IdiomDaily Life
Romanian
RomanianA freca menta
Meaning: To waste time; to loaf around doing nothing useful.
Literally: To rub the mint
Example: “În loc să învețe, freacă menta toată ziua.” — Instead of studying, he twiddles his thumbs all day.
English equivalent: To twiddle one's thumbs
Origin: "To rub the mint": to idle away time doing nothing useful. A popular explanation is shop boys or apprentices who rubbed mint leaves between their fingers to pass the time, but this is not documented.
Equivalents in other languages
Japanese: 油を売る (Abura ouru) Literally: To sell oil
Italian: Stare con le mani in mano Literally: To stand with your hands in your hand
Russian: Бить баклуши (Bit' baklushi) Literally: To beat the baklushi
Filipino: Nagbibilang ng poste Literally: Counting the posts
French: Bayer aux corneilles Literally: To gape at the crows
English: twiddle one's thumbs
More Romanian idioms
- A se uita ca pisica în calendar To stare blankly, understanding nothing.
- A tăia frunză la câini To do pointless work; to idle away the day.
- A o da în bară To mess up or fail.
- A face din țânțar armăsar To exaggerate something enormously.
- A tăcea ca porcul în păpușoi To keep guiltily quiet.
- A umbla cu cioara vopsită To try to deceive people with falsehoods.
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