Word of the Day

Friday, July 2, 2010

Dar calabazas, dać arbuza

I've learned today that both Spanish and Polish, such dissimilar languages, use very similar expressions to state that someone has (been) rejected. In Spanish dar calabayas (to give pumpkins) means to be turned down by a possible lover and in Polish dać arbuza (to give a watermelon) means to reject a proposal of marriage (search arbuz). I've found an explanation for Spanish dar calabazas here and for the Polish expression here. I wonder if other languages use similar expressions. The closest I can think of is Portuguese (Brazilian only?) dar um bolo, (literally: to give someone cake) which means to stand somebody up, not to show up at a date, which involves a certain degree of rejection.

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