khmerhamster wrote: ↑Thu Sep 10, 2020 7:55 pm We are getting idioms confused with proverbs, and then there are colloquialism which are similar again.

Are 'dead funny' and 'dead boring' english idioms? Khmer has loads of those... I suspect they aren't idioms though.

Kadow jung ngoab... Hot want to die
Tonh jung ngoab... Bored want to die
Klein jung ngoab... Hungry want to die
Kompline jung ngoab... Funny want to die

What about 'eat money' ... 'see luoy' as is 'smart see luoy'

Yea some people are getting idioms confused with proverbs but when I see that in the research I just accept it because the two ideas are closely related in most people's heads. Its confusing to try and differentiate that too much and proverbs are still interesting to me so I don't mind. The following examples you gave me are actually really good examples of idioms. It's about the relation between the verb and noun and how the meaning is contingent on it. If you're interested in the theory of it the inspiration of my work is the dissertation written by Alec Marantz, in 1984 published in Linguistic Inquiry I believe.

There is a lot of correct Khmer which is similar to idioms.

I mentioned already, the translation of 'dizzy' means, my 'face is spinning.'

If someone says 'sok se,' it literally translates 'hair horse.' It refers to when someone cuts their hair with a fringe. That is, 'sok se' means fringe. So when you have a fringe, you have hair like a horse. But this is correct Khmer. It is not an idiom.

ឆ្លងទន្លេរ (crossing the river) .... You know what this means ?

At louy, at choi

kbal samreab phnek (kbal sumreb pnay) trans: a head for an eye. meaning: revenge. Whereas our eye for an eye is getting even. Or fight fire with fire (mind you, firefighters fight fire with water)
behdaung da l (baydoung dal ohr) not all noises are onomatopeic - we don't have a letter for the noise you make with your tongue pressed against your pallet whilst exhaling a grunt from the back of our throat, out through our nose. trans: good heart. meaning: sucker