# It's like talking to a brick wall



## Lillita

Hiya all,  

Has it ever happened to you that you were going on and on about something and the people you were talking to did not pay the slightest attention? It is when it feels like you're talking to a brick wall. I was wondering how the phrase in question would sound in different languages. Let's make a list, shall we?  

*Hungarian:*
_Mintha csak a falnak beszélnék._ -- It feels like I'm talking to the wall.

Cheerio!


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## Stéphane89

In French we say: *J'ai l'impression de parler à un mur* _(I have a feeling that I'm talking to a wall)_


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## Q-cumber

*Russian: Мне кажется, я со стенкой разговариваю. *_Mne k*a*jets'a ja so st*e*nkoi razgov*a*rivaiu_ (It seems to me that I'm talking to a wall). In most cases this phrase is used by a wife talking to her husband.


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## Etcetera

Another phrase in Russian which conveys pretty much the same meaning is Как об ст*е*нку гор*о*х / Kak ob st*e*nku gor*o*kh (literally, like throwing peas to a wall).


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## Lillita

Etcetera said:


> Another phrase in Russian which conveys pretty much the same meaning is Как об ст*е*нку гор*о*х / Kak ob st*e*nku gor*o*kh (literally, like throwing peas to a wall).


 
What a coincidence! We have the same phrase in Hungarian, too!  
_Falra hányt borsó._ -- Peas thrown to the wall.


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## Chazzwozzer

*Turkish:* Duvara anlatıyorum gibi._ (It's like I'm telling the wall.)_


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## Frank06

Hi,

In Dutch: alsof je tegen een muur praat. (lit. as if you're talking to a wall)

Groetjes,

Frank


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## jonquiliser

(Det är) som att tala till/med en vägg. "Like talking to/with a wall". Swedish.


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## doman

We have a quite similar sentence* in Vietnamese*!

*"Nói như nói với bức tường !"*
Talking as talk to the wall 

and other sentence:
*"Thà nói với đầu gối còn hơn !"*
Would rather talk to the knee !


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## Chazzwozzer

Chazzwozzer said:


> *Turkish:* Duvara anlatıyorum gibi._ (It's like I'm telling the wall.)_


I think, maybe, *"duvara konuşuyorum"* _(I'm talking to the wall)_ sounds better.


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## jazyk

In Portuguese:

Parece que estou falando com a parede. - It seems as if I'm talking to the wall.

Jazyk


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## Whodunit

In German, there are many ways to express it (as always when you're angry ), but the most common would be "*Da kann ich genauso mit der Wand reden!*" (I could also talk to the wall)


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## Hakro

*Finnish:* 
On kuin puhuisi seinälle. 
(It's like speaking to a wall.)


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## kios_01

In Tagalog, we would usually say:

*Párang walâ akóng kaúsap ha.*
- It's like I'm talking to no one.

Or if you want to "wall" expression, you could say:

*Pára akong nakikipag-úsap sa padér.*
- It's like I'm talking to a wall.


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## daoxunchang

I've read this sentence often: 对着空气说话 talk to the air. But I don't think it's an expression with a long history. Maybe a loan expression.
In my dialect we have a very similar expression to your sentence: 对壁讲(话) (just a single-syllable word 壁, instead of the Mandarin two-syllable word 墙壁), and in Mandarin Pinyin: dui4 bi4 jiang3 (hua4)
In our four-character idiom collections, we have expressions like: 对牛弹琴 (playing qin, an instrument, to a cow)emphasising more on the stupidity and lack of comprehension power of the listener than his indifference.


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## Q-cumber

Etcetera said:


> Another phrase in Russian which conveys pretty much the same meaning is Как об ст*е*нку гор*о*х / Kak ob st*e*nku gor*o*kh (literally, like throwing peas to a wall).



Hmm...In my opinion, the meanings are close, but aren't the same, although these two expressions are often interchangeable.

