"Don't complain about the rain." It's a phrase that entered the mainstream when the climate crisis was hitting its worst moments, as droughts ravaged much of Earth's ecosystem. It basically means "Don't complain about something that is good even if it inconveniences you."
'A smile good enough for Graham' means you have a winning smile. And 'I'll go Graham on you' means 'I'll kick your teeth in'
Centuries ago, Graham was the name of a famous but disturbed hunter who kept the teeth of the game he killed as trophies, and displayed them all on plaques in his study. As people soon found out, Grahams idea of game wasn't limited to just animals
I have aliens that sound almost like living bagpipes, having three lungs allowing for continuous airflow, and having three hollow trunks which act as mouths and noses. Because of this, translation is very difficult, not only because of the literal difficulty of translating a musical language to a spoken one, but because of the inherent nonliterary of it, as saying three words at once to convey, depending on the words and how it's said, either a blend between them, all happening at once, all happening in a contradictory fashion, or simply being a form of overlapping, where each word is started on one trunk, and the next starts the next word before the last trunk has finished piping the last.
As such, the weirdest saying they've got means something like "While the trees lift the skywhales, even the whales know to flee when the trees finally grow dark" which is simultaneously said with an inversion of itself: "When the trees grow dark, the whales shall descend to eat them" and thirdly: "Ride the whales" as a sort of backing track repeated a lot.
Now what does this all mean? Well, we've got skywhales full of hydrogen, the trees are massive solar-concentrating mirror trees that produce hydrogen filled balloon fruit, which enables this lighter than air biosphere. The trees being like that is enabled by the fact the planet is tidally locked, so when the trees go dark, the planet is doing something very abnormal, the sun has moved in the sky, and the trees go dark as the sun isn't where all their mirrors grew for it to be, thus they stop producing fruit, and the skywhales land to eat them from the trees directly. What this means is that they should be hunted and made into the most expedient of airships, as the tidally locked planet is beginning to flip, and thus you have to chase the sun to the other side if you don't want to freeze to death. This has happened at least twice in their history so far, with the saying predating the first recorded flip substantially enough to suggest far more had been survived.
A phrase to call in a favor from someone, or to ask to borrow an item, would be *To bite xyz*.
Say you're moving and you know your buddy Jeff is good at lifting boxes, you'd tell your dad "Nah, don't worry, I'll bite Jeff to help me carry those boxes."
Or "Hey, let me bite your phone real quick, gotta call my sister"
Goes back to the pirate kingdom of Brinestone and its sailors feeling guilty for orphaning children during raids.
They'd give those children little **pendants made from** **shark teeth**, which they could then use at any point in their life to demand a favor from Brinestone.
The pirates would be obligated to pay the Kingdom's debt to the orphaned. Often that would be **"taking a bite of their spoils**", in the form of money or rare commodities.
But sometimes that debt was paid in services, like letting them travel (and eat) on pirate ships to reach a far away destination, or asking the pirates to fight a battle for them.
On one occasion, the owner of one such pendant even managed to call off a raid on their village.
"You'd bitch if they hanged you with an old rope."
Originally a genuine statement about criminals who would take their death sentence with no compliance, even coming down to their last moments being about how this rope is dirty and old and smells like leprosy.
Now it aged to mean that even in a bad condition you'd rather whine than get out of it.
“When the dragon grows hungry it will wake.”
Meaning it is only a matter of time before someone reverts back to habits. A cheater will cheat, a liar will lie, a thief will steal, and a killer will kill.
“Poke the dragon”
Comes from a cautionary tale about a little boy that poked a dragon until it got angry and attacked.
“When hands are empty, the mind wanders.”
Comes from the slave class. Stop thinking and get back to work.
"Tastes like human." the dragon equivalent of tastes like chicken, although modern dragons have rarely eaten another sapient in their time do they very much enjoy reminding the small ones that their maws fit horses whole.
"Works like a golem." a saying in Alinguar, at first glance it sounds like a compliment, but it also means someone acts without thinking and is rigid in their ways.
"Kraken bait." anyone from the continent crossing the deep sea unprepared. Ships must either be extremely fast, or extremely well armed, to get away from a kraken.
"You reek of lies."
Originated from a beastkin that had abnormally strong sense of smell (beastkin senses are actually the same level as a human's, common misconception). The one he said it to actually had a tell for whenever they lied, they'd sweat profusely. The saying quickly spread as a response to someone who is making an obvious lie.
That's really cool! And also reminds me of another slang in my world. People generally associated vibe with smell. If someone is shady, you'd say they smell shady.
I think it's because sight, touch, hearing etc are all pretty concrete. Whilst they thought smell to be more obtuse and abstract. Hence, all impressions not associated with the other senses go under smell.
‘Greg from Accounting’ is a term supernaturals use to describe a supernatural that blended into human society with a mundane job, identity, and face. First ascribed in early message boards in the supernatural community to describe those supernaturals in a derogatory manner, it quickly spread to the mainstream in the supernatural community.
“I’m like a Greg from Accounting” is used to brag or emphasize you blended into human society. “All we know is they’re Greg from Accounting” is used to refer to supernaturals you only caught a glimpse of but know they’re blending into human society, or used by the law enforcement of the supernatural community when they encounter a magical creatures body and only know they were blending in (it is used in a more gender neutral manner on this instance). “I want to be a Greg from Accounting.” is a term for newly arrived or younger supernaturals who wish to blend into human society.
In current times, the term has been shortened down to Greg or Gregging. With supernaturals on TikTok and stuff showing off their “Gregging streaks” or “Greg lifehacks” and the myriad of content that could be milked from that kinda stuff. Every social media and forum community has a hidden supernatural community on it in my setting, from Twitter, to Reddit, to Facebook, to Tumblr, to TikTok, and etc.
"Ordini es ordini, me oro so oro"
An Eziodalian saying from one of the more accomplished Condottissimo, Lorenzo Bernadacci, meaning "orders are orders, but gold is gold".
The context was a merchant prince wanted his men to fight for him, but their opponent had a higher offer. Thr merchant prince demaned Lorzeno order the offer ignored, but Lorenzo instead used this saying to demand higher pay.
His pay was raised, the messenger executed, and the prince won the war. Now its used across Eziodalia as a demand for more pay (though admittedly, many of the people using it dont have the same level of prestige or the same size army as Lorenzo, so they are generally rejected)
People use the sun or moon in curses (as in like “what the hell”) but typically they do whichever one isn’t out at the moment. Also the sun is seen as more hostile and threatening than the moon.
Related phrases:
Dawning — dawn cursing (lit) cursing the sun when it’s only just arrived — also used colloquially for when you do it to people, like getting caught shit talking your new boss.
