Can someone please help me translate this?

Question

These idioms are stumping me. Please help

"to pour oil on troubled waters"

"a flash in a pan"

"a pig in a poke"

"to eat a humble pie"

Answer 1

If it is necessary at sea to smooth out rough waters in an emergency you can pour out oil. It will smooth out the water. A go-between between two people quarreling can be pouring oil on the troubled waters to restore calm.

In days of flintlock muzzle loading rifles the rifle , after being loaded had a priming pan alongside the touch hole which had to be filled with gunpowder. Pulling the trigger sent a spark from the flint into the powder which ignited the charge, firing the rifle. Sometimes the powder in the pan flashed, but did not set off the rifle, therefore a flash in the pan. Or an idea that went nowhere, or a promising person who accomplished nothing.

In olden days people would carry merchandise to a market for sale. A pig might be carried in a bag or poke, and its quality unknown. If you bought the pig unseen you might be getting a bad bargain. Hence buying an idea or something you really had no idea what it really was.

I don't really understand humble pie except to say it is being embarrassed and penitent about something you have said or done while making a big deal about it, then it turns out you are very publicly wrong

Another interesting idiom is going off half ******.Half c**k was a safety feature on old time black powder rifles and pistols. On a loaded weapon you pulled the hammer back halfway and the hammer would lock in that position and would not fire unless you pulled the hammer all the way back. This could/should not ever be trusted, not even on a good weapon, certainly not on a poorly made or badly worn weapon. Someone who comes up with a poorly thought out idea, or who goes charging into a situation without thinking it over is said to be going off half ******.

Answer 2

To pour oil on troubled waters :: Attempt to calm a problematic situation.

Flash in a pan :: Something which disappoints by failing to deliver anything of value, despite a showy beginning.

A pig in a poke :: An offering or deal that is foolishly accepted without being examined first.

To eat a humble pie :: Act submissively and apologetically, especially in admitting an error.