There is more to idioms than meets the eye
This new series of Radio Prague's language-teaching programme examines the Czech language from head to toe. Last time we looked at some idioms using the word head or hlava. We are not going to move any further today's because it's time to take a look at a very important organ located on the head - the eye - oko.
This new series of Radio Prague's language-teaching programme examines the Czech language from head to toe. Last time we looked at some idioms using the word head or hlava. We are not going to move any further today's because it's time to take a look at a very important organ located on the head - the eye - oko.
We say the eyes are the windows to the soul - oko do du¹e okno - because the eyes are supposed to reflect our inner feelings. Though it may be different in other cultures, in this region you are supposed to look people in the eye when talking to them - dívat se do oèí. If you want to speak to someone mezi ètyøma oèima - you are looking for a private talk where there will be only two pairs of eyes. If parents and children look very much alike, Czechs say - jako by rodièùm z oka vypadl - which, translated word for word means: as if he dropped out of his parents' eye - or - to use an English idiom - he's the spitting image of his parents. If you hear someone say - to mi padlo do oka - "it fell into my eye", it means that something has caught their eye, their attention, and if they are talking about a person, it means that they liked him or her at first sight. Everybody understands the saying "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", or oko za oko, zub za zub. There are other idioms, which work in the same way in both Czech and English, for example dìlat na nìkoho oèi - make eyes at someone, meaning to try and attract someone, to flirt. And if that works out the two will probably have eyes only for each other - mají oèi jenom pro sebe - at least for some time. If you own something precious which you cherish and keep safe, Czechs describe it with the idiom - støe¾it jako oko v hlavì - guard something like one's own eye in the head or cherish someone like the apple of one's eye. For women, the word oko can mean a very unpleasant thing - a ladder on a stocking. We hate to hear - Teèe ti oko na punèo¹e! Or your stocking is laddering. Jan, who has been keeping an eye on the clock, is winking at me now that it's time to say good-bye. So until next time - na shledanou.