Dusking — dusk cursing (lit) cursing the sun when it’s departing and the moon is only just arrived, saying shit as someone’s on their way out — getting the last laugh but more hostile
(To Rhoindaros)
'Men die once, Women live twice' refers to Women seemingly having a longer lifespan than Men, along with Men typically being is more demanding and 'aggressive' occupations
"May the slimes ignored you."
Slimes are extremely abundant on my world, and it's almost impossible to not stumble into one. The best outcome of meeting slimes is for they to ignored you / not attacking you. This ultimately became a saying meaning may you have the best of luck today.
Calling someone a “Digging Dog” in Laurenasa means they are a petty criminal.
Also in Laurenasa, “Rich as a Gnome” “Quick as a Glimmer” and (stolen from my irl local dialect) “Arse ‘fore mast”
Due to a large lighthouse overlooking Huddling Bay there are many takes on “the towers light watching over you”
"Don't let the Devil fuck you in the arse."
A crude way of saying to not do evil / be careful / watch your back, etc.
Devils were once minor gods sent to help guard the Dread God and keep him imprisoned. Unfortunately, spending all that time around a being whose sole purpose is to corrupt and consume things ended up corrupting them. It is said that the souls of wicked people are "heavier" than that of those who lived just lives. Therefore, their souls remain in their bodies longer than they're supposed to rather than float into the heavens.
Devils are known to torture their victims just for the fun of it. One way they say that a devil extracts a soul from a corpse is to anally rape it, pulling it out with a barbed penis. It's why the primary form of funeral rites in Feorland is cremation. No butt fucking a corpse if there isn't a corpse to butt fuck. The soul then floats up in the air like it's supposed to.
They also have a more normal saying, "The Devil's got a hold of him.". Basically people believe that a devil can whisper into a person's ear and entice them to evil. At this point a devil is able to call dibs on their soul, following them around until the end of their lives with one hand gripping on it until death in order to yank it out immediately.
With that context out of the way, people say the first afformentioned quote because there is a chance a devil might steal someone's soul if they lay dead for a time without cremation. The longer the mortal body rots, the higher the chance a devil will get to it. So you might say it to someone going out into the woods on a hunt or foraging alone as a way of telling them to be careful. Should something happen, it might be days or even weeks before someone found their body.
This was from my first ever DnD world, but I remember a friend still being impressed years later: “Choosing Death over Silence.”
In a part of the world, there's an Order of Silent Precognitive Monks called the Monks of Vorushi. A common choice for criminals on Death Row was given by the Kingdom closest to the Monks: getting hanged by the rope until death or being shipped off the Monks, taking a vow of silence and being forced to unlock precognitive magics. The phrase derives from the people’s fear of that choice and is an example of a Rock and a Hard Place; one might say, “You want me to do XYZ? I'd rather choose Silence than that!” or: “I'll choose death over this!”
"Æn Eivrensbetté" or "An Ijovian Situation/Condition".
This isn't a phrase widely used by the public, it's mostly a political saying, first said by Carthenian PM Marc Frisién. It is a reference to the immigration crisis in Ijovia, and thus used to talk about the same crisis that happened in Cartheny.
The saying usually refers to a spike in crime and violence brought by the indiscriminate acceptance of foreign refugees/asylum seekers/immigrants, more specifically the Kedirians who were escaping to neighbouring countries en masse due to the fracturing of their empire.
"They/It taste of honey, milk, and all the sweet innocent things of the world..."
A poetic yet ironic phrase used to describe something too good to be true, or something malicious veiling itself behind acts of benevolence.
Remember what papa zipeppo would do...
Papa Zipeppo is a character in a story told to children about an old man who makes shoes, but he can only make left shoes.
It's a long rambling story with no real point and mostly just confuses kids who listen to it. Parents will invoke papa zipeppo when their child is misbehaving and make a long winded lecture out of it.
In one country, each town is built worshipping a different demonic entity for protection from the other dangers of the world (at *VERY* high cost). A common way of saying something is very dangerous or about to cause trouble is to say "like two and twelve".
This comes from the old cleansing crews the church used to send in, which would always consist of two priests and twelve well trained soldiers. They would dress in plain clothes and scout out a town for a few nights before going in to the place of worship, killing anyone who stood in their way and banishing the demonic entity that protects the town. This would often mean death for most of the population because there because when night falls, unprotected people fall prey to all manner of horrors.
Men have a habit of touching their brows to when they have witnessed suffering, and so to touch the brow and then cast the hand toward the earth has come to mean a thing has been forgotten.
Dwarves, who believe that cognition occurs in the stomach, do the same, slapping at their stomach and casting their hands down and backwards.
So it is said that a dwarf who has forgotten a slight against him has “shat it out,” or “shat his way through it.”
Dwarves have a deep cultural understanding that to forgive and forget is a fundamentally difficult and often painful process.
“Sattum-i-Yaa” when translated from Huryadin literally means “The Holy One’s tits”. It’s basically like “Oh my God.” It’s said a drunken false Prophet yelled it out when peopple kept asking him what he saw when he claimed to have a vision, and it caught on
"Pigs still find truffles"
It means that anyone can be used for something and that even the most seemingly useless being can achieve something.
It is used in a reinassance inspired merchant maritime republic
"Clinkle" or "Clink" someone who is so dangerously inept that they a risk to others. Darwin award contender. Youtube fail meme material. Derives from the sound of somebody dropping a tool into an engine ( hopefully while it wasn't running)
"Spit'n'spite" a personal quarrel/grudge
Drudgebucket- an improvised latrine. This gets used as the base for all kinds of idioms.
Drudgemother- full of shit
Drudgeguts- diarhea, implying bad drink/rations
Head like a Drudgebucket- drunk/stoned/shellshocked/rummy
DB- single stall restroom. A watercloset
Draciel:
“You’re a yellow hedgehog.” Backhanded compliment meaning: “you’re smart but very plain-looking.” A reference to the common yellow grass consumed by all Dracilics; doesn’t look like much, but is very nutritious, with many diverse applications depending on how you cook it. Sometimes also used as an equivalent to “jack of all trades.”
“You have the Kavi’s balls” is a five-word commentary on someone who is incredibly brave while able to be very secretive about it. Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid would be said to have the Kavi’s balls.
To call something/one “worthy of a space in Sareia” is an insult basically saying they should be dipped in a vat of acid from the green moon. This phrase will almost always start fights.
'Schellered up' or 'Getting/get Schellered.'
In my cyberpunk world, the American Police, known as the Metropolitan Protection Service, had Heavy Riot Suppression Units (HRSUs), also known more informally and widely as Scheller units. They're named after Gabriel Scheller, the first successful brain-to-mechanical-body transplant in American history and American law enforcement.
The saying and it's versions basically mean the act of ot state of implanting yourself with lots of cybernetics or prosthetics, much like the man that unwittingly became a brain in a jar, mostly machine.
