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Levity from an Idiom Lesson

December 28, 2023
By Samantha, Arrive Ministries St. Cloud Area Director:
 
Recently, a Somali mom was at our office for a sewing class and when I asked her a question, the woman called me a “pain in the butt” and slapped my butt.
 
This is a pain in the butt” about a sewing project
That English phrase had organically become the English lesson that day during our sewing class after my mom used the idiom “this is a pain in the butt” about a sewing project, and the beginner English learners thought it was hilarious!
 
Then, through an interpreter the Somali mom told me that in truth “Sam is actually like a daughter to me, and that Sam is “on the top of my head,” a Somali idiom that she taught me to mean, “someone that is important to them.”
 

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Arrive Ministries is a refugee resettlement agency providing essential services and practical assistance to refugees and immigrants to advance self-sufficiency. We mobilize volunteers, in partnership with local churches, to extend love and friendship to our new neighbors to promote thriving in a new homeland.

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