From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of idioms in the Finnish language. Proverbs and idioms with direct equivalents in the English language (see List of idioms in the English language) are typically excluded.
The sections below do not cover the entire alphabet officially recognised in the Finnish language. The letters B, C, D, F, G, Q, W, X, Z and Å are omitted because they do not occur in native Finnish words.
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| aasinsilta |
a bridge of a donkey. From Latin pons asinis |
A tenuous connection between the old discussion topic and a new one. |
| aataminaikainen |
from the time of Adam |
(Of an object) very old, old-fashioned |
| alkaa vetää |
to start to pull (notice: vetää, much like English set, has various unrelated meanings, e.g. to lead, to drink alcohol) |
To leave immediately. |
| Antaa heittää/vetää! |
let throw/pull |
To ask someone leave immediately, "Get out/off!/Buzz off! /Take a hike!". |
| auki |
open |
No money. |
| aukoa päätään |
to open one's head |
To speak provocatively to someone. |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| ei olla jäniksen selässä |
not to be riding a rabbit |
Not to be in an immediate hurry. |
| ei olla suu tuohesta |
not to have a mouth of birch bark |
Not to abstain from alcohol (always used with a negative). |
| ei sylkeä lasiin |
not to spit into the glass |
Not to abstain from alcohol (always used with a negative). |
| eilisen teeren poika |
son of yesterday's grouse |
Inexperienced, gullible (usually used with a negative) |
| elää kuin pellossa |
to live as if in a field |
To live without cleaning up after oneself, or bothering about what others think about one. |
| en minä voi siksi muuttua |
I can't change into that |
A statement that a desired object simply isn't available, no matter how much someone keeps asking for it. The word "siksi" (into that) is substituted with the object in question, in translative "-ksi". |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| heittämällä |
by throwing it |
With little or no effort required. |
| heittää lusikka nurkkaan |
to throw the spoon in the corner |
To die. |
| heittää veivinsä |
to throw one's crankshaft |
To die. |
| heittää (jollakin) vesilintua |
to throw (something) at waterfowl |
To throw away. (As in throwing into a lake.) |
| hevoset karkaa |
the horses will run away |
An euphemism for "your fly is open". |
huitsin Nevadaan
hevon kuuseen
|
to Nevada (for all I care)
to the horse's sprucetree
|
Away, to an unknown place, never to be seen again. While the name Nevada is an obvious reference to the U.S. state, the word "huitsin" is probably a reference to the ancient spirit of the woods according to finnish sagas, Hiisi. |
| hymyillä kuin hangon keksi (Hangon keksi) |
smile like a boat hook (also, incorrectly, "a biscuit from Hanko") |
To smile very broadly and happily. |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| ihmisten ilmoilla |
where people are (lit. in people's air) |
At a place popular or populated enough to earn one's respect. Can also be used more literally, to mean at a place where one can be rescued. |
| irtoaa kuin mummon hammas |
breaks loose like a grandma's tooth |
Goes very, very easily. |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| joko teet tai itket ja teet |
either you'll do it or you'll cry and do it |
A direct order to do something, whether the addressed wants to do it or not. The word "teet" ('you do') can be substituted with whatever verb is necessary from context. |
| juopon napit |
drunkard's buttons |
When someone buttons up his/her shirt wrong. |
| Jumalan selän takana |
behind God's back |
Possibly a calque from the English phrase "a godforsaken place". Sometimes implies a disrespect of rural communities. |
| juosta pää kolmantena jalkana |
To run with one's head as a third leg |
To be in a great hurry |
| juosten kustu |
(as if) urinated while running |
Haphazardly implemented. |
| järki jäässä |
(common sense) frozen |
Being clueless about something or understanding the point slowly. |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| kaidalla polulla |
on the narrow path |