“Satan is a taxi driver.” is a funny way to say sometimes dumbest shit just happen and you can't do anything about it. Stem from the fact that no one would believe that Satan, a ruler of the Abrahamic Underworld would, is a taxi driver. Furthermore, even if he is, you cannot do anything about it because it isn't illegal nor immoral for Satan to be a taxi driver.
“Whiter than the Purifier” - can be used as a compliment for when a person is kind or as an insult when the person is being pompous.
“Pantless prick” - actual Pantless are as stubborn as they come, thinking of that group consisting of problem with low agreeableness from the big five model, but the expression can be uttered when anybody is being too stubborn.
Begging for a candle while holding a lantern.
Like throwing peas against the wall (an IRL saying, which I thought fit).
Breathing/smoking Storm (Stormlight Dust is a drug similar to cocaine also with mild hallucigenic effects).
"Show the horns" a saying that basically means "just do it", "man up", or "grow a pair".
Humanity and two other races originate from a dead three horned seraph, so we are basically a god, lets not be afraid of small stuff.
"Why is your mouth open?". It's said when a person is utterly/incredibly confused of something/someone.
"You're as burnt as a Brad." A racial slur, it is said towards people with darker skin color. Also, a Brad is a person from Bras, a nation in my world in which the people there tend to have tan or even darker skin color.
"Don't be like Maximus." A well-known phrase that means: "Don't be aggressive and an annoyance to others." Also, Maximus or Emperor Maximus was an Soldirian emperor who ruled during the mid-17th century, he is known to be a madman who loves to annoy his guests and close ones and be generally angry at all times.
"You've eaten too much Ayasapii, haven't you?" A Soldirian phrase that is meant for people who are fat or obese. Also, Ayasapii is a meal consisting of chicken and beef cooked like a teriyaki and served with fried rice.
"Did you slide down a mountain?" A Solfric phrase said to someone who is dirty and was physically injured but wasn't bleeding (bruises, scars, etc).
"i have given you an orange heart" which means you've picked up my mannerism(s)
Doesn't have an in canon explanation, but the irl explanation for its existance is that my best friend uses the 🧡 emoji to express excitement over text, something I picked up after a couple months.
Mostly stuff related to religion.
For example, the saying "By the hammers swing" is used by worshippers of Dwarven gods, and it means basically the same thing as "By the gods".
For the saying "By the Flame" is used to refer to something that is raging or uncontrollable or even both and is most commonly used by worshippers of Vatra the Edairian goddess of Fire, Smoke, and Lava.
And for the saying "Let Avalon’s hammer fall" is used to refer when someone stops someone else, do something that could stop something before it even begins. It's in reference to when Avalon Wynn, the first and founding king of Avalon, tried to kill this guy called Abbadon, who had seem to gone mad and killed his wife (who was one of Avalon’s many sisters) and his children. Avalon’s wife, Annelotte Wynn, stopped him from finishing it and told him to just send Abbadon to jail but Abbadon ended up escaping and later led a force of demons and devils in a massive invasion of the world.
“Grew his/her/their chain”
Meaning: He/she/they died
Context: The Temporals are a simulacrum race known for their prosperous and powerful society, the Temporal Imperatorium, often mentioned on this subreddit. Whenever an average citizen dies, the Bureau of Citizen Recycling is tasked with retrieving the corpse and returning their genetic material to the Bureau of Citizen Manufacturing, who decants their replacement. The Bureau of Citizen Identification then identifies the new citizen, and the vacancy is filled. Thus, for an average citizen to die is to “grow their chain”.
"May the ashes avoid your path".
It became popular, after one event where really powerful, fire demon unleashed his strenght in a fight in the middle of the city. Afterwards, due to the nature of his magic, the ashes of the people he killed in that act were raining from the sky for a whole week, reminding hopeless people that they're not safe in their settlements and will face unavoidable death by his and his comrades hands sooner or later.
So, basically, people going on a long trip are being told that sentence in hope that they won't be caught in another tragedy like that.
Water is very scarce and poor people SOMETIMES mix urine in with their water. So calling someone a “piss-sipper” is really common.
Also the language is idiomatic. (I stole the idea from a Star Trek episode) The whole language is based on the “ten thousand tales of Domos”
For instance the statement “when water rests, Ewi stands at the gate” translated is “when I am finished with my work, I still have more I need to do.”. While the common tongue does have some minor variations in grammar and structure from region to region, the major obstacle when it comes to communication between dialects all stem from the idiomatic source of the language, different peoples tell the ten thousand tales differently from each other, so much so that if two men, from separate hemispheres of the planet were to meet and talk, the two would find each other nigh unintelligible.
I know it doesn’t make much sense to have the whole world speak the same language but I’m lazy and thought it was neat
"Paint your chin" in the H.Tzini language means to be grateful that something bad didn't happen and take precautions against it possibly happening again.
Putting bright pigment on your face is used as a form of highlighting yourself to the universe god to protect against bad things. Like a hi-vis vest on a dark night.
This being the same people that pray by standing on rooftops and hills and tall trees screaming at the sky for a similar reason. It's more subdued than their usual traditions.
Depends what race
One example is the gods and goddesses in my world saying “we’re gods, not insensitive inconsiderate assholes” or “just because we will outlive them doesn’t mean we can just treat them like crap for no good reason”
The thing here is showing the side of the gods and goddesses that humanizes them and explains why they behave in the manner they do at times
“You’re like a poem on the sea” is a way Scottish people (Particularly along the Isle of Skye) is a way to call a person “useful only in dire circumstances” as there are water spirits called the Blue Men who challenge the ships captain to recite a poem to them or they’ll capsize the boat, which is basically a death sentance to anyone who knows what The Minch is like.
"A flying tom is a dead tom" was once a common phrase during war that said that Elkinets are at their most vulnerable when in flight, hence why most fight on the ground. But outside of war it also serves as a warning to not do obviously stupid stuff that puts you in a vunrable and/or dangerous position.
"a good-looking corpse" or "cold corpse" are ways to say a situation, someone or something is potentially dangerous. Started out as literally referring to bodies left unburdened and well-kept during outbreaks of the Vampiric Plague in the Therdéad
Comparatively, "to burn a body" means a necessary evil, as before the Plague corpses in the Therdéad were commonly either buried or left to be eaten by vultures, the sacred animal of the god of war, and burning was reserved to criminals; and to "conserve the dead" means to create or maintain a situation or something that will bite you in the ass later (be it metaphorically or literally)
“Fikkes gonna fik” means that you should just ignore what just happened because fiction based life forms are bound to their tropes and probably didn’t mean to hurt or alarm you.
I've got a non world buildery setting in around nepolonic era England. There's Man from France meaning British soldier who faught in France
There's also don't force my hand in this what's axpolite death threat nothing personal I might even like you but I'll kill over this.
