wink:
queenmaabd said:The Americans (at least) have a similar saying, "When hell freezes over", that is, never.
bmo said:"Sell a pig in a poke" - If you don't check before you buy, it can be full of surprises. A poke is a sack.
Chinese's "To hang up a sheep's head and sell dog meat" - This is equivalent to "He cries wine and sells vinagar. " What he sold is not what he said he was selling.
BMO
bmo said:bmo said:"Sell a pig in a poke" - If you don't check before you buy, it can be full of surprises. A poke is a sack.
Chinese's "To hang up a sheep's head and sell dog meat" - This is equivalent to "He cries wine and sells vinagar. " What he sold is not what he said he was selling.
BMO
Actually it is buying a pig in a poke, not selling.
blacknomi said:Hi,
I bought a pig in a poke from a shop. The shop sold me a pig in a poke.
How's that?
bmo said:blacknomi said:Hi,
I bought a pig in a poke from a shop. The shop sold me a pig in a poke.
How's that?
"He cries wine and sells vinagar" includes a deceiving scheme whereas "Buying a pig in a poke" may not.
Google search, buying a pig in a poke -971; selling a pig in a poke - 75. I suppose you could use either. But what is selling a pig in a poke? I don't think it is the same as "He cries wine and sells vinagar."
BMO
blacknomi said:Hi
I've check my idiom book.
A pig in a poke means a blind bargain, something that is bought without the buyer carefully examining it.
This phrase is commomly collocated with 'buy', it means impulsive purchase. But when it is together with 'sell', it involves certain degree of deceit, it's close to Chinese meaning, like what you said "He cries wine and sells vinagar."
Hm, I got it. Thank you very much! BMO.
bmo said:bmo said:Susie Smith said:In English, when we think something will never happen, a common response might be "That'll be the day!". There's a better one on the tip of my tongue. I know it's there - I can feel it there - but I just can't remember it. Help, please"
I think it is "over my dead body."
BMO
Not on this life.
BMO
RonBee said:I think you were thinking of not in this lifetime. Also, over my dead body adds a personal aspect to it that the other expression does not. It means that the speaker is going to prevent whatever it is from happening or give up his life trying.
RonBee said:I rather like that expression cries wine and sells vinegar. Maybe it will catch on here. :wink:
(Selling a pig in a poke would certainly be quite different from buying a pig in a poke.)
bmo said:You are welcome. I think Chinese's "Hanging up a goat head and selling dog meat" fits very, very well with "He cries wine and sells vinegar." Both are deceiving scheme and the first parts, hanging up a goat head and he cries wine, are all done out in the open. And in each instance, two things are involved, goat head, dog meat; wine, vinegar.
I am still trying to figure out if "selling a pig in a poke" is close to a deceit. We know "buying a pig in a poke" isn't. Let's say you bought an old painting in a flea market without checking it out carefully and it turned out to be a Rembrandt . The seller wasn't cheating you, on the contray, he was the loser. What about if the pig in the poke you bought is a two-headed pig you could exhibit in a circus and make money with.
Selling a pig in a poke is selling an unknown package to people, the seller is not telling you what is inside, but that package may have some goodies in it.
How about Chinese "An ugly toad dreams of eating swan meat," an impossible and unrealistic dream?
BMO
bmo said:EX: The tour organizer cries wine and sells vinegar. The so-called five-star, modern, tourist hotel advertised in the colorful brochure turned out to be a shack in a back alley in Bangkok.
bmo said:Buying a pig in a poke - Check before you buy, or you don't know what you are getting.
The old-fashioned, arranged, marriages of the old Chinese custom could be full of surprises. It was buying a pig in a poke, the newlyweds could be in a real shock when they saw each other the first time at the wedding.
bmo said:Here is a story of a successful match-making. The man was hunchbacked, and the woman was hare-lipped. The matchmaker arranged a meeting where the man came riding on a horse galloping by, while the woman carried a flower covering her lips. Both like what they saw but were surprised at the wedding when the faults were uncovered. (Buying a pig in a poke?)
BMO
RonBee said:bmo said:EX: The tour organizer cries wine and sells vinegar. The so-called five-star, modern, tourist hotel advertised in the colorful brochure turned out to be a shack in a back alley in Bangkok.
I would say that is a good example of that idiom. (I don't think we have a comparable one in English unless it's bait and switch.)
(Say: "came riding by on a horse")
blacknomi said:bmo said:How about Chinese "An ugly toad dreams of eating swan meat," an impossible and unrealistic dream?
BMO
Indeed.
If an ugly toad can eat swan meat, that'll be a fresh flower stuck in feces. :?
RonBee said:(Say: "came riding by on a horse")