To live within the law (possible Biblical metaphor). |
| kaksipa päätä makkarassa |
there're two ends in a sausage |
two sides of a thing, cf. "two sides of a coin" |
| kana kynittävänä |
(has) a chicken to pluck |
To have unresolved disputes, cf. English "bone to pick" |
| Kankkulan kaivoon |
into the well of Kankkula |
to go to waste. |
| kestää ikä ja terveys |
to take the time of one's age and health |
To take a far too long time, or be of far too much effort. |
| keskellä ei mitään |
middle of the nowhere |
Calque from English — natively korvessa |
| kiertää kuin kissa kuumaa puuroa |
to circle like a cat circles hot porridge |
To constantly and obviously covet something without actually making a move to get it, or to try to approach a difficult topic of speech in a roundabout way. |
| kiven alla |
under a stone |
difficult to obtain |
| koira haudattuna |
a dog buried here |
An implication that there's something foul behind the scenes, the situation is not what it appears to be. |
| konstit on monet (, sanoi akka, kun kissalla pöytää pyyhki) |
the ways are many (said the woman while wiping the table with a cat) |
There's more than one way to do something. Often used when it becomes necessary to resort to unconventional methods. |
| korjata luunsa |
to pick up one's bones |
To finally get around to leaving. |
| korvessa |
in the backwoods; out in the sticks |
A place that is somewhere in an area with no interesting things surrounding it a.k.a. to be "out in the sticks". |
| kuin allit kalliolla (also misheard "nallit") |
like ducks (exactly: a particular species (Long-tailed Duck) that leaves last in the autumn) on a cliff |
Left by oneself, without outside support. |
| kuin Euroopan/maailman omistaja |
like someone who owns Europe/the world |
Acting excessively posh and snobby. Usually an implication of misplacen superiority towards others. |
| kuin kaksi marjaa |
like two berries |
Two people or things that seem extremely alike; two peas in a pod. |
| kuin perseeseen/perseelle ammuttu karhu |
like a bear which has been shot in the ass |
Being extremely cranky. |
| kuin seipään niellyt |
as if swallowed a spear |
Standing unnaturally or needlessly upright. To be seemingly nervous. |
| kuin tervan juontia |
like drinking tar |
Extremely slow, difficult, or ardurous. |
| kuin tuhka tuuleen |
like ash in the wind |
Disappeared without trace. |
| kuin viilipytty |
like a pot of sour milk |
Very calm. |
| kukkona tunkiolla |
like a rooster on top of the carbage pile |
Boasting oneself, being "king of the hill" |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| laittaa hanskat naulaan |
put your glowes into the nail |
give up |
| ei (tule) lasta eikä paskaa |
won't result in either a baby or shit |
An unsuccessful, painful effort. |
| lavealla tiellä |
on the wide road |
To live outside the law (possible Biblical metaphor). |
| (jollain on) lepakoita tapulissa |
(someone has) bats in the bell tower |
A slow-witted or mentally handicapped person |
| lukea kuin piru Raamattua |
read like the Devil reads the Bible |
To deliberately look for loopholes, in order to follow the letter without following the spirit. |
| lähteä kuin hollituvasta |
to leave as if leaving an inn |
To leave without cleaning up after oneself. The word "hollitupa" comes from the verb "hålla" (keep) in the Swedish language. |
| puhua läpiä päähän(sä) |
to speak a hole into (one's) head |
To make statements without requisite knowledge. Often used of one's own words |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| Manu on työnsä tehnyt, Manu saa mennä |
Manu has done his job, Manu is dismissed |
An ironic expression, when faced with ingratitude after doing a favor. (Does not refer to the former president Mauno Koivisto.) |
| (tuli kuin) Manulle illallinen |
(it came like) like an evening meal to Manu |
Gaining something good without any effort |
| Matti kukkarossa |
Matti in a wallet |
Broke (no money). |
| menneen talven lumia |
previous winter's snow |
Not relevant anymore, often used of past offences or sorrows, similar in tone to English "let bygones be bygones". |
| mennä pipariksi |
to become gingerbread |
Something goes completely wrong. |