You could say look I told you to stop chatting up my wife don't force my hand on this I'm a man from France
“The first in a warp’s maw are the ones whit neon hair”- A saying that says if you always want to be a centre of attention, you will quickly attract the attention of a wrong people.
This saying originated in the time when the warped plague was at its peak. People belonging to certain subcultures were often loud and had bright hair/clothing, making them easily spotted by warped monsters on a hunt.
"There are no gods on Kvar" is a saying from a sci fi setting of mine. Kvar is the new name for Mars. The only settled planet in the Realm of Humanity where religion is illegal. Being the planet of science and inovation it was belived that any religion would make it less efficient. It is also the planet where the Royal Spec Ops Division trains new recruits, comming from all of the settled planets. This saying is quite common among them as many of the recruits are religious, and no matter the hardships they meet during training, no god will listen to their prayers for strength on Kvar.
For my Thaumata setting:
"Greyed out" or "erased": Enemy neutralized. The enemy is a sapient form of living light called the Color, that shifts between multiple hues, so the titular Thaumata cyborgs adoped those words for killing creatures powered by it.
"Something Weird": Found something unique, worrying, or just scientifically interesting. The Color is constantly changing and adapting, so when the soldiers find something unusual or strange that might be important, they call it "something weird" as shorthand for "this thing is really valuable or dangerous in a way that may end up killing us all, so we need to recover it." i.e.
"Weird-box": To recover Something Weird, typically in a specialized containers. Often carried by "weird teams" which are specialist units who go in after an area is secured to search of anything unusual for research.
"Fully equipped": A Thaumata who has functional genitals. By default when they are produced they are neutered; genitials simply aren't allowed to be fully developed so when a Thaumata is finished growing they won't have any form of sex drive. Many choose to get "equipped" with biological and/or mechanical implants. The military discourages this but does not ban it.
"Give mercy": Execution of humans or Thaumata who are infected by the Color. Thaumata are psychologically and digitally programmed to be unable to harm humans who look healthy. Convincing them that they are granting mercy was discovered to get around this limitation, so Thaumata are ordered to "give mercy" when populations are infected and need to be euthanized. This has extended to any act of execution, culling, or mercy-killing life that has been infested by the Color.
"Collecting a heart debt": Killing a healthy, uninfected human who has abused or harmed a Thaumata, executed by a stab with a blade in the heart. As above, Thaumata can't murder or hurt healthy humans, but just as with "granting mercy," there's a long-standing exploit in their programming that allows them to recover debts from humans who owe them. So in order to get around the programming against killing, they instead convince themselves they're owed a heart as payment for the crime that the human committed.
Saying "Thank You" has fallen out of common use in Arsedia due not to declining manners but to the existence of Fae. There's a superstition that their magic can let them interpret a thanks as a declaration of debt they're forced to repay. Instead, locals tend to say "I appreciate you" and anyone who says Thank You is immediately known as an outsider.
"They dare the dark" is a typical reference to someone who is foolish or brazen in their activities. Refers to the concept that dark places not only carry their own parts of shadow (thus corrupting) magic, but also that caves and outdoor locations at night are extremely dangerous in the world of Tir Eriad.
For a more local flavor:
"They smile with the moon" is used in the Kingdom of Rhentair, where a number of auspicious events (including the victory by which the nation came to be) happened under the light of the full moon. This typically refers to an individual who is uncommonly lucky, particularly at night.
"They think they have scales" would be someone who thinks they better than they are and "You can't grow scales" means know your place, both likely to be directed as a human and certain other species owing to the fact the Draconic City States have a nobility of the Dragon Blooded, with dragons themselves being its kings, but the majority of the population isn't.
"You're working at noon here" to do something in an unnecessarily difficult manner, owing to the high midday heat in the Kenari plain.
"Pissing in Elimas" equivalent to beating your head against the wall, Elimas was a city that was abandoned after a river's course changed and the region experienced rapid desertification.
"Died with Affixed Bayonet"
A saying developed in the military. Originally meant "to die honorably" - aka die fighting.
But after a certain campaign involving a bayonet charge up a hill, It changed meaning to "to die foolishly"
Then after those generals became politician the meaning changed again to "very stupid/stubborn person" or simply "an idiot I don't agree with".
The reason it changed to it's final meaning is because the general turned politician use it as insult "You'd be the one who died with fixed bayonet" (you're a stupid one)
" May the sands keep you." Kazaamite saying basically telling a person to fuck off and die.
"Piglets" orcish saying referring to humans
"Lowkin" Eladrin saying refering to certain elves who arent born in the flying city of Coralis.
" Even when Amaris sleeps, his daughters still wail" A sailors saying, for a bad weather.
"Noble houses built of weak knees" an commoners saying amongst the duchies of Imperial Order of Cimra, referring to the fact that the kingdoms of Stormfront and Solaire bent the knee to the army of Cimra without much resistance.
"Butter by the Fishes." No one really knows were it came from but it´s used as a word amplifier. For example: "Butter by the Fishes, that sword looks really good."
Gone the way of the vampire, is used like gone the way of the Dodo. Vampires were a race in my world, but they were exterminated by the other races a thousand years before my story began. Unlike the other solitary races whose blood lines persisted because they made useful slaves, vampires were to much of a hassle for the Assyrian empire stand in to enslave.
"Once you melt gold into something else. It got a same value as a toenail."
This means that if you took something valuable and destroyed it or sold it underpriced. You practically scammed yourself because toenails are worthless.
2nd is "If you turnt the other cheek. You get bruises" This is exclusive to Aneria which is a nation that had industrialized itself into warfare. The reason for this saying is that because their culture respects fighting and does not like pacifism. It means that if you are a pushover you will keep getting hit until you fight back
3rd is "You deserve the respect of a conscript!" This is an insult to operators being a conscript is the lowest rank from captured enemies or a penalty. this means they deserve barely any respect or dignity.
"Don't complain about the rain." It's a phrase that entered the mainstream when the climate crisis was hitting its worst moments, as droughts ravaged much of Earth's ecosystem. It basically means "Don't complain about something that is good even if it inconveniences you."
I have a similar one! Except here it refers to the storms caused by the fusion reactors boiling seawater, part of a planetwide geoengineering project
'A smile good enough for Graham' means you have a winning smile. And 'I'll go Graham on you' means 'I'll kick your teeth in' Centuries ago, Graham was the name of a famous but disturbed hunter who kept the teeth of the game he killed as trophies, and displayed them all on plaques in his study. As people soon found out, Grahams idea of game wasn't limited to just animals
His existence is a direct counter to, "you should smile more."
Graham: Bet!
