Sinhala (සිංහල)
stringlengths
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127
Type of FOS
stringclasses
54 values
Literal / visual image
stringlengths
3
224
Corresponding FOS in English
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5
127
What it really implies
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4
279
Additional Context
stringclasses
125 values
දඬු කඳේ දමනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Putting in the stocks (log)
Put in irons
to be shackled, chained, or confined as a form of punishment or to prevent escape
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ඔන්න මෙන්න කියන්ට ඉස්සර
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Before saying "here there"
Before you could say Jack Robinson
used to say that something happens very quickly
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බබා කෝලම
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Baby mask/dance
Jekyll and Hyde
a person with two very different sides to their personality, one good and the other evil
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ටක් ගාලා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Immediately
In a jiffy
in a very short time
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අබමල් රේණුවක් වත්
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Even a mustard flower pollen
Jot or tittle
used mainly in negative sentences to mean a very small amount
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ඉහි නොමරා සිටිනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Staying without killing a louse
Keep one's countenance
maintain one's composure
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හරි හරියට යනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Going equal to equal
Keep pace with
move or progress at the same speed or rate as
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බාගන කන වළ ඉහගන කනවා
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Digging up the pit used for defecating and eating
Kill the goose that laid the golden egg
to destroy something that makes a lot of money for you
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බයිබලයේ ගසා දිවුරනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Swearing hitting the Bible
Kiss the book
The ceremony of touching the lips to a copy of the Bible, used in administering oaths
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පොළොවේ පස් කනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Eating earth's soil
Kiss the dust or ground
to be defeated, die, or be forced into humble submission
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අන්දුන් කුන්දුන් වෙනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Becoming confused
Knock over
to hit someone with a vehicle and injure or kill them
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පොට දන්නවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Knowing the strand/trick
Know the ropes
to learn/know how to do a job or activity
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යමක් කමක් දන්නවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Knowing something
Know a thing or two
to have acquired knowledge or expertise in a particular area
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ටොක්කක්
[පුද්ගලික]
A knock (on head)
Rap on the knuckle
a reprimand
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ඇඳට වෙලා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Stayed to the bed
Laid up
to be forced to stay in bed because of an illness or accident
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දැන් අන්තිමට
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Now at the end
At last
after much delay
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අවසාන හුස්මෙන්
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
With the last breath
At one's last gasp
a final, desperate effort made at the very last moment before an event ends or a situation concludes
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අන්තිම තැන
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
The last place
On one's last legs
near the end of life, usefulness, or existence
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බහිනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Getting down
Launch out
make a start on a new and challenging enterprise
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රන් පදක්කම් දිනනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Winning gold medals
Win laurels
to achieve distinction, honor, or glory through success or a notable accomplishment
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හිතුවක් කාර
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Headstrong doer
A law unto himself
they behave in an independent way, ignoring laws, rules, or conventional ways of doing thing
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හිතුමතේ ක්‍රියා කරනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Acting on mind's opinion
Take the law into one's own hands
to administer justice as one sees fit without recourse to the usual law enforcement or legal processes
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දිගට හරහට දෙනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Giving length and across
Lay about one
to strike or aim blows in every direction
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ඔට්ටුවක් ගන්නවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Taking a bet
Lay a bet
to back something not to happen
null
පරදුවක් තබනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Placing a wager
Lay a bet
to back something not to happen
null
මහදැනමුතුකම් පානවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Showing traits of "Mahadanamuthu" (Folklore wise man)
Lay down the law
to speak in an authoritative or dogmatic manner
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පලිප්පු දමනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Adding Palippu (garnish)
Lay it on thick
grossly exaggerate or overemphasize something
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බටර ගානවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Smearing butter
Lay it on thick
grossly exaggerate or overemphasize something
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මුරුංගා අත්ත උඩ තියනවා
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Placing on the Drumstick tree branch
Lay it on thick
grossly exaggerate or overemphasize something
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ඕනෑ ඕනැ තාලෙට නටවනවා
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Making dance to whatever style wanted
Lead by the nose
dominate someone
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කැමති අතට හරවා ගන්නවා
