Analogies

Every language has its own proverbs, analogies, and cultural metaphors. Often, a direct translation into another language would leave a person bewildered. "What do you mean I'm beating a dead horse? That seems very inhumane. No, I'm not pulling your leg, I think you'd notice that. Why would I want to be holding a bird and since when is that better than birds hanging out in pairs in bushes? 

        Further complicating these culturally specific phrases would be mixing them up. A friend of mine from college, let's say her name is Jane, has quite the knack for mixing up metaphors. She often tells me to twist her leg when I invite her to do something, or throws out the phrase "when in Rome" as a catch-all excuse. 

        I'm not sure if my coach, Holger, suffers from the same confusion that Jane does, but he has left me scratching my head at several of his motivational speeches. After one match he instructed us to "Shit in the pot and then move it." Everyone sat in silence in an attempt to soak up these words of wisdom, until I finally voiced: "Holger, do you mean Shit or get off the pot?" "Yes Meghan, exactly!" he replied. Some still did not catch on, and to be honest I'm still not sure what he was referring to in a volleyball sense. 

      Typically, after some time, I can link together the phrase he is actually aiming for based on everything else he says, but one analogy he used still escapes me. During a tough match on Saturday there was a small argument about methods and communication on the floor. To silence this tiff, Holger simply screamed DON'T ARGUE! Afterwards, during our post-match pep talk, Holger informed us all that sometimes "you just have to shovel a camel." I have NO idea what he was trying to say, but I'm just going to play it safe and avoid any on-court arguing.