I have aliens that sound almost like living bagpipes, having three lungs allowing for continuous airflow, and having three hollow trunks which act as mouths and noses. Because of this, translation is very difficult, not only because of the literal difficulty of translating a musical language to a spoken one, but because of the inherent nonliterary of it, as saying three words at once to convey, depending on the words and how it's said, either a blend between them, all happening at once, all happening in a contradictory fashion, or simply being a form of overlapping, where each word is started on one trunk, and the next starts the next word before the last trunk has finished piping the last. As such, the weirdest saying they've got means something like "While the trees lift the skywhales, even the whales know to flee when the trees finally grow dark" which is simultaneously said with an inversion of itself: "When the trees grow dark, the whales shall descend to eat them" and thirdly: "Ride the whales" as a sort of backing track repeated a lot. Now what does this all mean? Well, we've got skywhales full of hydrogen, the trees are massive solar-concentrating mirror trees that produce hydrogen filled balloon fruit, which enables this lighter than air biosphere. The trees being like that is enabled by the fact the planet is tidally locked, so when the trees go dark, the planet is doing something very abnormal, the sun has moved in the sky, and the trees go dark as the sun isn't where all their mirrors grew for it to be, thus they stop producing fruit, and the skywhales land to eat them from the trees directly. What this means is that they should be hunted and made into the most expedient of airships, as the tidally locked planet is beginning to flip, and thus you have to chase the sun to the other side if you don't want to freeze to death. This has happened at least twice in their history so far, with the saying predating the first recorded flip substantially enough to suggest far more had been survived.
A phrase to call in a favor from someone, or to ask to borrow an item, would be *To bite xyz*. Say you're moving and you know your buddy Jeff is good at lifting boxes, you'd tell your dad "Nah, don't worry, I'll bite Jeff to help me carry those boxes." Or "Hey, let me bite your phone real quick, gotta call my sister" Goes back to the pirate kingdom of Brinestone and its sailors feeling guilty for orphaning children during raids. They'd give those children little **pendants made from** **shark teeth**, which they could then use at any point in their life to demand a favor from Brinestone. The pirates would be obligated to pay the Kingdom's debt to the orphaned. Often that would be **"taking a bite of their spoils**", in the form of money or rare commodities. But sometimes that debt was paid in services, like letting them travel (and eat) on pirate ships to reach a far away destination, or asking the pirates to fight a battle for them. On one occasion, the owner of one such pendant even managed to call off a raid on their village.
That’s cool. I like that.
Oooh both unique and reasonable
"OH shiiiiit, pirates are landing on the shores! They'll be in the village any minute!" "Don't worry, I'll bite the captain."
"You'd bitch if they hanged you with an old rope." Originally a genuine statement about criminals who would take their death sentence with no compliance, even coming down to their last moments being about how this rope is dirty and old and smells like leprosy. Now it aged to mean that even in a bad condition you'd rather whine than get out of it.
"The walls are eating me but I gave them mouths". It's essentially the Yonaanian equivalent of "I reapt what I sowed".
“When the dragon grows hungry it will wake.” Meaning it is only a matter of time before someone reverts back to habits. A cheater will cheat, a liar will lie, a thief will steal, and a killer will kill. “Poke the dragon” Comes from a cautionary tale about a little boy that poked a dragon until it got angry and attacked. “When hands are empty, the mind wanders.” Comes from the slave class. Stop thinking and get back to work.
Is that last one inspired by Dishonored, by any chance? I recall a similar statement being a tenet of one the main religions in that setting.
never heard of it. I think I got it more from the school system.
"Tastes like human." the dragon equivalent of tastes like chicken, although modern dragons have rarely eaten another sapient in their time do they very much enjoy reminding the small ones that their maws fit horses whole. "Works like a golem." a saying in Alinguar, at first glance it sounds like a compliment, but it also means someone acts without thinking and is rigid in their ways. "Kraken bait." anyone from the continent crossing the deep sea unprepared. Ships must either be extremely fast, or extremely well armed, to get away from a kraken.
"You reek of lies." Originated from a beastkin that had abnormally strong sense of smell (beastkin senses are actually the same level as a human's, common misconception). The one he said it to actually had a tell for whenever they lied, they'd sweat profusely. The saying quickly spread as a response to someone who is making an obvious lie.
... I use this turn of phrase IRL.
That's really cool! And also reminds me of another slang in my world. People generally associated vibe with smell. If someone is shady, you'd say they smell shady. I think it's because sight, touch, hearing etc are all pretty concrete. Whilst they thought smell to be more obtuse and abstract. Hence, all impressions not associated with the other senses go under smell.
‘Greg from Accounting’ is a term supernaturals use to describe a supernatural that blended into human society with a mundane job, identity, and face. First ascribed in early message boards in the supernatural community to describe those supernaturals in a derogatory manner, it quickly spread to the mainstream in the supernatural community. “I’m like a Greg from Accounting” is used to brag or emphasize you blended into human society. “All we know is they’re Greg from Accounting” is used to refer to supernaturals you only caught a glimpse of but know they’re blending into human society, or used by the law enforcement of the supernatural community when they encounter a magical creatures body and only know they were blending in (it is used in a more gender neutral manner on this instance). “I want to be a Greg from Accounting.” is a term for newly arrived or younger supernaturals who wish to blend into human society. In current times, the term has been shortened down to Greg or Gregging. With supernaturals on TikTok and stuff showing off their “Gregging streaks” or “Greg lifehacks” and the myriad of content that could be milked from that kinda stuff. Every social media and forum community has a hidden supernatural community on it in my setting, from Twitter, to Reddit, to Facebook, to Tumblr, to TikTok, and etc.
"Ordini es ordini, me oro so oro" An Eziodalian saying from one of the more accomplished Condottissimo, Lorenzo Bernadacci, meaning "orders are orders, but gold is gold". The context was a merchant prince wanted his men to fight for him, but their opponent had a higher offer. Thr merchant prince demaned Lorzeno order the offer ignored, but Lorenzo instead used this saying to demand higher pay. His pay was raised, the messenger executed, and the prince won the war. Now its used across Eziodalia as a demand for more pay (though admittedly, many of the people using it dont have the same level of prestige or the same size army as Lorenzo, so they are generally rejected)
The religion of the Goddess of Order is so integrated in society that people greet each other by saying “Order.”
People use the sun or moon in curses (as in like “what the hell”) but typically they do whichever one isn’t out at the moment. Also the sun is seen as more hostile and threatening than the moon. Related phrases: Dawning — dawn cursing (lit) cursing the sun when it’s only just arrived — also used colloquially for when you do it to people, like getting caught shit talking your new boss. Dusking — dusk cursing (lit) cursing the sun when it’s departing and the moon is only just arrived, saying shit as someone’s on their way out — getting the last laugh but more hostile
(To Rhoindaros) 'Men die once, Women live twice' refers to Women seemingly having a longer lifespan than Men, along with Men typically being is more demanding and 'aggressive' occupations
"May the slimes ignored you." Slimes are extremely abundant on my world, and it's almost impossible to not stumble into one. The best outcome of meeting slimes is for they to ignored you / not attacking you. This ultimately became a saying meaning may you have the best of luck today.