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Turning to the liked hand
Lead by the nose
dominate someone
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බහිනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Getting down
Lead up to
to approach (a topic) gradually or cautiously
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තෝන් ලනු
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Thong ropes (Leather ropes)
Leading-strings
excessively restraining guidance
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ලහි ලහියේ
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
In the haste
By leaps and bounds
with unexpectedly rapid progress
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ඇහැ පියාගෙන පනින පිම්මක්
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
A jump jumped closing the eye
A leap in the dark
an action performed without knowledge of the consequences
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යටත් පිරිසෙයින්
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
At the lower crowd/limit
At least
at the minimum
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කථා නොකරන තරමට හොඳයි
[උපදේශ][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Good to the extent not talking
Least said, soonest mended
it is a good idea to say very little, because you might upset someone or make a situation worse if you say too much
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පාඩුවේ ඉන්ට හරිනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Letting to be in loss/quiet
Leave to oneself
be alone or solitary
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කියා යනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Saying and going
Leave word
to leave a message or information for someone
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පැදුරටත් නොකියා යනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Going without telling even the mat
Take French leave
an unauthorized or unannounced absence or departure
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මම ගොහින් එන්නම්
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
I will go and come
Take one's leave
say goodbye
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අඩු මදිකම් හරි ගස්සා ගන්නවා
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Fixing the lack-insufficiencies
Make up leeway
to get back into a good position or situation after one has fallen behind
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ව්‍යාජස්තුති
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Fake praise
Left-handed compliment
a statement that sounds like praise but actually contains an insult or a criticism, or is ambiguous enough to imply something unflattering
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රුකුල් දෙනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Giving support (props)
Give a leg up
to provide assistance to someone to help them improve their situation, gain an advantage, or overcome a challenge
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ඔහොම ඔහොම ගොහින්
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Going like that like that
At length
in depth
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කියායන කියාගන යනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Saying and saying going
Let fly
to give free rein to an emotion
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ඇද බානවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Pulling and unloading
Let fly
to give free rein to an emotion
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වැඩි පද ගහන්ට ගොහින්, තියන හොඳෙත් නැති කර ගන්ට එපා.
[උපදේශ][ප්‍රපංච][විධාන]
Don't go to play extra notes and lose the existing good too
Let well alone
to be content with things as they are and not try to improve them
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වචන මාත්‍රයක් වෙනස් නොකර
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Without changing a word measure
To the letter
following the literal interpretation or wording exactly
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අකුරටම
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
To the letter
To the letter
following the literal interpretation or wording exactly
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නූලටම
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
To the thread
To the letter
following the literal interpretation or wording exactly
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සිහි කල්පනාවෙන් සිටිනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Staying with mind-thought
Keep a level head
to remain calm
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එක පයක් ගොඩ අනික් පය වළේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
One foot on land, the other foot in the pit
Lie at death's door
To be on the brink of dying
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ගොඩ පයයි වළ පයයි
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Land foot and pit foot
Lie at death's door
To be on the brink of dying
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සම්‍යක් ප්‍රයෝගය
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Right/Good trick (Samyak Prayoga)
White lie
a minor or unimportant lie
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මගේ ප්‍රාණය පල්ල
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
By my life
For the life of me
even though my life were at stake on it
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අලුත් පණක්
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
A new life
New lease of life
another chance to lead a happy life, be successful, etc. because of a new turn of events
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නව යෞවනය
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
New youth
Prime of life
the most mature, healthy, and vigorous period of a person's life, when they are at the peak of their physical and mental powers and vitality
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ගැට කපන්නෝ
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Knot cutters
Light-fingered
someone with quick, dexterous fingers who is prone to stealing, especially via pickpocketing or shoplifting
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අත ගාගන යන්නෝ
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Those who go groping/touching
Light-fingered
someone with quick, dexterous fingers who is prone to stealing, especially via pickpocketing or shoplifting
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තලු මරනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Killing the palate (Smacking lips)
Smack the lips
to close and open your mouth loudly to express a strong wish to eat something you like a lot
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සකල සබ්බ සමඟ.
