Expressions and Sayings

As it turns out, being incredibly unfamiliar with common alien expressions can be a more significant obstacle to life on an Asari world than I thought. I've had many conversation that have resulted in blankly staring at someone until they explain what "as useless as a kat without biotics", or some such expression, means in human terms.

I'd like to ask if people of any race (Lusia is mostly Asari, but there are still many people of pretty much every species here) could please post some of your common expressions and sayings with a short explanation.

I personally don't need human ones, but if you want you could always post them for the benefit of anyone else with this problem.

This one often uses the phrase "it takes a colony of nansises to devour a multrophis"

This expression often means that one must work together to complete a common goal.

This is a somewhat dated one that I doubt is in anyone's translators anymore (unless they have a penchant for dead Terran languages) but I've still found use for it in the odd business dealing.

Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo.

The meaning is twofold:

a. Nothing you took away from this meeting can or will be considered a victory.
b. I find you to be a particularly insufferable ass and sincerely hope to never have the misfortune of interacting with you again.

Bonus points awarded if said with a smile and handshake.

oh, I hope nobody called you that Lia!
Because you could replay that this person has her le'ku in a knot! (a stupid person, making stupid comments)

besides that, coming from a pildavi expression there is afavourite of mine: she's a triplash, waiting to happen (my omnitool suggests something along the lines of a "loose cannon" in human terms.

A lot of asari sayings have to do with water, so you might often hear things like by the springtide, or may the spindrift be in your favor. The last one can also turn negative when the spume clouds your view.

When things get really ugly, the flotsam hits the reef, only being surpassed by a situation running out of eezo.

I only learned this one on Illium: She's [busy like] the Charon relay. I think, it has a double meaning though...

A "five-fingered drell" is a term with mixed connotations. Depending on the context, it can mean either that the individual in question is "slick" or a "jack of all trades", but it can also mean that he or she is not to be trusted.

Shan gao, Huangdi yuan. The mountains are high, and the emperor is far away. It's something that I've been fond of reminding myself of lately.

You've perhaps said more about yourself than you realize.

Mostly I'd say it's military expressions that have slipped over into common usage.... "Frag me" as an epithet, "u/s (unserviceable)" for "no good," that sort of thing.

We also have a lot of expressions referring to the blood oath we take, ie, a staking our lives and immortal souls on keeping our faith. Something "Written in blood" is something permanent; something "built on blood" will be there forever, that sort of thing.

Cheerfully informative
Elcor expressions range from "the hirit smells of golenf" which means someone is lying, to "it's losing its footing" which refers to something going horribly wrong. Then there's "rubbing your knees against a rock" which either means wasting time... or what happens when someone [BLOCKED] her friend's [BLOCKED] [TRANSLATION ERROR: did you mean "cactus"?] [BLOCKED] all over [BLOCKED] or [BLOCKED] unless [BLOCKED] vegetable matter [BLOCKED] [TRANSLATION ERROR: did you mean "penguin"?] but sometimes [BLOCKED] lethal to salarians but of course that doesn't stop some people.

Here's a Latin (dead human language) one I'm surprised nobody's said yet:

Sic transit gloria mundi - thus passes the glory of the world.

And one I personally like a lot, a bit more recent but still old:

"You can't conceive, nor can I or anyone, the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God."

Salarians had only a few they would use - and I never figured ANY of them out. Partially my fault for not asking (I was trying to impress them as a bright human).

But I'm asking now for the Salarians on the forum: There's one that says something about eggs hatching too early - how does it go, and what does it mean?

I've heard quite a few of these phrases before. A Turian classmate of mine actually described a place as being "built on blood". I was decidedly creeped out at the time, it's good to know the actual meaning.

If people have more phrases, then by all means keep them coming.

Speaking of turian sayings. My dad used to call sweet talking politicians "blue tonged".

I wouldn’t say that – in fact, we have a ton of them. It’s just that they’re either obscure or deliberately opaque, as the meaning’s meant to be unraveled as you mature. As one of them says, "If you understand everything, you understand nothing." As a result, though, a lot of impatient translators (hanar, I’m looking at you) decide to translate them as meaningless idiomatic phrases.