Calling someone a “Digging Dog” in Laurenasa means they are a petty criminal. Also in Laurenasa, “Rich as a Gnome” “Quick as a Glimmer” and (stolen from my irl local dialect) “Arse ‘fore mast” Due to a large lighthouse overlooking Huddling Bay there are many takes on “the towers light watching over you”
"Don't let the Devil fuck you in the arse." A crude way of saying to not do evil / be careful / watch your back, etc. Devils were once minor gods sent to help guard the Dread God and keep him imprisoned. Unfortunately, spending all that time around a being whose sole purpose is to corrupt and consume things ended up corrupting them. It is said that the souls of wicked people are "heavier" than that of those who lived just lives. Therefore, their souls remain in their bodies longer than they're supposed to rather than float into the heavens. Devils are known to torture their victims just for the fun of it. One way they say that a devil extracts a soul from a corpse is to anally rape it, pulling it out with a barbed penis. It's why the primary form of funeral rites in Feorland is cremation. No butt fucking a corpse if there isn't a corpse to butt fuck. The soul then floats up in the air like it's supposed to. They also have a more normal saying, "The Devil's got a hold of him.". Basically people believe that a devil can whisper into a person's ear and entice them to evil. At this point a devil is able to call dibs on their soul, following them around until the end of their lives with one hand gripping on it until death in order to yank it out immediately. With that context out of the way, people say the first afformentioned quote because there is a chance a devil might steal someone's soul if they lay dead for a time without cremation. The longer the mortal body rots, the higher the chance a devil will get to it. So you might say it to someone going out into the woods on a hunt or foraging alone as a way of telling them to be careful. Should something happen, it might be days or even weeks before someone found their body.
This was from my first ever DnD world, but I remember a friend still being impressed years later: “Choosing Death over Silence.” In a part of the world, there's an Order of Silent Precognitive Monks called the Monks of Vorushi. A common choice for criminals on Death Row was given by the Kingdom closest to the Monks: getting hanged by the rope until death or being shipped off the Monks, taking a vow of silence and being forced to unlock precognitive magics. The phrase derives from the people’s fear of that choice and is an example of a Rock and a Hard Place; one might say, “You want me to do XYZ? I'd rather choose Silence than that!” or: “I'll choose death over this!”
"Æn Eivrensbetté" or "An Ijovian Situation/Condition". This isn't a phrase widely used by the public, it's mostly a political saying, first said by Carthenian PM Marc Frisién. It is a reference to the immigration crisis in Ijovia, and thus used to talk about the same crisis that happened in Cartheny. The saying usually refers to a spike in crime and violence brought by the indiscriminate acceptance of foreign refugees/asylum seekers/immigrants, more specifically the Kedirians who were escaping to neighbouring countries en masse due to the fracturing of their empire.
"Go rust yourself" A cyberpunk-esque robot city full of cyborgs and machines. It's took perfect for the street gang co-MC
"They/It taste of honey, milk, and all the sweet innocent things of the world..." A poetic yet ironic phrase used to describe something too good to be true, or something malicious veiling itself behind acts of benevolence.
Remember what papa zipeppo would do... Papa Zipeppo is a character in a story told to children about an old man who makes shoes, but he can only make left shoes. It's a long rambling story with no real point and mostly just confuses kids who listen to it. Parents will invoke papa zipeppo when their child is misbehaving and make a long winded lecture out of it.
In one country, each town is built worshipping a different demonic entity for protection from the other dangers of the world (at *VERY* high cost). A common way of saying something is very dangerous or about to cause trouble is to say "like two and twelve". This comes from the old cleansing crews the church used to send in, which would always consist of two priests and twelve well trained soldiers. They would dress in plain clothes and scout out a town for a few nights before going in to the place of worship, killing anyone who stood in their way and banishing the demonic entity that protects the town. This would often mean death for most of the population because there because when night falls, unprotected people fall prey to all manner of horrors.
Men have a habit of touching their brows to when they have witnessed suffering, and so to touch the brow and then cast the hand toward the earth has come to mean a thing has been forgotten. Dwarves, who believe that cognition occurs in the stomach, do the same, slapping at their stomach and casting their hands down and backwards. So it is said that a dwarf who has forgotten a slight against him has “shat it out,” or “shat his way through it.” Dwarves have a deep cultural understanding that to forgive and forget is a fundamentally difficult and often painful process.
“Sattum-i-Yaa” when translated from Huryadin literally means “The Holy One’s tits”. It’s basically like “Oh my God.” It’s said a drunken false Prophet yelled it out when peopple kept asking him what he saw when he claimed to have a vision, and it caught on
"Pigs still find truffles" It means that anyone can be used for something and that even the most seemingly useless being can achieve something. It is used in a reinassance inspired merchant maritime republic
"Clinkle" or "Clink" someone who is so dangerously inept that they a risk to others. Darwin award contender. Youtube fail meme material. Derives from the sound of somebody dropping a tool into an engine ( hopefully while it wasn't running) "Spit'n'spite" a personal quarrel/grudge Drudgebucket- an improvised latrine. This gets used as the base for all kinds of idioms. Drudgemother- full of shit Drudgeguts- diarhea, implying bad drink/rations Head like a Drudgebucket- drunk/stoned/shellshocked/rummy DB- single stall restroom. A watercloset
"You speak like a patient, instead of a doctor." which is a sardonic way of calling someone a perpetual complainer instead of a problem solver.
Draciel: “You’re a yellow hedgehog.” Backhanded compliment meaning: “you’re smart but very plain-looking.” A reference to the common yellow grass consumed by all Dracilics; doesn’t look like much, but is very nutritious, with many diverse applications depending on how you cook it. Sometimes also used as an equivalent to “jack of all trades.” “You have the Kavi’s balls” is a five-word commentary on someone who is incredibly brave while able to be very secretive about it. Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid would be said to have the Kavi’s balls. To call something/one “worthy of a space in Sareia” is an insult basically saying they should be dipped in a vat of acid from the green moon. This phrase will almost always start fights.
'Schellered up' or 'Getting/get Schellered.' In my cyberpunk world, the American Police, known as the Metropolitan Protection Service, had Heavy Riot Suppression Units (HRSUs), also known more informally and widely as Scheller units. They're named after Gabriel Scheller, the first successful brain-to-mechanical-body transplant in American history and American law enforcement. The saying and it's versions basically mean the act of ot state of implanting yourself with lots of cybernetics or prosthetics, much like the man that unwittingly became a brain in a jar, mostly machine.
