kas lācītim vēderā
Latvian
(1) Kāds gribēja noskaidrot, kas lācītim vēderā
Etymology
Literally “that which is inside a teddy bear’s belly;” compare the first (literal) example below.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [kas.ˈlaːtsiːtim.ˈvæːdæraː]
Noun
kas lācītim vēderā
- the inner workings of something, the nitty-gritty (but unlike "nitty-gritty", this expression does not necessarily imply "rolling one's sleeves up" or "getting one's hands dirty" but rather acquiring conceptual/theoretical knowledge about the inner workings of something)
- Noskaidrosim, kas lācītim vēderā! ― Let's get to the nitty-gritty!
- something said when citing childish interest as reason for taking something (usually, but not limited to, toys) apart, often with catastrophic results
- puisēns uzšķērda māsas lelli, jo gribēja redzēt, kas lācītim vēderā ― the little boy ripped open his sister's doll to see what was inside (lit. what is inside the teddy bear's belly)
- seeing the inner workings of something
- iznākusi jauna datorprogramma! Paskatīsimies, kas tad lācītim vēderā! ― new software has been released! let's see how it works! (lit. let's see what is inside the teddy bear's belly)
- trying to fix something by trial and error with catastrophic results