For example, there are a lot of proverbs and koans about the nature of the universe. Eeldich University’s crest in particular has this emblazoned on it:



As far as…egg hatching…well, I can’t help you with that, but...I've memorized this one.

Well I suppose I can find a few of my personal favorites.

Something I often find people could stand to hear more often.
This one I keep on my desk. Sometimes it's helpful to remind yourself that you're only a failure if you refuse to acknowledge your own fuck ups.
This one... well actually this one's personal, so I'll keep my thoughts on it to myself. It's a good one regardless though.

"Never trust a doc, an' count'cher quad after."

--ancient jorgal sayin'

"Kee'al tar seyol  ak vee'al" or, "Life is not restricted to flesh" was a common saying among the creators who existed before the activation of the mass relay within the Tikkun system.  The origin of this phrase  can be traced to creator Rael'Merzea.  

One of the topics frequently debated within the scientific community of the creators at that time was the ethical implications of creating artificial intelligence, as this was seen as the next step in technological advancement.   Rael'Merzea, while in support of research in the field of artificial intelligence, also argued for a set of rules to protect the rights of any created synthetic beings.   The relevant passage from one of her papers is reproduced below. 

"Life is not solely restricted to flesh and blood.   If i think, feel, experience emotions and the world around me yet lack a body, can one say "No, you are not alive?"  To limit life to such a definition is to limit our understanding while denying that there may be forms of life that we can't comprehend."

During the following decades, the discovery and study of the mass relay and related technology would overshadow concerns about artificial intelligence.  As a result. Rael'Merzea and her works fell out of popular use. 

The phrase, however, survived,  though it was altered due to the inconsistency of organic memory and evolution of the Keelish language.  Eventually the phrase was reduced to, "Kee'al tar seyol vee'al" or "life is not flesh.". The meaning, likewise, also evolved to reflect the idea that life was made up of more than just physical experiences, reflecting an increased focus on the emotional and cognitive experiences of life.  This shift was likely the result of prioritizing integration with the galactic community and reevaluation of what "life" was defined as In light of interactions with non-quarian sentient beings. 

It was during the beginning of the Morning War that this phrase would once again resurface.  Creator Jerot'Kal, a supporter of the destruction of all geth software and mobile platforms, would use the phrase "life is not flesh" to support the efforts to remove the geth.  Here, again, the relevant portion has been reproduced. 

"There are those who would say we should persevere the geth, that they are a new race in their first steps of sentience.  But we must remember that life is more than possessing a body or producing the semblance of thought. As Rael'Merzea wrote long ago, 'Life is not flesh.'  

The geth, though they have bodies, cannot feel, cannot experience, and cannot truly think for themselves.  They are not truly alive, and therefore deserve no more protection than an engine on a cruiser."

Recent inquires regarding the life of the creators after the Morning War reveals that  this interpretation of the statement, "life is not flesh" remained in usage for some time aboard the quarian fleet, though it would eventually give way to other expressions as time passed.

Recently, the phrase is seeing a revival under its original interpretation, as the creators gain access to previously unavailable accounts of their history.  Many integrated units of geth and creator use "Kee'al tar seyol  ak vee'al" as a motto, expressing solidarity.  

My father used to say:

"Pray for rain."

Original meaning: I hope whatever positive thing you just said comes to pass.
Modern meaning: Whatever unexpected development just occurred was a nice kick in the scales.

The one people (not asari people, at least) always look at me blankly for is 'tides'.

Like Taleeze said, we use a lot of aquatic metaphors and similes and all that, so it shouldn't come as a surprise, but hey.

'Tides' is a shortened form of 'tides are', which is a contraction of an old Serrician saying ('the ocean's tides are constant and in constant motion, affecting and connecting every ship at sea...' it goes on for a bit, like a lot of Thessian sayings). At the time, it was one of the old Siari mantras, but it evolved to mean something like 'things change and change again'.

I just use it as an exclamation - I've never been one to swear by or believe in any higher power, so cursing luck's a pretty good substitute.

To quote another inter-species colloquialism, this is "bullshit".