_"Я как-будто со стенкой разговариваю"_ (It's like I'm talking to a wall) = Here we compare an indifferent listener to inanimate object (a wall) . A wall is insensible, it can't hear you.
....However, there is another proverb in Russian ("Стены имеют уши!" - Walls have ears! ) 

"(ему что говори, что ни говори), как об стенку горох" (...like throwing peas to a wall) (...Ему хоть кол на голове теши!) = "You can throw many small peas to a wall, again and again..pointless...they are too light to damage a wall".  
    You keep telling to a child: "Don't do that! Don't do that! Don't do that!" However, he continues to do so... *как об стенку горох!*

-


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## yuggoth

This expression is usual in Spanish too (in fact it looks very universal):
_"Le dije que me prestara atención:* ¡Como si le hablara a la pared!"*_
I told him to pay me attention (and it was)* Just like if I were speaking to the wall!*
Or 
_*Como si hablara con la pared *_(like if I were talwing with the wall).
A similar one:
*Como quien oye llover* ( Like who is hearing to rain).= Not to pay attention.
_*Como si predicara en el desierto *_(Like if I were preaching at the desert).
And so on...


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## irene.acler

In *Italian*: è come se stessi parlando con i muri!


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## Etcetera

Hope you wouldn't mind some minor corrections.


Q-cumber said:


> _"Я как будто со стенкой разговариваю"_


No hyphen is needed between как and будто. 



> "(ему что говори, что ние говори),


[/quote]

Yes, the meaning of the sentences is slightly different, but I believe Lillita is interested not only in literal translations of the phrase "It's like talking to a brick wall", but also in other phrases with the same (or quite the same) meaning which exist in other languages.


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## Lillita

Etcetera said:


> Yes, the meaning of the sentences is slightly different, but I believe Lillita is interested not only in literal translations of the phrase "It's like talking to a brick wall", but also in other phrases with the same (or quite the same) meaning which exist in other languages.


 
That's right!


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## panjabigator

In Hindi: /divaaro.n se baat karnii/
In Panjabi: /buheaa.n naal gall karnii/


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## Marga H

Polish:*Mówić jak do ściany.* ( It's like talking to the wall.)
Also:* Rzucać grochem o ścianę. *( Throwing peas to the wall - similar to Russian )
Also we have the saying : *Gadał dziad do obrazu, a **obraz do niego ani razu. *It rhymes, but you can say only first part. ( The old man was talking to a picture, but the picture has never talked to him.)


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## Q-cumber

Etcetera said:


> Hope you wouldn't mind some minor corrections.
> 
> No hyphen is needed between как and будто.



Right! My bad!


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## Tolovaj_Mataj

Slovene: *kot da bi govoril zidu*. (it's like talking to a wall.)


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## rivei

daoxunchang said:


> I've read this sentence often: 对着空气说话 talk to the air.
> 
> In my dialect we have a very similar expression to your sentence: 对壁讲(话) (just a single-syllable word 壁, instead of the Mandarin two-syllable word 墙壁), and in Mandarin Pinyin: dui4 bi4 jiang3 (hua4)


 
In southern part of China, where we use the dialect Cantonese, we also say:对住空气讲野,talk to the air.And the other is : 对住道墙讲嘢,talk to a brick wall. But the pronunciation is quite different from the Madarin, and more complicated. 

And in here,we have a two-part allegorical saying:牛皮灯笼——点极唔明(the lantern made from cowskin cannot be lit).In Cantonese, the word 明 has both the meanings "light" and "understand". Usually the second part "点极唔明" is omitted. This saying is often refer to those who don't understand what you are talking about again and again.


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## Alijsh

*Persian:* engâr [dâram] bâ divâr harf mizanam (you'd think/as if I'm talking to a wall)


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## daoxunchang

rivei said:


> In southern part of China, where we use the dialect Cantonese, we also say:对住空气讲野,talk to the air.And the other is : 对住道墙讲嘢,talk to a brick wall. But the pronunciation is quite different from the Madarin, and more complicated.


Why do I often find that we have very similar elements in my dialect and Cantonese?
Actually, we often say so in our dialect: 对到个墙讲话


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## cherine

In Araic it can be : 
كأني أكلم الحائط ka2anni  ukallimu 'l-7aa2iT (As if I were speaking to the wall). We'd change the pronoun of course to suit the person who's "suffering" the lack of reactions.



yuggoth said:


> _*Como si predicara en el desierto *_(Like if I were preaching at the desert).


This reminded me of another saying we have:
مثل الأذان في مالطا mithlu 'l-adhán fí Malta (like a call for [Muslim] prayer in Malta).
A slight variation:
كأننا نؤذن في مالطا ka2annana nu2adhdhinu fi Malta (as if we're calling for the [Muslim] prayer in Malta).


