Tong kosong nyaring bunyinya
Meaning: Those who know the least often talk the most.
Language: Indonesian
Literally: An empty barrel sounds the loudest
Category: Daily Life
Origin: An empty drum booms while a full one is quiet — the Indonesian measure of loud talk against little substance.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Besar pasak daripada tiang — To spend more than you earn.
- Buah tangan — A souvenir or gift brought back for others from a trip.
- Filer à l'anglaise — To leave discreetly without saying goodbye.
- Se mettre sur son trente-et-un — To dress up in your very best clothes.
- Tomber dans le panneau — To fall for a trick or scam.
- Faire la grasse matinée — To sleep in and have a lazy lie-in.
More Indonesian idioms
- Sambil menyelam minum air — To accomplish two things in one go.
- Air tenang menghanyutkan — Quiet people can run surprisingly deep.
From our tongue twisters
- Ехал Грека через реку, видит Грека — в реке рак. (Yekhal Greka cherez reku, vidit Greka — v reke rak.) — A rolling 'r/k' drill where Greka, reku and rak keep trading the same two consonants.
- От топота копыт пыль по полю летит. (Ot topota kopyt pyl po polyu letit.) — A 'p/t' hammering that imitates the hoofbeats it describes.
- Четыре чёрненьких чумазеньких чертёнка чертили чёрными чернилами чертёж. (Chetyre chyornenkikh chumazenkikh chertyonka chertili chyornymi chernilami chertyozh.) — Seven consecutive words built on 'ch' — Russian's ч in every stressed position with barel…