Kick the bucket: same words, different meanings

I had a chance to watch "The Bucket List" in theater when I was in America. I watched here in Brazil on HBO, with the Portuguese subtitles. Reading a different translation to "kick the bucket" called my attention. If you translate "kick the bucket" to Portuguese, you'll find and expression for it, but different than "kick the bucket" in English.

When you say in Brazil you want to kick the bucket, it means you want to give up something that is not working in your life. But the feeling you have after "kicking the bucket", relief is the feeling. It can be your relationship, career and thoughts. Isn't your relationship working or your career isn't going ? Kick the bucket.

I did a research on "Kick the Bucket", American way. I thought you first have to do a list of things you would want to do before passing away, like on "The Bucket List". If all the things done you wanted to do, you wouldn't mind passing away. That's what I realized watching the movie. But it doesn't make sense at all. I read that people hanged themselves by standing on a bucket with a noose around their neck and then kicking the bucket away. I don't want to be cruel, but it makes sense.

After this post, I'll be very careful whenever I say kick the bucket. And if you are curious about the expression we have down here for kick the bucket, the answer is to beat your boots.

Impossibility according animals

Once I saw this TV commercial for a beans brand. A guy talks to a dog about how good those beans are and it's family recipe for generations. Dog asks if he can get the recipe. Guy answers yes, when pigs fly. What is the next scene on the commercial? The dog, trying to teach a pig to fly by itself.

There I realize when someone says "when pigs fly", it means it won't happen. Do pigs fly? When pigs are sent to other countries on a FEDEX flight wouldn't count as a yes. Or if you built a giant slingshot and throw pigs. Maybe if MTV's "Jackass" was still in the air, maybe Johnny Knoxville would do a "Hi, I'm Johnny Knoxville and this is pigs flying.". Or maybe Chris Pontius.

Let's get back to the question on the paragraph above. Do pigs fly? Times like this I wish I had a farm. Because if I had one, I would do this experiment with the pigs, giving them Red Bull. Doesn't Red Bull give you wings? Once I gave pork to a baby pig. He liked that. So, if pigs can't fly, they can be cannibals.

What is the expression for "when pigs fly" here in Brazil? If cows cough. Possible? Yes, if a ventriloquist has a cow puppet and makes the cough sounds. I've heard dogs sneezing, but cows coughing? Not even hoof-and-mouth disease made it possible.

Thank the Lord that animals can only explain impossibilities. Otherwise, Einstein would roll over his grave if a partridge contested that the Theory of Relativity is wrong.

When rain used to be about water

When I lived in America I used to rear people saying "it's raining cats and dogs". I tried to figure out what they meant. Looking through the window was very helpful: heavy rain.

So, why would Americans say "it's raining cat and dogs"? Is there a pursuit relation between the raindrops? There is one between dogs and cats. Also, there is one between raindrops and whatever it is on the ground. But who are cat and dog on this pursuit? I would say raindrops are the dogs and everything on the ground are the cats. Come on, we are pursuit by the raindrops. Wouldn't be more interesting if the expression was "it's raining dogs on cats"? No, let's not change the Language.

Here in Brazil the expression is "it's raining pocket knifes". Probably you are thinking we use shield on raining days instead of umbrellas, aren't you? This expression makes sense because the raindrops fall down fast and stingy. But they don't cut. See how many utilities a raindrop has, like a pocket knife: watering the plants and the soil; streets washing; floods, unfortunately.

No matter where it rains, and how. So, if you don't open your umbrella, get ready to get wet.