A gentle Guardian Christmas quiz is based on Adam Sharp’s new book The wheel Is spinning but the hamster Is dead (2023), which we should all Rush Out and Buy (for his nobler purpose, see here).

It’s a delightful parade of “idioms, proverbs, and general nonsense” * from around the world, engagingly grouped in the form of lists. As a taster, just a few idioms that float my boat:

An Irish proverb:

Never bolt your door with a boiled carrot.

A charming German alternative for OMG:

I think my hamster is waxing the floor!

A Polish expression for something that makes no sense:

This is a Czech movie. (Cf. the Czech definition of a Hungarian)

Among Turkish idioms for “once upon a time” (cf. wiki):

When camels were town criers and fleas were barbers.

Irish expression for laziness:

As idle as a piper’s little finger. (For Irish pipers, see under Women in early Irish music.)

Croatian metal band (cf. Croatian punk):

Teddy Bear Autopsy.

In Danish, when something is not your cup of tea:

It doesn’t hoe my potatoes (fallen out of fashion, to Sharp’s chagrin).

BTW, “the wheel is spinning but the hamster is dead” is Swedish— hjulet snurrar men hamstern är död.

Cf. Buttering parsnips, and (under Language learning: a roundup), A thingamabob about whatchamacallit.

* As you see, I can never resist adding the Oxford comma…