# Metaphors for stealing



## ThomasK

In the thread on thieves and robbers, stealing and robbing, j-p-c listed quite some words referring to metaphors, or euphemisms, for stealing:

 "*Subtiliser*" is very stealthy, "subtil" being the opposite adjective to "grossier" or coarse.

"*Dérober*" as already given, stealthy as would be required to steal someone's dress (robe). Note that it's also a reflexive verb as in "Les choses se dérobent à mon regard" (things escape my sight) or "Il se dérobe à la poursuite" (he escapes pursuit). Note the root "rob".

"*Dévaliser*", less crafty, as in stealing a luggage (valise), applied mainly to bank or jewelry store robbery.

"*Détrousser*" carries the idea of ripping up a package (trousseau) and is applied to stealing from travelers.(English "to truss", pack tightly)

_He also mentioned "cambrioler", to steal by forceful entry into a building (chambre = room), whereas that is more a matter of etymology maybe than a real metaphors._

He also mentioned more verbs like _soustraire, escamoter, ravir, rapiner, chaparder, dépouiller, barboter, spolier, chouraver, faucher, piquer, rafler_, "vol à la tire" (grabbing something from a pedestrian)", etc... More comment on those is welcome.

How about metaphors/ euphemisms in your language?


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## ThomasK

In Dutch we have "*verduisteren*", "obscuring" literally (mostly used with respect to money), "*ontvreemden*" (to render strange literally, more stylish, formal), "pikken" (no big stuff, little things  --- but we don't have a word like "pikzakken" (pickpockets), only "zakkenrollers" (pocketrollers) or older: "gauwdieven" ('gauw', fast, referring to  speed of course)...


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## j-p-c

ThomasK, just to be clear, most are not metaphors or euphemisms, but bona fide synonyms of "stealing", each with its own peculiar nuance.

"Soustraire" might be considered a metaphor, with a first meaning of "to substract", together with "escamoter" (to make disappear) and "dépouiller" (to skin an animal).

Only "chouraver, piquer, faucher" are slang.

Real euphemisms/slang would be "taxer, soulager, taper, sucrer, etc...", here's a nonexhaustive list:

voler, dérober, prendre indûment


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## ThomasK

sShall we agree to disagree? I think that somehow they are metaphors and/or euphemisms ("obscurcir"), but OK, they are no longer "felt" as such... For example: from your explanation I gather that it is no longer referring to "robes" only, so... No?

What is the root word in _escamoter_ in fact?

As for the link: quite, quite interesting, but I can't find the explanation of the signs, the colours, rightaway. Can you help?


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## j-p-c

Agree to disagree is a wonderful concept !

I understand a euphemism as the use of a weaker word's CURRENT meaning instead of a stronger one...

I had to look it up, "escamoter" from Spanish "escamotar", to switch the places of things.

The link: no idea about the colours, and I admit some entries are a little far-fetched !  : )


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## ThomasK

Thanks. As for euphemisms: I am not sure I can follow. To me it means referring to some painful, sad, ... reality in such a (linguistic) way that the seriousness(strength???) of the facts are toned down. One of my 'favourites' is: _underprivileged, défavorisé_ - or _beperking_ (limit) in Dutch, while referring to handicaps.


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## j-p-c

To me a euphemism occurs whenever I say "less" than my intended meaning, like "borrow" for "steal".

I am never late to a meeting, only "chronologically challenged". : )


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## bibax

In Czech we use:

*štípnout* = to pinch, to give a pinch;

_Štípla_ ho _acc._ do tváře. = She pinched him in [his] face.
_Štípla_ mu _dat._ peněženku _acc_. = She pinched (= stole) his wallet.

*otočit* = to turn, to reverse;

_Otočil_ stránku. = He turned the page (also metaphorically).
V knihovně _otočil_ knihu. = In the library he turned (= stole) a book.

*přivlastnit si* (reflexive *si* in dative) = to appropriate [to oneself];

_Přivlastnil si_ ten nápad = He appropriated the idea (= he stole the idea).

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_"Borrowing"_ is a stock excuse, commonly used by child and teen thieves. They always intend to give the stolen things back, of course. IMHO it works in all languages.


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## apmoy70

Greek:

*«Βουτάω, -τώ»* [vuˈta.o] (uncontracted)/[vuˈto] (contracted) --> _to dive, dip, plunge_
E.g: *«Της βούτηξε το δαχτυλίδι»* [tis ˈvutik͡se to ðaxtiˈliði] --> _(he) plunged her ring_

*«Γδέρνω»* [ˈɣðerno] --> _to flay, graze, scrape, nick_
Ε.g: *«O εγγονός έγδαρε τη γιαγιά του»* [o eŋgoˈnos ˈeɣðaɾe ti ʝaˈʝa tu] --> _the grandson nicked his grandmother_

Euphemism:

*«Απαλλοτριώνω»* [apalotriˈono] --> _to expropriate_
E.g: *«Απαλλοτρίωσαν ένα δις»* [apaloˈtri.osan ˈena ðis] --> _They expropriated one billion_


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## ThomasK

j-p-c said:


> To me a euphemism occurs whenever I say "less" than my intended meaning, like "borrow" for "steal".
> 
> I am never late to a meeting, only "chronologically challenged". : )


 Well, an understatement is not the same as for me, as in "You're not that good" when meaning "You're bad"; this is a euphemism at the same time, but not all understatements are euphemisms, I think. But Ok, forget it, we seem to mean about the same thing.


