I've always found once upon a time infinitely unimaginative :)
In Slovak we say - behind the seven mountains and seven valleys, where water is strewn and sand is poured :)
I have done a few threads of these in the past and would do another big one now but I’m in the middle of moving so don’t have use of my computer (or internet connected yet). But I’ll now add a few more that I know off the top of my head from my phone (just for you!)
There’s an old Turkish version of “once upon a time” that goes develer tellal pireler berber iken. It means “when camels were town criers and fleas were barbers”
5. When animals talked and people kept quiet (Catalan)
4. When snakes wore vests (Iberian Spanish)
3. When potatoes were pale blue (Brusselian)
2. Long long ago, when goat hair was grey (Kazakh)
1. In the old times, when wishing still helped (German)
Fado, Fado (Long and long ago)
In the days when geese walked bareshod...
In the dawn of the world, when God was a boy...
In the days when the Kings drank wine at Tara...
Another fun colloquial Catalan way of saying once upon a time is quan Judes era fadrí i sa mare festejava. It means “when Giuda was single and his mother was dating”
I used to have a coworker who was known for suggesting lots of complexities and extra elements for simple plans that didn't need anything else. Lots of effort was involved, but very little utility. I wish I'd known 'the wheel is spinning but the hamster's dead' back then, it would have been perfect.
For those wondering about international story closers, I’ll add that there’s an endearingly no-nonsense German version of “they lived happily ever after” that goes as follows… und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute. It means “and if they didn’t die, they’re still alive today”
I really like it though because in some tales people wish unthingingly or for the wrong things, i.e. in Hans My Hedgehog the husband wishes for a baby even if it´s a hedgehog and voila his wife gives birth to a human-hedgehog hybrid.
In Czech, children's stories kick off with "Bylo, nebylo..." which literally means "It was, it wasn't."
It's like starting a story with "Yeah, this sorta happened, but not really. But like, maybe?"
Perfect for when you want to tell a wild tale but don’t really feel like committing to the details.
Had to look him up. Only know his name as a "Higher up" under Caesar and a historian. I was thinking maybe Jung? I have and do use this line from time to time. Combined honours in English and Religious studies (did a lot with that !) , so, big framing mechanism for me.
Far north of the Jutland, Denmark; something along the lines of "Way back when giants were kings [or] walked (or ruled) the earth" . Bit like dinosaurs I guess.
I recall a vulgar little ditty from my childhood, that, in the interests of decorum, I won't repeat in its entirety, but that begins: "once upon a time when birds ate lime and monkeys chewed tobacco ..."
Ken Campbell used to say that in Micronesia they used to start "One man said to another" type jokes with "a flying fox was flying overhead and he heard"...
My favourite up until this point has always been Kinky Friedman's "back when Christ was a cowboy." Now, however, I am going to liven up my reminiscences with "back when tigers smoked pipes." Savage AND sophisticated. 🐅🧡
Comments
In Slovak we say - behind the seven mountains and seven valleys, where water is strewn and sand is poured :)
I learned a new word today. #TIL
5. When animals talked and people kept quiet (Catalan)
4. When snakes wore vests (Iberian Spanish)
3. When potatoes were pale blue (Brusselian)
2. Long long ago, when goat hair was grey (Kazakh)
1. In the old times, when wishing still helped (German)
"When animals talked"
"In the time of the tiger"
"In the time of corked guaraná"
Fado, Fado (Long and long ago)
In the days when geese walked bareshod...
In the dawn of the world, when God was a boy...
In the days when the Kings drank wine at Tara...
Fa molt i molt de temps,
quan els ocells tenien dents
A long long time ago,
when birds had teeth
Which means something like "In the time the guaraná soft drink bottles used cork"
mutashi, mutashi.
A long time ago.
It's like starting a story with "Yeah, this sorta happened, but not really. But like, maybe?"
Perfect for when you want to tell a wild tale but don’t really feel like committing to the details.
"In the old days, when wishes could come true"
Absolute trauma..
This is the "I m like this now ..
"Once like never..."
'Before bacon ruled the Earth'
'Before people had webbed knees'
'Before the nipple was our natural enemy'
Love seeing more styles!
Oh, I'm glad you've done this thread. 😗 I needed it. For reasons. ☺️
It's forever informatively entertaining!!!
"Y' know, back in the day..."
"Okay no, but like see what had happened was..."