Idiom, describing a situation you can't change: obudzić się z ręką w nocniku

There is an idiom in Polish that describes an unpleasant situation in which it is too late to change anything. (оказаться в ситуации, когда уже слишком поздно что-то менять).

The idiom is obudzić się z ręką w nocniku which literally translates as ‘to end up with your hand in the potty’. Interestingly enough, there doesn’t seem to an equivalent phrase using ‘end up’ and ‘in the potty’ in Russian, German or English which means it might be unique to Polish. Or does anyone of you happen to know a language which has a similar idiom?

So far, I haven’t seen any dictionary that has this kind of information.

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I can think of “leave a sour taste in (one’s) mouth.” For example, “that party left a sour taste in my mouth.” How about “it’s no use crying over spilled milk?”
It’s not the same, I admit. Idiom translation is a tricky business.

Great question!

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“to leave a sour taste in one’s mouth” might be similar to obudzić się z ręką w nocniku but it uses a different image – that of a ‘sour taste’ and ‘mouth’ whereas obudzić się z ręką w nocniku uses the concepts of ‘hand’ and ‘potty’ so it’s still different. You are right, translating idioms is tricky so what I would like to do is create some kind of database that shows how idioms are used or rather ‘structured’ across different languages. So, for example in German we say ‘Meine Nase läuft’ which literally translate as ‘My nose is running’ which is very close to the concept of ‘having a runny nose’ while in Russian you don’t say ‘Мой нос бежит’ или "Уменя бегущий нос’.

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Great idea about a database of idioms, not just a list but how they are structured. I can’t even think now how it can be done! Isn’t it too much of a responsibility? :thinking:

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It will be an open source project using the same principles as collective efforts such as Forvo, many online dictionaries and wikis.

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You are probably familiar with the expression “Up $h!t creek without a paddle”. To me it is a little similar and implies that you may need to get your hands quite dirty to escape from the situation!

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Hi TJ, ‘up sh$t creek…’ certainly has a similar meaning to the Polish idiom but it too uses a different concept, that of the creek and the lack of a paddle. Also, I think the idea of the Polish idiom is that you are pretty much doomed with no hope for a solution while the creek idiom implies that you will get out of the situation albeit with great effort which actually is something positive because of the other saying ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. By the way, thanks for uploading your profile photo. Who is the charming lady next to you and where was the photo taken? Looks a bit like Egypt…

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That woman is my lovely wife Michelle - the photo was taken on our trip to Italy this summer - that is the Castel Sant’ Angelo of Rome in the background.

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So say hello to Michelle and let her know she has a great husband who has been helping people from around the world improve their language skills and gain self-confidence in the process. :muscle::+1::clap:

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