# hole (metaphorical)



## ThomasK

This is a thread I have developed from the previous one. Here I'd like to focus on all kinds of metaphorical uses of 'hole' (etc.) ? 

I think of 
- _een gat in het geheugen_ (in our memory)
- _in de gaten gaten_ (to watch, to keep in the 'eye-holes', I guess)
- _een gat in de lucht springen_ (to jump a hole in the air - which means one is overjoyed)
- _mijn gat - wie zijn gat verbrandt, moet op de blaren zitten (my bottom/..._ (very informal!) -- S/he who burns his ass (hole), must sit on the leaves)
- _een gat in de begroting_ (a hole in the budget [planning])

Where else do you see metaphorical F _trous_, German _Löcher_, It _buca_/ _buca_, Czech _dír_-, ...


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## apmoy70

In Greek:
*Hole*: «Τρύπα» ('tripa _f._); Classical feminine noun «τρῦπα» ('trūpă)-->_hole_, PIE base *ter- (3), _hole_.
Metaphorical holes (a couple I have in mind):
*A hole in the water*: «Μια τρύπα στο νερό» (mi'a 'tripa sto ne'ro)-->_when everything we do is in vain, all we are doing is to try to drill a hole in the water_.
"*[He/she] Has a hole in the pocket*: «Έχει τρύπια τσέπη» ('eçi 'tripia 'tsepi)-->_it is said for people who are spendthrift_.

[ç] is a voiceless palatal fricative


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## ThomasK

So not κενό, the one you mentioned referring to the market? 

Nice expressions. The second one sounds familiar indeed. Thanks!


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## Copperknickers

I probably don't need to explain the meaning of the popular Celtic expression 'get your hole' talking about young men and certain actions involving young women. In fact, the word 'hole' can mean just about any orifice in the human body in British slang for obvious reasons.


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## ThomasK

That one, yes, I could guess, but no other ones ? ;-)


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## sakvaka

We *Finns *distinguish between pits/holes in the ground (_kuoppa_), nests or pits / other kinds of holes in trees/anything solid... (_kolo_) and holes that go all the way through something relatively thin (_reikä_). I think you were referring to the last one.

_porsaanreikä_ 'pig's hole' = something in a law/contract/plan that lets (usually unauthorized) people take advantage of it, contrary to its original purpose

_Google löysi Suomen lainsäädännöstä porsaanreiän, joka antaa luvan katunäkymien levittämiseen Internetissä._

_reikä reikä _'hole hole' = sharp (_very informal_)

_Tavataanko kello kolme reikä reikä?_


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## ThomasK

Very interesting, those _pig's holes_, we'd call them _*mazen in het net*_, holes in a fishnet, allowing fish to escape whereas of course nets - and contracts, etc. - are meant to 'catch' everything (frrom fish to people subject to contracts, rules, etc.), leaving them no space. I do not find references to pig holes in English though, only to loopholes... 

I am not so sure I understand the 'hole hole' business: does it refer to the red-light district ? ;-)


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## sakvaka

Nope, they refer to the similarity between 0:s and holes on paper. 

15:00


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## ThomasK

I am sorry, had not understood: too subtle, I am afraid ! ;-)


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## Montesacro

ThomasK said:


> I think of
> - _een gat in het geheugen_ (in our memory)



In Italian we say _un vuoto di memori_a (literally "a void of memory")


ThomasK said:


> - _een gat in de begroting_ (a hole in the budget [planning])



In Italian _un buco di bilancio_ ("a hole in the budget/balance")


apmoy70 said:


> In Greek:
> 
> Metaphorical holes (a couple I have in mind):
> *A hole in the water*: «Μια τρύπα στο νερό» (mi'a 'tripa sto ne'ro)-->_when everything we do is in vain, all we are doing is to try to drill a hole in the water_.


The same expression exists in Italian: _fare un buco nell'acqua_ ("to make a hole in the water")


apmoy70 said:


> "*[He/she] Has a hole in the pocket*: «Έχει τρύπια τσέπη» ('eçi 'tripia 'tsepi)-->_it is said for people who are spendthrift_.



In Italian: _avere le mani bucate_ (literally "to have _holed_ hands")



Copperknickers said:


> I probably don't need to explain the meaning of the popular Celtic expression 'get your hole' talking about young men and certain actions involving young women. In fact, the word 'hole' can mean just about any orifice in the human body in British slang for obvious reasons.



That reminds me of a popular saying, whose meaning is basically that men don't have to be excessively "selective" in choosing a woman, since _ogni buco è pertugio_ (roughly "every hole is a hole"). The aforementioned saying is not supposed to be uttered in front of women, of course...

Other metaphorical uses of _buco/buca_:
- _non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco_ ("not all doughnuts come out well with a hole"): not all attempts are successful.
- _non cavare un ragno dal buco_ ("not take out a spider from a hole"): not be able to achieve a positive result, however minimal it may be.
- _mi è andata buca_ (roughly "I went hole"): it means "I failed".


