A clutch of Slovene folk sayings and proverbs

When the meaning of a saying may not be clear, the English equivalent is provided in parentheses.

Unfortunately, your browser probably doesn't support the special Slovene characters (the letters c, s and z sometimes have little hooks over them, which changes the pronunciation completely) so I've omitted them in the interest of simplification. Anyone interested in the pronunciation of a specific saying should e-mail me, or ask a Slovene, or rent an apartment in Ljubljana for a year or two...my thanks to Ksenija, Mojca and others for these gems.

A few in English only:

  • A donkey never goes twice on the ice (once burned, twice shy)
  • To stare like a bull at a new door (very intensely)
  • You're pulling my nose (leg)
  • Don't speak with hairs on your tongue (with forked tongue)
  • Don't throw the rifle in the cornfield (don't give up without a fight)
  • You speak like a torn doctor (a quack, i.e., you're speaking BS)
  • Sunshine on Christmas means snow at Easter
  • A lie has short legs
  • When two friends fight, the third one gets hit
  • The one who gets there first gets it all

    With translation:

  • Biti odprt kot knjiga = To be as open as a book
  • Biti plasna kot srna = To be shy as a doe
  • Biti zadnja luknja na piscali = To be the last hole in the whistle (low man on totem pole)
  • Biti zvit kot lisica = To understand like (be sly as) a fox
  • Dobrikati se = Flattery to a purpose
  • Hladen kot spricar = Cool as a cucumber
  • Hoditi kot macka okrog vrele kase = Walking like a cat around boiling gruel (tiptoeing around a subject)
  • Iti na jetra! = He's getting onto my liver! (on my nerves)
  • Iti z glavo skozi zid = To hit your head against a wall
  • Jabolko je zjutraj zlato, opoldne srebro, zvecer pa svinceno. = An apple is gold in the morning, silver in the afternoon and lead in the evening. (i.e., it's easier to digest an apple in the morning. All proverbs have to be profound?)
  • Jabolko modrosti = Apple wisdom (wisdom of the old)
  • Jabolko spoznanja = Apple wisdom (of the moment)
  • Jabolko ne pade dalec od drevesa (otroci so podobni starsem) = The apple doesn't fall far from the tree (children are like their parents)
  • Jih imeti za usesi = They have it here (something a fun, silly person would say)
  • Kakrsen oce, taksen sin = like father, like son
  • Kar bos skuhal, to bos moral pojesti = What is cooked must be eaten
  • Kdo je to zakuhal? = Who cooked this up? (who's responsible?)
  • Naviti nekoga okoli prsta = To wind someone around your finger
  • Ne biti od vceraj = I'm not from yesterday (not born yesterday)
  • Nekoga prebrati kot odprto knjigo = To read someone like an open book
  • Nobena juha se ne poje tako vroca kot se skuha = Nobody's soup is eaten as hot as it's cooked (with time comes perspective)
  • Postaviti se na lastne noge = To put up a hairy leg (to grow up and become independent)
  • Pozeleneti od zavisti = Green with envy
  • Pozira knjigo = To be swallowing a book (reading voraciously)
  • Prazen zakelj ne stoji pokonci = An empty sack cannot stand upright (you can't work on an empty stomach)
  • Priti si gor = C'mon up! (catch on already, willya?)
  • Si delati bele lase od skrbi = You get white hair from lots of worrying
  • Sli smo Bogu za hrbtom = We went behind God's back (into the boondocks)
  • Ta je pa kosmata! Ta je pa dobra! = It's hairy! It's good! (reaction to a joke)
  • Trmoglaviti = Hard-headed (stubborn)
  • Ugrizel je v kislo jabolko = To bite into a sour apple (swallow a bitter pill)
  • V nebesih piva ni, zato ga tukaj pij! = In heaven there is no beer, so you've got to drink it here! -- sign at Kratochwill brewpub, BTC shopping center
  • Vzemimo najboljse, pustimo ostalo = Take the best and leave the rest
  • Zadeti v crno = To hit on the black, i.e., to win (hit the center of a target)
  • Zrelo jabolko samo pade = A ripe apple falls by itself (when something's ready, it'll happen)
  • Zvrtati si luknjo v koleno = To drill a hole in your knee (to hurt yourself from wanting something so badly)