Like in any culture, there are different sayings that can be used in different situations encountered in our daily lives. Probably all languages have equivalents of certain sayings that are used in similar situations in different cultures. This blog post sheds the light on some equivalents of English sayings in the Lebanese dialect in particular (not in classical Arabic).

Speak of the devil!

اذكر الديب وهيي القضيب

Strike while the iron is hot

دق الحديد وهو حامي

Two birds in one stone

عصفوران بحجر واحد

The spitting image

بازقو من تمو

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree

طب الجرة على تمها، بتطلع البنت لأمها

Look who’s talking

ليك مين عم يحكي

Now that you’ve mentioned it

سيرة وانفتحت

Talk of the town

حديث البلد

Add insult to injury

يزيد الطين بلّة

The ball is in your court

الطابة بملعبك

Beat around the bush

تلف وتدور

Caught between two stools

بين شاقوفين

Cross that bridge when you come to it

بس يجي الصبي بنصلي على النبي

Cry over spilt milk

ضيعان جدي وقت اللي مات (this is adapted in the opposite sense)

Cut corners

قبور بيّك والحقني

Devil’s advocate

محامي الشيطان

Let the cat out of the bag

بق البحصة

Make a long story short

من الآخر

Not a spark of decency

ما منجّر ولا قدوم

Once in a blue moon

مرّة بطيز الزمان

Your guess is as good as mine

علمي علمك

Contributions from fellow Lebanese translators are welcome! Please post them in the comments section