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## j-p-c

ThomasK said:


> Well, an understatement is not the same as for me, as in "You're not that good" when meaning "You're bad"; this is a euphemism at the same time, but not all understatements are euphemisms, I think. But Ok, forget it, we seem to mean about the same thing.



To be pedant in a friendly way, a double negative (not bad) replacing a positive (good) is called a "litote".
A euphemism replaces a word with an unrelated one ("passing away" for "dying") to soften the statement.
An understatement really misrepresents the truth (He's not well, when "he" is dead).
Then there's the meiosis combining the two above, like calling a recently concluded war "the late unpleasantness".

I'm just learning this, and isn't it fun ?


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## ThomasK

I suddenly thought: we are looking for eu-phe-misms (good-speaking about bad things, to make it simple). And one can create euphemisms using a litotes, an understatement, a meiosis (not heard of, I must admit). No?

Greek/ Czech: I thought of the Greek *Απαλλοτριώνω;* it reminds me of the Dutch _*ontvreemden*_ _(making something strange). _and the Czech *přivlastnit si (*_does it contain a root like *privacy, être privé de)*_. _I_ do not seem to recognize the basic meanings of the other two in Dutch (but that does not mean anything). But the scraping suddenly reminds me of poachers, whom we refer to as *stropers*, the skinners, literally, which is of course some form of stealing... The reference to turning in Czech sounds familiar (maybe there is a link with _*zakkenrollers*_, pickpockets [pocket rollers = turners), but I suppose we link it more with cheating...


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## Perseas

Another euphimistic mataphor for a thief is "ελαφροχέρης" (= he who has a light hand).


ThomasK said:


> Greek...: I thought of the Greek *Απαλλοτριώνω;* it reminds me of the Dutch _*ontvreemden*_ _(making something strange). _


Yes that's right. Actually *αλλοτριώνω* means "make something strange" (Ger. "entfremden").


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## Cenzontle

"It fell off a truck."
"The five-finger discount."


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## ThomasK

Thanks, but would you have verbs, (near-)synonyms of stealing or robbing?


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## bibax

In Czech we also say:

*koupit za pět prstů* = to buy sth for five fingers;

_Koupil_ to za 5 babek. = He bought it for 5 bucks.
_Koupil_ to za pět prstů. = He bought it for five fingers (= he stole it).

*přivlastniti si* (to appropriate) is indeed derived from *vlastní* = proper (like in _vlastní jméno_ = proper name);

there are also legal terms *odciziti* and *zciziti* from *cizí* = somebody else's, strange, foreign, alien;
*odciziti* = to steal, it is mostly used in the police reports and court files instead of the common verb *(u)krásti*;
*zciziti* = to alienate, zcizení (alienation) is a legal transfer of ownership;


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## ThomasK

This idea/ concept of alienation/appropriation is very general in formal language. Not strange, I suppose... Buying can be considered some kind of irony, I think...


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## Messquito

In Chinese:
順手牽羊 to pick up a goat in passing
It originally referred to that act of taking advantage of someone when you have a passing chance. But nowadays, instead of *advantage*, we see the 羊(goat) now as some more concrete thing, the whole phrase coming to mean "snatching actual things when you have a chance (i.e. when nobody is paying attention to you), namely, stealing"


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## ThomasK

Do you also use verbs only like "to obscure" to refer to stealing and robbing?


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## Messquito

Not that I know of. But it can be the other way round -- "steal" can mean to do something secretly.
e.g. 偷 means steal
偷看＝sneak a peek
偷玩＝to play secretly
I think it's somewhat like "stealthy" in English.


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## ThomasK

INteresting verbs, thanks. I suppose you add a kanji/... to express the stealthy aspect...


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## djmc

In BE one of the commonest terms is pinch. From the trivial 'Please miss he pinched my ruler' which may be said in an infant class, to 'He only pinched half a million pounds'. This is commonly transformed by rhyming slang into 'half-inch', for example 'the burglars half-inched the telly and the hi-fi'. Rhyming slang is often thought to be Cockney (a London dialect) but I think this is common everywhere.


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## franknagy

Hungarian variants: 
_Megfúj_ = to blow.
You can blow a _trumpet_.
So "_trombitának_ nézték" = "Somebody considered it a trumpet" ~ "megfújták" = "it was stolen".
Elemel <- emel = lift.
"Lába kelt" = "It has got leg(s)."


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