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## DearPrudence

In French:

hole = *trou*

_een gat in het geheugen_ (in our memory)
*avoir un trou (de mémoire)* : your mind is a blank/goes blank

_een gat in de begroting_ (a hole in the budget [planning])
*un trou dans le budget *: budget deficit

Others:

*avoir un trou dans son emploi du temps *: to have a gap in your timetable
*un trou (perdu)* (colloquial) : a godforsaken place
*le trou* (colloquial) : prison
*faire son trou* (colloquial) : to carve out a niche for oneself
*boire comme un trou *: drink like a fish
*trou d’air* : air pocket


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## ThomasK

Great, both of you. I don't know what the _air pocket/ trou d'air_ are though, and I have not found it yet.


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## Maroseika

Russian: дырка от бублика - a hole of a doughnut-shaped bread roll. It means nothing.
Дырявые руки (holed hands), дырявая память (holed memory) = дырявая голова (holed head) - like in other languages, and maybe originate from the same source.


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## Tamar

In Hebrew hole is חור [khor]

We too have חור בזיכרון [khor ba-zikaron] - a hole in your memory

חור בכיס [khor ba-kis] a hole in your pocket, it means you're broke. 

איזה חור! [eze khor] - what a hole! - a godforsaken place

חור בראש [khor ba-rosh] - a hole in the head. 
Having a hole in the head means you have a headache. For example: 
הוא מדבר כל כך הרבה, הוא עושה לי חור הראש - he talks so much, he's giving "a hole in the head" = He's giving me a headache.


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## ThomasK

Maroseika said:


> Russian: дырка от бублика - a hole of a doughnut-shaped bread roll. It means nothing.
> Дырявые руки (holed hands), дырявая память (holed memory) = дырявая голова (holed head) - like in other languages, and maybe originate from the same source.


Is the first a metaphor for 'nothing'? Would you have a picture of a didpika (if that is a correct transcription)? 
The second group refers to people not being able to keep things, to rmember things, I guess, kind of metonyms? (Thanks !)


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## ilocas2

Czech:

díra - hole

used pejoratively for a village or town, it means that there are not enough shops, restaurants, jobs etc.


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## ThomasK

But not more? I must say that I can' t really guess why those villages or places are called holes: for their emptiness ?


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## ilocas2

díra v zákoně - hole in the law - something in a law that lets people take advantage of it
díra v rozpočtu - hole in the budget


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## ThomasK

Tamar said:


> In Hebrew hole is חור [khor]
> 
> חור בכיס [khor ba-kis] a hole in your pocket, it means you're broke.
> 
> איזה חור! [eze khor] - what a hole! - a godforsaken place
> 
> חור בראש [khor ba-rosh] - a hole in the head.
> Having a hole in the head means you have a headache.


 
These three are quite new to me, though we know something like 'een godvergeten gat' (a Godforgotten hole) in Dutch. 

Could _Khorvat/ Horvat /chorbah_ (which means 'ruins', so I learnt) have to do with holes ? I had a look because the /khor/ somehow looked familiar.


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## ThomasK

ilocas2 said:


> díra v zákoně - hole in the law - something in a law that lets people take advantage of it


I see, yes, the loopholes in the law, I guess (similar expression in Finnish).


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## Maroseika

ThomasK said:


> Is the first a metaphor for 'nothing'? Would you have a picture of a didpika (if that is a correct transcription)?


Бублик is bublik. The saying is used like "you will get a hole of the bublik".





> The second group refers to people not being able to keep things, to rmember things, I guess, kind of metonyms?


Exactly.


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## ThomasK

Great information. I'd never refer to the middle as a hole in that case, but it is interesting. (But I need to study my Cyrillic letters...)


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## Tamar

> Could Khorvat/ Horvat /chorbah (which means 'ruins', so I learnt) have to do with holes ? I had a look because the /khor/ somehow looked familiar.


They are not connected, although I like your idea 

"Ruin(s)" in Hebrew is חורבה [khurba] (the dictionary says it's [khurba], but I never say that way) or חורבות [khurbot] (חורבה is sg. חורבות is plural).
Btw, I say [khurva] and [khurvot].

חור is from the root חרר kh.r.r (don't ask me how, I'm not that great with Hebrew linguistics). Root חרר has the meaning of "making a hole" (לחורר [lekhorer] is to make a hole). 

חורבה or חורבות are from the חרב kh.r.b which has the meaning of destroying 
לחרב [lekharev] or להחריב [lehakhriv] mean to destroyed, to ruin and
חורבן [khurban] is "destruction".


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## ThomasK

I see, thanks, had just been wondering. But any other metaphorical 'holes' (or words based on that stem) welcome. I just thought that the word sounded familiar.


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## Copperknickers

Another English one is 'to dig oneself out of a hole', which means to make a problem even worse by trying to get out of it.


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