Idiom Building

[k1234567890y]

We already have a thread for building proverbs; however, despite of the similarities, proverbs are not idioms, and idioms are not proverbs, and I think we should also have a thread for building idioms, or euphemistic way to describe something unpleasant(e.g. death).

Rules:
a person provides an idiom from any natural language, and the next person makes an idiom in their conlang with the same meaning, then provide another idiom for others to build.

If the idiom provided is not an English one, it is recommanded to give a translation or explanation in English.

If you have problems coming up with an idiom, you can go to the wiktionary category for English idioms.

An example:

to kick the bucket

and I write:

A conlang project I do for others:

jen haa
to kick the bucket(literally "to travel afar")

First up:
To keep up with the Joneses

[Pedant]

First up:
To keep up with the Joneses

An excellent idea!

Salvian:

Svigdaitan okatvolūs
The phrase is a little difficult to parse. Literally, it would mean “to try and make your ladles improve compared to one another,” but the meaning behind it is a touch trickier. The Classical Salvians had a number of different dishes, but among them were (naturally) soups and stews, so of course ladles were in prime use. Naturally nearby clans and/or families would occasionally come by for dinner, and on those occasions one would bring out the better kitchenware, to try and demonstrate that you were giving them your best. The actual idiom here suggests that the process is futile; the use of the the ablative case instead of the illative case implies that the ladles are already perfectly normal, and don’t need any further adjustment——especially relative to someone else. A polite way of referring to mindless feuds.

Next up: make one’s bed and lie in it (create difficult consequences for oneself and be obliged to suffer accordingly)

[din]

Mêitioi sîpei ni madei o mîunon
/ˈməːitɕʊi ˈsɪipəi ni ˈmɛðəi ʊ ˈmʏʊnʊn/
break<PERF>-2s glass and walk<IPFV>-2s on shard-PL
Broke the glass and is walking on the shards

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next:

to give up the ghost