| mennä putkeen |
go into the tube (or pipe) |
To succeed, to work as planned. |
| (istua ja) miettiä syntyjä syviä |
(to sit and) contemplate the deep births |
To meditate on the mysteries of the world; used ironically, to do nothing (from Finnish mythology). |
| (heittää) mäkeen |
(throw) into the hillslope |
To throw away. |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| nalli kalliolla |
fig. to be like a firecracker on a rock |
to have no clue about what is to be done; clueless (fig. cracker going off on the rock w/o a trace left behind) |
| nenänvalkaisu |
nose-bleaching |
Sobering up, as in the sense of not drinking alcoholic beverages for a week or a month. |
| nousta väärällä jalalla |
to rise/get up from the bed with the wrong foot |
To be very grumpy first thing in the morning when everything seems to go wrong. Similar to English "get up on the wrong side of the bed". |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| ojasta allikkoon |
from the ditch to the duck pond |
out of the frying pan into the fire, from one bad situation to another |
| oksat pois |
the branches are off (the tree) |
used to describe almost anything (mostly anger) in excessive quantity. also used in conjunction with the subject of immediate action |
| olla hukassa |
be in a 'loss'; also, hukka means "wolf" |
Being lost, missing, in despair, perished. |
| olla lammas |
to be a lamb |
a person who is like a lamb does nothing alone. the person does everything that for example the clique he/she belongs to. |
| olis kirveellä töitä |
there would be work for an axe |
Something should be corrected, possibly with quite harsh means. |
| oma lehmä ojassa |
with one's own cow in the ditch |
Having a personal interest or investment in the matter. |
| oppia kantapään kautta |
to learn by way of the heel |
Learn a lesson the hard way |
| (maksaa) oppirahat |
(pay the) learning costs |
Learn a lesson the hard way |
| otti ohraleipä / olkileipä |
it took a barley bread / straw bread (slightly ungrammatical). After losing the rye harvest, one had to sow barley, an inferior crop, before the winter |
To encounter severe problems. |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| panna tikkua ristiin |
cross two matches |
To perform even the most minimal effort. Cf. English "lift a finger". |
| persaukinen |
have the ass open |
No money. |
| (kiivetä) perse edellä puuhun |
(to climb) into a tree arse first |
To do something in a needlessly complicated way, failing to see an easier way |
| perseet olalla |
to carry one's buttocks on one's shoulders |
to be really drunk |
| peukalo keskellä kämmentä |
with one's thumb in the middle of one's palm |
Very bad at doing something, usually manual labour. Cf. English "All Thumbs". |
| pieniin päin |
towards small ones |
Pregnant. |
| pieru Saharaan (hävitä kuin~~) |
to disappear/dissolve like a fart in the Saharan desert |
said about objects/persons that have disappeared without a trace |
| pieru Nevadaan(hävitä kuin~~) |
to disappear/dissolve like a fart in the deserts of Nevada (U.S.) |
said about objects/persons that have disappeared without a trace |
| pihkassa |
in resin |
A crush on someone |
| pilvin pimein |
with dark clouds |
A huge (often excessive) amount of something, possibly from the concept of gathering dark clouds covering the sky. |
| Porvoon mitalla |
with Porvoo measure |
More than asked for |
| potkaista tyhjää |
to kick empty space |
To die. Cf. English "to kick the bucket" |
| pukukummitus |
suit ghost |
A person who insists on being sharply and formally dressed, but who appears to do little, if any, actual work. Almost always used of men, but sometimes of women too. |
| puurot ja vellit sekaisin |
confusing normal (solid) porridge and a more liquid form of porridge |
Confusing two unrelated things, either for each other, or as relating to each other. Cf. comparing apples and oranges. |
| päin seiniä / puuta / honkia / ... |
against the walls / tree / dead pines / ... |
Completely wrong. |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| rikkana rokassa |
as a piece of trash in the broth |
As the bad exception in an otherwise good company. |
| ruista ranteessa |