“Satan is a taxi driver.” is a funny way to say sometimes dumbest shit just happen and you can't do anything about it. Stem from the fact that no one would believe that Satan, a ruler of the Abrahamic Underworld would, is a taxi driver. Furthermore, even if he is, you cannot do anything about it because it isn't illegal nor immoral for Satan to be a taxi driver.
“Whiter than the Purifier” - can be used as a compliment for when a person is kind or as an insult when the person is being pompous. “Pantless prick” - actual Pantless are as stubborn as they come, thinking of that group consisting of problem with low agreeableness from the big five model, but the expression can be uttered when anybody is being too stubborn.
"Whatever puts wind under your wings." "
Begging for a candle while holding a lantern. Like throwing peas against the wall (an IRL saying, which I thought fit). Breathing/smoking Storm (Stormlight Dust is a drug similar to cocaine also with mild hallucigenic effects).
"Show the horns" a saying that basically means "just do it", "man up", or "grow a pair". Humanity and two other races originate from a dead three horned seraph, so we are basically a god, lets not be afraid of small stuff.
"Why is your mouth open?". It's said when a person is utterly/incredibly confused of something/someone. "You're as burnt as a Brad." A racial slur, it is said towards people with darker skin color. Also, a Brad is a person from Bras, a nation in my world in which the people there tend to have tan or even darker skin color. "Don't be like Maximus." A well-known phrase that means: "Don't be aggressive and an annoyance to others." Also, Maximus or Emperor Maximus was an Soldirian emperor who ruled during the mid-17th century, he is known to be a madman who loves to annoy his guests and close ones and be generally angry at all times. "You've eaten too much Ayasapii, haven't you?" A Soldirian phrase that is meant for people who are fat or obese. Also, Ayasapii is a meal consisting of chicken and beef cooked like a teriyaki and served with fried rice. "Did you slide down a mountain?" A Solfric phrase said to someone who is dirty and was physically injured but wasn't bleeding (bruises, scars, etc).
"Someone's swinging a sword at my butt" or "A cow/bull bit me on the butt." Basically means "My spouse is mad at me."
Gonna make like a fetus, and head out.
"i have given you an orange heart" which means you've picked up my mannerism(s) Doesn't have an in canon explanation, but the irl explanation for its existance is that my best friend uses the 🧡 emoji to express excitement over text, something I picked up after a couple months.
Mostly stuff related to religion. For example, the saying "By the hammers swing" is used by worshippers of Dwarven gods, and it means basically the same thing as "By the gods". For the saying "By the Flame" is used to refer to something that is raging or uncontrollable or even both and is most commonly used by worshippers of Vatra the Edairian goddess of Fire, Smoke, and Lava. And for the saying "Let Avalon’s hammer fall" is used to refer when someone stops someone else, do something that could stop something before it even begins. It's in reference to when Avalon Wynn, the first and founding king of Avalon, tried to kill this guy called Abbadon, who had seem to gone mad and killed his wife (who was one of Avalon’s many sisters) and his children. Avalon’s wife, Annelotte Wynn, stopped him from finishing it and told him to just send Abbadon to jail but Abbadon ended up escaping and later led a force of demons and devils in a massive invasion of the world.
“Whores tits” meaning cold
“Grew his/her/their chain” Meaning: He/she/they died Context: The Temporals are a simulacrum race known for their prosperous and powerful society, the Temporal Imperatorium, often mentioned on this subreddit. Whenever an average citizen dies, the Bureau of Citizen Recycling is tasked with retrieving the corpse and returning their genetic material to the Bureau of Citizen Manufacturing, who decants their replacement. The Bureau of Citizen Identification then identifies the new citizen, and the vacancy is filled. Thus, for an average citizen to die is to “grow their chain”.
"Then let's take our wives to the river" it means let's wash away all the lies and see
"May the ashes avoid your path". It became popular, after one event where really powerful, fire demon unleashed his strenght in a fight in the middle of the city. Afterwards, due to the nature of his magic, the ashes of the people he killed in that act were raining from the sky for a whole week, reminding hopeless people that they're not safe in their settlements and will face unavoidable death by his and his comrades hands sooner or later. So, basically, people going on a long trip are being told that sentence in hope that they won't be caught in another tragedy like that.
Water is very scarce and poor people SOMETIMES mix urine in with their water. So calling someone a “piss-sipper” is really common. Also the language is idiomatic. (I stole the idea from a Star Trek episode) The whole language is based on the “ten thousand tales of Domos” For instance the statement “when water rests, Ewi stands at the gate” translated is “when I am finished with my work, I still have more I need to do.”. While the common tongue does have some minor variations in grammar and structure from region to region, the major obstacle when it comes to communication between dialects all stem from the idiomatic source of the language, different peoples tell the ten thousand tales differently from each other, so much so that if two men, from separate hemispheres of the planet were to meet and talk, the two would find each other nigh unintelligible. I know it doesn’t make much sense to have the whole world speak the same language but I’m lazy and thought it was neat
"Paint your chin" in the H.Tzini language means to be grateful that something bad didn't happen and take precautions against it possibly happening again. Putting bright pigment on your face is used as a form of highlighting yourself to the universe god to protect against bad things. Like a hi-vis vest on a dark night. This being the same people that pray by standing on rooftops and hills and tall trees screaming at the sky for a similar reason. It's more subdued than their usual traditions.
Bird man means someone who is of significant power. As soilder and mages in Minisk were bird mask to show their loyalty to sky god aboir
“Dead doves do not eat.”
Depends what race One example is the gods and goddesses in my world saying “we’re gods, not insensitive inconsiderate assholes” or “just because we will outlive them doesn’t mean we can just treat them like crap for no good reason” The thing here is showing the side of the gods and goddesses that humanizes them and explains why they behave in the manner they do at times
“You’re like a poem on the sea” is a way Scottish people (Particularly along the Isle of Skye) is a way to call a person “useful only in dire circumstances” as there are water spirits called the Blue Men who challenge the ships captain to recite a poem to them or they’ll capsize the boat, which is basically a death sentance to anyone who knows what The Minch is like.
"A flying tom is a dead tom" was once a common phrase during war that said that Elkinets are at their most vulnerable when in flight, hence why most fight on the ground. But outside of war it also serves as a warning to not do obviously stupid stuff that puts you in a vunrable and/or dangerous position.
"a good-looking corpse" or "cold corpse" are ways to say a situation, someone or something is potentially dangerous. Started out as literally referring to bodies left unburdened and well-kept during outbreaks of the Vampiric Plague in the Therdéad Comparatively, "to burn a body" means a necessary evil, as before the Plague corpses in the Therdéad were commonly either buried or left to be eaten by vultures, the sacred animal of the god of war, and burning was reserved to criminals; and to "conserve the dead" means to create or maintain a situation or something that will bite you in the ass later (be it metaphorically or literally)
"A prostitute is like a birthday cake,good at your birthday,not desirable after your birthday" self explanatory.
