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this concept of being obsessed w ur navel or any part of ur body is totally foreign to english. is this a common way of saying a person is self-centered?
un nombril - navel, belly button
il est très nombriliste. - he is very self-centered
se prendre pour le nombril du monde (inf) - to think very highly of oneself
se regarder le nombril (inf) - to navel-gaze
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Hardly totally foreign to English.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/navel-gazing
Definition of navel-gazing
: useless or excessive self-contemplation
Other parts of the body can be centres for one's attention and are frequently used to describe character traits.
never heard of it in the US.
Surprising .
I can't disagree of course but it does seem to include it here
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/navel-gazing
Perhaps it is less commonly used(it is not particularly common here either).
se regarder le nombril : Not really common but not unusual.
"se prendre pour le nombril du monde" : we rather say "il se prend pour le centre du monde"
nombriliste : unusual. we rather use "egocentrique".
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