“Something fishy is going on”in other languages
Something suspicious is going on that you can't quite see yet.
English
French
Hindi
Malay
Swedish
EnglishFrenchHindiMalaySwedishSame idea, different pictures
Four of these five hide something out of sight: an eel under a rock in French, a shrimp behind a stone in Malay, owls in the bog in Swedish, and something black in the lentils in Hindi. English goes by smell instead: something fishy smells off.
The Malay version points at motives. If there's a shrimp behind the stone, someone being nice to you probably wants something.
More sayings in other languages
- Have a screw loose
- Break a leg
- Grin and bear it
- Have your cake and eat it
- It's all Greek to me
- Be a third wheel
- Have a bone to pick with someone
- A bottomless pit
- A day late and a dollar short