Can someone explain how the idiom "расшибись в лепешку"; which literally means: "you hurt yourself into a cookie" wind up meaning "you exert yourself to the fullest"
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Can someone explain how the idiom "расшибись в лепешку"; which literally means: "you hurt yourself into a cookie" wind up meaning "you exert yourself to the fullest"
Да и немного похоже на "stretch yourself thin".Quote:
Originally Posted by Siriusly
Imagine that you need to break through a brick wall and all you have is your body. What would happen to you if you "exerted yourself to the fullest"?
Okay, but give me more. How can human pain or exertion relate to pastry?
I worked so hard that I fell on the floor and laid there "as flat as a pancake"! or
Я работал так много что в конце концов я выглядел похож блин! :lol:
or "в конце концов выглядел как блин".Quote:
Originally Posted by Siriusly
We say in Russian a little bit different: "Я работал так много, что в конце концов был похож на выжатый лимон"Quote:
Originally Posted by Siriusly
Btw, my Lingvo says that "расшибиться в лепешку" means "to lay oneself out"
That definition - "you hurt yourself into a cookie" - is not literal. Literal - "you crash/flatten yourself into a cookie". So, it's not about pain, it's about shape.Quote:
Originally Posted by Siriusly
Advise: take this idiom as it is. Don't think too hard about how human pain can relate to pastry. There are hundreds of idioms both in English and Russian that seem to make no sense whatsoever when translated literally.Quote:
Originally Posted by Siriusly
Come to think of it, the translation of "лепёшка" in this definition is not literal either. The thing is, "лепёшка" does not necessarily refer to food. Again, it is shape that matters.Quote:
Originally Posted by Siriusly
One can "расшибиться в лепёшку" not metaphorically but literally - jumping out of the window if the building is high enough.
There is "коровья лепёшка" too.
по-моему немного old-fashioned эта лепешка, господа, вам не кажется?
что-то я не замечаю, чтобы так говорили. как думаете?
Americans call them "cow chips". And in some places they have "cow chip throwing" contests. Do they do this in Russia?Quote:
Originally Posted by E-learner
Какая именно? Если та, которая из выражения "расшибиться в лепешку", то так говорят. Я слышу.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paxan
Ближе всего, пожалуй, вот так: do it, or die trying.
The British call it a cow pat :wink:Quote:
Originally Posted by Siriusly
I don't think so. I reckon Оля is right that the idiom is still very much in use. I hear a lot of people say this idiom and also I myself use it pretty often.Quote:
по-моему немного old-fashioned эта лепешка, господа, вам не кажется?
что-то я не замечаю, чтобы так говорили. как думаете?
Never participated in or even heard of it. But I live neither in Russia (not so far away though) nor in the country.Quote:
Originally Posted by Siriusly