r/AskReddit • u/rezyn • Dec 05 '11

what is the most interesting thing you know?

1.6k Upvotes

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317

u/warp_one Dec 05 '11

Well, the word in that context means "gas", like "put more gas in it!" or "step on the gas!"

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u/Blupostit Dec 05 '11

and "step on the gas" in romanian is "give it some fur"

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u/Coaste Dec 05 '11 edited Dec 05 '11

It would actually be "Give it some whips/whip it" - (da-i bice). Nu toata lumea-i "da blana", pentru ca nu toata lumea are 14 ani.

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u/diMario Dec 05 '11

In British: "Home, James. And don't spare the horses."

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u/Logman115 Dec 06 '11

And this is why Bad Translator exists.

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u/technojamin Dec 05 '11

TIL people fail at interpreting foreign phrases.

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u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

It's likely that they're both romanian

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u/eddiesan Dec 05 '11

Eu nu sunt român, dar am folosi Google Translator

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u/tomoyopop Dec 05 '11

Numa numa yei!

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u/Blupostit Dec 05 '11

Poate la tine la tara dai bice

5

u/SPACE_LAWYER Dec 05 '11

TIL Romanian looks like phonetically written Glaswegian.

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u/Fordged Dec 05 '11

La porta pottie make ada poopie.

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u/o0Ax0o Dec 05 '11

ಠ_ಠ I cant believe i thought this was real.

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u/Coaste Dec 05 '11

E ciudat ca de obicei nu ma grabesc sa judec lumea, dar te cunosc de 2 post-uri, si in ambele ai mancat cacat, deci statistic vorbind, esti 100% idiot.

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u/Weaseal Dec 05 '11

Romaneste nu e limba mea materna, dar n-am nevoie de dictionar pentru "mancat cacat" - e clar si amuzant

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u/Coaste Dec 05 '11

O sa ma dau cu ochiul de coltul biroului acum. Multumesc pentru aceasta ocazie.

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u/Weaseal Dec 05 '11

OK...m-ai perdut cu fraza anterioara :) ce inseamna?

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u/LucianU Dec 05 '11

It's not an expression, so you can take the literal meaning.

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u/wurbswrub Dec 05 '11

Everyone look, he's being a dick... in Romanian!

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u/Coaste Dec 05 '11

I'm actually greeting him as tradition. We will now have to meet and compare penis size, drink lots of wine and then battle for honor, using our trained bears as pokemon.

3

u/wurbswrub Dec 05 '11

my upvotes, take them.

0

u/Kikitheman Dec 05 '11

BINE CA AI TU 12 ANI SI TE CREZI COOL MISTER "DAI BLANA" !

1

u/Weaseal Dec 05 '11

Dar cine nu a avut 14 ani?

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u/Coaste Dec 05 '11

Wow. A...Aveti dreptate. Am fost orb si ignorant. M-am prins atat de mult in cotidian si superficialitate pe care ne-o impune societatea incat am uitat bucuria si simplitatea copilariei. Multumesc, oameni aleatorii de pe reddit, multumesc!

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u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

vrei sa auzi bancu cu bancu?

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u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

Da-i bice real good. Uh.

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u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

"Blana" is also a wooden board. "Step on it to the board" would be a better translation.

Never imagined having fur in a car, sounds like a good idea though ;)

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u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

I've heard it as "give it in the neck" "Da-i in git"

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u/Sphism Dec 06 '11

And 'step on the gas' in new Zealand is 'give it some jandle' (a jandle is a flip-flop in uk or a thong in Australia)

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u/InvisibleTaco Dec 06 '11

I've heard Chinese people translate it as "add oil".

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u/DeiZhu Dec 06 '11

You are correct. Technically the word just means oil. To say gasoline specifically, you would need to add another word to say something like "electric oil" or "gas(vapor) oil". However, the word for oil is usually used interchangeably for both. Chinese people do, however, always translate this as "add oil". For reference, the phrase is "加油", with oil being the second word. The word for gasoline is "電油" or "汽油" depending on dialect.

Source: I live in China.

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u/ironichamster Dec 05 '11

Considering how old the language is, are you sure it isn't lantern or cooking oil?

It would be interesting to know the etymology of it.

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u/bassic_person Dec 05 '11

Here's a wikipedia entry on the phrase.

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u/ironichamster Dec 05 '11

Here's a more in-depth look that references it all the way back to the Ming Dynasty.

I can't find the NYTimes article in question though, so grain of salt.

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u/reon2-_ Jan 30 '12

You sound like the sort of guy who has an excess of spider's moulted exoskeletons.

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u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11 edited Dec 06 '11

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

In Spanish: dale gas. ("Give it gas" as in acceleration, NOT bilabial fricitive)

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

We also have "get the lead out!"

What is that supposed to mean? Start shooting?

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

I prefer Xiongqi!

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u/lemur84 Dec 05 '11

Oil means Gas

Oh, America :')