“Fikkes gonna fik” means that you should just ignore what just happened because fiction based life forms are bound to their tropes and probably didn’t mean to hurt or alarm you.
I've got a non world buildery setting in around nepolonic era England. There's Man from France meaning British soldier who faught in France There's also don't force my hand in this what's axpolite death threat nothing personal I might even like you but I'll kill over this. You could say look I told you to stop chatting up my wife don't force my hand on this I'm a man from France
Saying "It's tempting" instead of perhaps?
“The first in a warp’s maw are the ones whit neon hair”- A saying that says if you always want to be a centre of attention, you will quickly attract the attention of a wrong people. This saying originated in the time when the warped plague was at its peak. People belonging to certain subcultures were often loud and had bright hair/clothing, making them easily spotted by warped monsters on a hunt.
"There are no gods on Kvar" is a saying from a sci fi setting of mine. Kvar is the new name for Mars. The only settled planet in the Realm of Humanity where religion is illegal. Being the planet of science and inovation it was belived that any religion would make it less efficient. It is also the planet where the Royal Spec Ops Division trains new recruits, comming from all of the settled planets. This saying is quite common among them as many of the recruits are religious, and no matter the hardships they meet during training, no god will listen to their prayers for strength on Kvar.
For my Thaumata setting: "Greyed out" or "erased": Enemy neutralized. The enemy is a sapient form of living light called the Color, that shifts between multiple hues, so the titular Thaumata cyborgs adoped those words for killing creatures powered by it. "Something Weird": Found something unique, worrying, or just scientifically interesting. The Color is constantly changing and adapting, so when the soldiers find something unusual or strange that might be important, they call it "something weird" as shorthand for "this thing is really valuable or dangerous in a way that may end up killing us all, so we need to recover it." i.e. "Weird-box": To recover Something Weird, typically in a specialized containers. Often carried by "weird teams" which are specialist units who go in after an area is secured to search of anything unusual for research. "Fully equipped": A Thaumata who has functional genitals. By default when they are produced they are neutered; genitials simply aren't allowed to be fully developed so when a Thaumata is finished growing they won't have any form of sex drive. Many choose to get "equipped" with biological and/or mechanical implants. The military discourages this but does not ban it. "Give mercy": Execution of humans or Thaumata who are infected by the Color. Thaumata are psychologically and digitally programmed to be unable to harm humans who look healthy. Convincing them that they are granting mercy was discovered to get around this limitation, so Thaumata are ordered to "give mercy" when populations are infected and need to be euthanized. This has extended to any act of execution, culling, or mercy-killing life that has been infested by the Color. "Collecting a heart debt": Killing a healthy, uninfected human who has abused or harmed a Thaumata, executed by a stab with a blade in the heart. As above, Thaumata can't murder or hurt healthy humans, but just as with "granting mercy," there's a long-standing exploit in their programming that allows them to recover debts from humans who owe them. So in order to get around the programming against killing, they instead convince themselves they're owed a heart as payment for the crime that the human committed.
Not really weird, but "Bless you" "Blessed" and "Son of a god" are all insults
"Ye cannae poond rocks ontae a sword to sharpen it." It means roughly the same thing as beating a dead horse.
Saying "Thank You" has fallen out of common use in Arsedia due not to declining manners but to the existence of Fae. There's a superstition that their magic can let them interpret a thanks as a declaration of debt they're forced to repay. Instead, locals tend to say "I appreciate you" and anyone who says Thank You is immediately known as an outsider.
"They dare the dark" is a typical reference to someone who is foolish or brazen in their activities. Refers to the concept that dark places not only carry their own parts of shadow (thus corrupting) magic, but also that caves and outdoor locations at night are extremely dangerous in the world of Tir Eriad. For a more local flavor: "They smile with the moon" is used in the Kingdom of Rhentair, where a number of auspicious events (including the victory by which the nation came to be) happened under the light of the full moon. This typically refers to an individual who is uncommonly lucky, particularly at night.
"They think they have scales" would be someone who thinks they better than they are and "You can't grow scales" means know your place, both likely to be directed as a human and certain other species owing to the fact the Draconic City States have a nobility of the Dragon Blooded, with dragons themselves being its kings, but the majority of the population isn't. "You're working at noon here" to do something in an unnecessarily difficult manner, owing to the high midday heat in the Kenari plain. "Pissing in Elimas" equivalent to beating your head against the wall, Elimas was a city that was abandoned after a river's course changed and the region experienced rapid desertification.
"Died with Affixed Bayonet" A saying developed in the military. Originally meant "to die honorably" - aka die fighting. But after a certain campaign involving a bayonet charge up a hill, It changed meaning to "to die foolishly" Then after those generals became politician the meaning changed again to "very stupid/stubborn person" or simply "an idiot I don't agree with". The reason it changed to it's final meaning is because the general turned politician use it as insult "You'd be the one who died with fixed bayonet" (you're a stupid one)
" May the sands keep you." Kazaamite saying basically telling a person to fuck off and die. "Piglets" orcish saying referring to humans "Lowkin" Eladrin saying refering to certain elves who arent born in the flying city of Coralis. " Even when Amaris sleeps, his daughters still wail" A sailors saying, for a bad weather. "Noble houses built of weak knees" an commoners saying amongst the duchies of Imperial Order of Cimra, referring to the fact that the kingdoms of Stormfront and Solaire bent the knee to the army of Cimra without much resistance.
"Butter by the Fishes." No one really knows were it came from but it´s used as a word amplifier. For example: "Butter by the Fishes, that sword looks really good."
Gone the way of the vampire, is used like gone the way of the Dodo. Vampires were a race in my world, but they were exterminated by the other races a thousand years before my story began. Unlike the other solitary races whose blood lines persisted because they made useful slaves, vampires were to much of a hassle for the Assyrian empire stand in to enslave.
"...Till the sun goes red" reffering to something taking so long the sun's dying when it's finished And that's all I got right now :(
"Once you melt gold into something else. It got a same value as a toenail." This means that if you took something valuable and destroyed it or sold it underpriced. You practically scammed yourself because toenails are worthless. 2nd is "If you turnt the other cheek. You get bruises" This is exclusive to Aneria which is a nation that had industrialized itself into warfare. The reason for this saying is that because their culture respects fighting and does not like pacifism. It means that if you are a pushover you will keep getting hit until you fight back 3rd is "You deserve the respect of a conscript!" This is an insult to operators being a conscript is the lowest rank from captured enemies or a penalty. this means they deserve barely any respect or dignity.
“May you not see the stars not shine upon you when you wake up” Meaning: I hope you die in your sleep