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## yuggoth

cherine said:


> In Araic it can be :
> كأني أكلم الحائط ka2anni ukallimu 'l-7aa2iT (As if I were speaking to the wall). We'd change the pronoun of course to suit the person who's "suffering" the lack of reactions.
> 
> 
> This reminded me of another saying we have:
> مثل الأذان في مالطا mithlu 'l-adhán fí Malta (like a call for [Muslim] prayer in Malta).
> A slight variation:
> كأننا نؤذن في مالطا ka2annana nu2adhdhinu fi Malta (as if we're calling for the [Muslim] prayer in Malta).


This one is very funny, not willing to mock about Muslims. And reaffirms me in a theory about the pittoresque Arabic expresions.
Ah! Still an other one in Spanish, referring to bricks:

"_*Un ladrillo me haría más caso.*_" = A brick would pay me more attention. (than you, he, she, etc.)


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## Maja

In Serbian:

Kao da pričam zidu (as if I'm talking to the wall).


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## Thomas1

Marga H said:


> Polish:*Mówić jak do ściany.* ( It's like talking to the wall.)
> Also:* Rzucać grochem o ścianę. *( Throwing peas to the wall - similar to Russian )
> Also we have the saying : *Gadał dziad do obrazu, a **obraz do niego ani razu. *It rhymes, but you can say only first part. ( The old man was talking to a picture, but the picture has never talked to him.)


Another option:
_Mówić jak do słupa._ It's like talking to a post.


Tom


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## linguist786

I've never heard the phrase being used in *Urdu*, but I guess it would be perfectly understood if translated from English to Urdu. It would be something like:

/goyaa divaaroN se baat kar rahaaN huuN/ 
_[(It's)as though I'm talking to a wall]_

Similarly in *Gujarati*:

/jaaNe ke divaaL saathé vaat karu ChuN/


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## suslik

In Estonian:

See on nagu seinaga rääkimine - it's like talking to a wall


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## kusurija

In Czech:
S Tebou je řeč jak rozprávka (It's talk as ~_dialog_ with You).
Hučet jak do pařezu (to hum as to a (tree)stump).
These means, that partner seems be not hearing as You talk with him.

Jak když hrách na stěnu hází/Jakoby hrách na stěnu házel. (as though throwing peas to a wall) These means, that partner seems be not hearing Your's desires or notes.

In Lithuanian:
Ar aš čia su siena kalbu? (Am I speaking with a wall here?)

Kaip nuo žąsies vanduo (as though water from goose('s surface))
This is analogue to_ throwing peas to a wall_ in other languages.


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## elroy

cherine said:


> In Araic it can be :
> كأني أكلم الحائط ka2anni ukallimu 'l-7aa2iT (As if I were speaking to the wall). We'd change the pronoun of course to suit the person who's "suffering" the lack of reactions.


 In Palestinian Arabic we say زي اللي بحكي مع حيط (_zay illi biHki ma` HéT_) - "like someone who's talking to a wall."


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## melancholy__

I love how awesome the other languages look. Especially زي اللي بحكي مع حيط. lol

But anyway. *contribution*
In Tagalog (Filipino), it's roughly "Para naman akong kumakausap sa pader." Or "Para naman ang kausap ko ay pader."

Both mean the same thing though. Or at least I think so.. xD


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## emm1366

Español:

Es como hablarle a la pared.
Es como hablar con una pared.


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## OldAvatar

In Romanian:

_Parcă vorbesc cu pereţii._
It seemes I'm talking to the walls.


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## Trinite

We say "autant parler à un mur" (the wall idea), but also something more poetic: "comme si je pissais dans un violon"; "as if I peed in a violin"!


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## Encolpius

kusurija said:


> In Czech:
> S Tebou je řeč jak rozprávka (It's talk as ~_dialog_ with You).
> Hučet jak do pařezu (to hum as to a (tree)stump).
> These means, that partner seems be not hearing as You talk with him.
> 
> Jak když hrách na stěnu hází/Jakoby hrách na stěnu házel. (as though throwing peas to a wall) These means, that partner seems be not hearing Your's desires or notes.



I think it would be very strange if the wall idiom didn't exist in Czech. 

mluvit do zdi = lit.: talk into the wall

it does exist of course


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## ilocas2

Slovak:

hovoriť do steny - to speak into wall


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