rye in one's wrist |
Physically strong. |
| rysän päältä |
from the top of a large fish trap |
Caught straight from doing a no-good thing. Cf. English "caught red-handed". The American TV program "Cheaters" is translated to "Rysän päältä" in Finland |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| (viedä) saunan taa(kse) |
(take) behind the sauna |
"To put off/execute". Due to fire hazard, saunas were built at a distance from the house, and what was or happened behind the sauna was out of sight, "behind the backyard". Normally, there was a "tunkio" or a garbage pile behind the sauna, and when e.g. a sick or injured horse or dog needed to be put off, it was taken behind the sauna for the job. |
| soittaa suutaan |
to play one's mouth (as a musical instrument) |
To boast, or to speak provocatively. |
| soitellen sotaan |
playing an instrument when going to the war |
To be unprepared, whether it is a task at hand or one is going somewhere without thinking what is needed to take along. |
| sokerina pohjalla |
as the sugar on the bottom |
As a final bonus, benefit or gift |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| tulevana vuonna tuohikuussa |
in a coming year, in the birch bark month |
At an indeterminate point in the future, possibly never. "Tuohikuu" is a fictional month but sounds like the rural-oriented Finnish names for the 12 months. |
| tuohikuussa pukinpäivänä |
in the birch bark month on the day of the goat |
Same as above. |
| tulla kuin havumajaan |
to come as if coming into a hut made of tree needles |
To enter a house easily, often against the wishes of the house's owner |
| tumput suorina |
with one's mittens straight |
Not doing anything, with an implication that one should be doing something. |
| tykätä kyttyrää |
to like + some hump (the unusual grammar is hard to translate) |
To dislike. Implies vindictiveness. Often juxtaposed with the antonym. |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| ulkona/pihalla kuin lumiukko |
out like a snowman |
Not to know anything about the a given thing and thus be stunned, or to say things that are not relevant to the thing. |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| vaiheessa |
in a phase (backformation from asking "in which phase?") |
Not yet ready or finished, with an implication of not knowing when it will be. Originally army slang. |
| vaikka lampaat söisi |
for sheep to eat |
A great number or amount, especially one that will stay great after partaken of. |
| (Ei) vara venettä kaada. |
[Extra space wont flip a boat] |
[There's no harm in having some extra resources ] |
| vetää herne nenään |
pull a pea up one's nose |
To be provoked. |
| vetää hirsiä |
to pull cabers / to pull logs |
To sleep. |
| vetää jojoon/ kaulakiikkuun |
to put in a yo-yo/ throat-swing |
To execute by hanging. Almost always used of suicide. |
| vetää turpaan |
(sudden action) to the muzzle |
To beat someone, especially punch in the face. The verb vetää is a verb with diverse, disparate meanings, used to indicate a sudden jerk or a single, quick movement. |
| vintti pimeni |
the attic blacked out |
Someone fainted |
| vuonna miekka ja kypärä/kivi/kilpi |
in the year of sword and helmet/stone/shield |
Very long time ago. |
| vuonna yks ja kaks |
in the year one and two |
Very long time ago. |
| vuonna käpy ja nakki |
in the year of cone and wiener |
Very long time ago |
| vääntää rautalangasta |
to twist from wire |
To explain with very simple terms. |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| yhdeksän hyvää ja kahdeksan kaunista |
nine good things and eight beautiful things |
Lots of good-sounding promises, with an implication they are unlikely to be kept. |
| yritys hyvä kymmenen |
good attempt ten (slightly ungrammatical) |
Good, but failed, attempt. |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| äitinsä näköinen |
looks like one's mother |
Not looking good at all. Comes from an allegation of being the son of a whore. |
| Idiom |
English translation |
Meaning |
| (seisoa kuin) Ö aapisen laidassa |
(to stand like) the letter Ö (the last letter of the Finnish alphabet) in the corner of the spelling book |
Not having a clue, being useless. |
