Slovenian Idioms
»Tih kot miška« (as silent as a mouse), »priden kot čebela« (as busy as a bee) – sound familiar to you? These are called idioms, idiomi or frazemi in Slovenian. Idioms are phrases that usually consist of more words which have figurative meaning. They appear in all languages and using them helps us enrich our vocabulary.
Slovenian has some interesting and comic idioms, some of them are very similar to English ones, too. I like in particular that ones with animals. Slovenian is not so »rich« regarding vocabulary in comparison to English and other languages which are spoken by millions of people, but has an impressive amount of idioms, which are surprisingly very often used in everyday conversation.
The language immediately sounds better and enriched when speaking by using idioms. If you are learning Slovenian, try to learn some idioms, too, you’ll definitely impress your Slovenian friends. I prepared a list of Slovenian idioms which are commonly used, and in the table below you will also find a literal translation from Slovenian into English and a real meaning of an idiom. Read just Slovenian idioms and literal translations in English, and try to guess a real meaning then. It can be funny, and maybe you will be astonished.
| SLOVENIAN IDIOM | LITERAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION | MEANING |
| našpičiti ušesa | to prick up one’s ears | to start to listen carefully |
| skočiti si v lase | to jump in each other’s hair | to fight (to argue), to contradict |
| iskati dlako v jajcu | to search for a hair in the egg | to exaggerate in demands |
| iti po gobe | to go to pick mushrooms | to decay, to fall through, to go awry |
| krasti bogu čas | to steal a god’s time | to laze |
| iti rakom žvižgat | to go whistling to the crab | to die, to fall through, to decay |
| kot slon v trgovini s porcelanom | like an elepfant in a china shop | to be clumsy |
| španska vas | a Spanish village | unknown field |
| vedeti kam pes taco moli | to know where a dog puts its paw in | to know what a purpose of speaking is |
| lagati kot pes teče | to lie as a dog runs | to lie often, without any restraints |
| režati se kot pečen maček | to grin like a roast cat | to laugh very much |
| delati iz muhe slona | to make an elephant out of a fly | to exaggerate a lot because of a trifle |
| hoditi spat s kurami | to go to sleep with chickens | to go to bed early |
| počutiti se kot riba na suhem | to feel like a fish out of water | to feel uncomfortable, badly |
| iskati iglo v senu | to look for a needle in a haysteak | to do something with a little hope for results |
| živeti kot ptiček na veji | to live like a birdie on a branch | to live freely, carefree |
| spati kot zajec | to sleep like a rabbit | to sleep lightly |
| biti kot pes in mačka | to be like a dog and cat | to hate each other, to argue |
| kupiti mačka v žaklju | to buy a cat in a sack | to deal for something with unconfirmed origin |
| hoditi kakor mačka okoli vrele kaše | to walk like a cat around a boiling pulp | not to tell the fact |
| ubiti dve muhi na en mah | to kill two flies at one go | to solve two problems with one act |
| zamižati na eno oko | to close one eye | to overlook somebody’s unacceptable act |
| biti na konju | to be on a horse | to succeed, to achieve a goal |
| črno na belem | in black and white | written on a paper, clearly, with a proof |
Donations Appreciated!
