Only the gods are beyond *our* comprehension.

[swan_tower]

This is an interesting chart -- we say "it's Greek to me," but what do the Greeks say? (Arabic, it turns out.) What about the Arabs? (Hindi.) And a crap-ton of cultures point at Chinese for sheer buh? factor.

But the punch line? Apparently the only language the Chinese feel is utterly beyond them . . . is the language of Heaven.

Comments

[kendokamel.livejournal.com]

Huh. That's really interesting! I never realized that type of phrase was so universal.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

It isn't the same kind of phrase all the time (as noted below that chart), but close enough that you can graph it for entertainment purposes.