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
With all and everything
Lock, stock and barrel
including everything
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නයා පොළඟා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like the cobra and the viper
At loggerheads
to strongly disagree
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කුඩ මිටි හරවා ගත් ගමන්
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
As soon as umbrella handles were turned
At loggerheads
to strongly disagree
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ආදි කාලේ
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Ancient time
Long ago
in the distant past
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වැල් වටාරම් සහිත
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
With vine windings
Long-winded
tediously long in speaking or writing
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පිදුරු ගොඩේ ඉඳි කටුවක් සොයනවා
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Searching for a needle in a straw pile
Look for a needle in a haystack
someone or something that is very hard to find
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ළිඳේ වැටුණු ඉඳිකටුව සොයනවා
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Searching for the needle fallen in the well
Look for a needle in a haystack
someone or something that is very hard to find
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නිකම් ලැබෙන අඩමේ මායිම බලනවා
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Looking at the boundary of the free estate
Look a gift horse in the mouth
to look in a critical way at something that has been given to one
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දැක්කා නොදැක්කා වගේ ඉන්නවා
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Staying like saw-not-saw
Look the other way
to deliberately ignore something unpleasant, immoral, or illegal that is happening when you should be trying to deal with it or stop it from happening
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සවාරියේ
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
On the safari/trip
On the loose
free because they have escaped from a person or place
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ජය පිට ජය
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Victory on victory
Run of luck
a continuous period of either good fortune
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කුස පත් අදිනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Drawing straw leaves (Kusa grass)
Draw lots
to decide an issue by using lots
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දාදු දමනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Throwing dice
Draw lots
to decide an issue by using lots
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එක ගොඩට
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
To one pile
In a lump sum
an amount of money that is paid in one large amount on one occasion
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උකුසු ඇස් ඇති
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Having hawk eyes
Lynx-eyed
having keen sight
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කුලප්පුවූ ගොන්නාම්බකු සේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like a provoked bull
Mad as a March hare
extremely silly or stupid
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මද වැටුණු ඇතා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Elephant in musth
*Mad as a March hare
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කුළුඳුල් කථාව
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
First-born story
Maiden speech
the first speech made in a legislature by a newly elected member
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හා පුරා ගමන
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
"Ha Pura" journey (Auspicious start)
Maiden voyage
the first voyage of a vessel
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ඔළුව උඩ තියා ගන්නවා
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Keeping on top of the head
Make a fuss of
you pay them a lot of attention and do things to make them happy or comfortable
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හුවා දක්වනවා.
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Showing by lifting
Make much of
to give importance to
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කාපුදේත් එළියට එනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
What was eaten also comes out
Make one's gorge rise
to evoke violent anger or strong disgust
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අගක් මුලක් සොයන්ට නුපුළුවන්
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Unable to find an end or root
Not make head or tail of
to be unable to understand or decipher
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අතුගා දමනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Sweeping away
Make a clean sweep
Remove or eliminate unwanted persons or things
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පිරිමසා ගන්නවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Stroking/Managing
Make do with
manage with the limited or inadequate means available
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ඇස් ගහනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Hitting the eye
Make eyes at
to look at someone with sexual interest
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කල දුටු කල වළ ඉහයන්
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
When time seen, bail the pit
Make hay while the sun shines
to take full advantage of an opportunity
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දත් ඇතිදා පොල් කන්ට කීවාලු
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
Said to eat coconut on the day teeth exist
Make hay while the sun shines
to take full advantage of an opportunity
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සුළුවට ගන්නවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Taking to smallness
Make light of
to treat as insignificant or trifling
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අදි මදි නොකරනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Not pulling-hesitating
Make no bones
talk openly about it, rather than trying to keep it a secret
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අතුරුදහන් වෙනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Disappearing
Make oneself scarce
to go or stay away
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අලංකාරෙට කරනවා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Doing for decoration
Make a splash
to attract great, often brief attention by doing something striking or ostentatious
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සල්ලි සල්ලි කියලා නොබලා "ෂෝක් කරනවා "
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Doing "shock" (showing off) without looking at money saying "money money"
Make a splash
to attract great, often brief attention by doing something striking or ostentatious
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කළු හාමිගේ පියා දෑවැද්ද දුන්නා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like Kaluhamy's father gave the dowry
Make a virtue of necessity
to make the best of a difficult or unsatisfactory situation
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නිකමා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Useless one
A man of straw
a man who does not have the ability or the courage necessary to carry out a particular task or to fulfil a particular role
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පඹයා
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Scarecrow
A man of straw
a man who does not have the ability or the courage necessary to carry out a particular task or to fulfil a particular role
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එක වචනයේ මනුෂ්‍යයෙක්
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
A man of one word
A man of his word
always keep their promises and can be relied on
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යමක් කමක් දන්නා කෙනෙක්
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Someone who knows something
A man of the world
always keep their promises and can be relied on
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සරමට වඩා හයිය කම්බාය
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
The Camboy (woman's cloth) is stronger than the Sarong
The grey mare
The wife rules, or is more competent than, the husband
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