Lost in Translation: How Idioms Reveal the Way Cultures Think

Imagine you have a friend visiting from another country. You tell them, 'Don't worry — it's raining cats and dogs outside, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.' Your friend stares at you, horrified. They are picturing animals falling from the sky and a mysterious bridge somewhere in town. Why? Because you just used two idioms — and idioms are invisible traps for anyone who takes language literally. Every language on Earth is full of them, and the fascinating part is that no two cultures use the same images to express the same feeling.