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B2Swedish·46 cards

Food Idioms

Swedish idiom built on food — gå som smort, ha en gås oplockad, det osar katt.

Food idioms, and the delicious mismatches between kitchens: English picks bones, Swedish has an unplucked goose (gås oplockad); English smells fish, Swedish smells cat (osar katt); the cake idioms, the bread-as-livelihood family, the potato family (het, små-, soffpotatis), the trouble idioms (sitta i klistret, syltburken) — down to the pot verbs: koka ner, sjuda ner, and grubbla över det.

Young woman savoring traditional Georgian khinkali dumplings indoors at lunch.
Photo: cottonbro studio on Pexels
  1. 1

    gå som smort

    to go smoothly

    Tip: lit. 'go like buttered'

  2. 2

    gå som en dans

    to be as easy as pie

    Tip: lit. 'go like a dance'

  3. 3

    vara en enkel match

    to be a piece of cake

    Tip: lit. 'be an easy match'

  4. 4

    ha en gås oplockad med någon

    to have a bone to pick with someone

    Tip: lit. 'have a goose unplucked with someone'

  5. 5

    det osar katt

    something smells fishy

    Tip: lit. 'it smells of cat'

  6. 6

    smöra för någon

    to butter someone up

    Tip: lit. 'butter for someone'

  7. 7

    vara god vän med alla

    to butter both sides

    Tip: lit. 'be good friends with everyone'

  8. 8

    sockra det

    to sugar-coat something

    Tip: lit. 'sugar it'

  9. 9

    vara full av energi

    to be full of beans

    Tip: lit. 'be full of energy'

  10. 10

    skvallra ur skolan

    to spill the beans

    Tip: lit. 'gossip out of the school'

  11. 11

    ha viktigare saker för sig

    to have bigger fish to fry

    Tip: lit. 'have more important things going on'

  12. 12

    ha mycket på tallriken

    to have a lot on your plate

    Tip: lit. the same

  13. 13

    ta för stor tugga

    to bite off more than you can chew

    Tip: lit. 'take too big a bite'

  14. 14

    för många bollar i luften

    too many irons in the fire

    Tip: lit. 'too many balls in the air'

  15. 15

    ta det med en nypa salt

    to take it with a pinch of salt

    Tip: lit. the same

  16. 16

    vara grädden på moset

    to be the icing on the cake

    Tip: lit. 'be the cream on the mash'

  17. 17

    grädden av allt

    the cream of the crop

    Tip: lit. 'the cream of everything'

  18. 18

    toppa allt

    to take the biscuit

    Tip: lit. 'top everything'

  19. 19

    vara en hård nöt

    to be a hard nut to crack

    Tip: lit. 'be a hard nut'

  20. 20

    sitta i klistret

    to be in a pickle

    Tip: lit. 'sit in the glue'

  21. 21

    vara en het potatis

    to be a hot potato

    Tip: lit. the same — a controversial subject

  22. 22

    vara småpotatis

    to be small potatoes

    Tip: lit. 'be small potatoes'

  23. 23

    vara en soffpotatis

    to be a couch potato

    Tip: lit. the same

  24. 24

    ingenting är gratis här i världen

    there's no such thing as a free lunch

    Tip: lit. 'nothing is free in this world'

  25. 25

    tjäna sitt bröd

    to earn your bread

    Tip: lit. the same

  26. 26

    vara någons levebröd

    to be someone's bread and butter

    Tip: lit. 'be someone's living-bread'

  27. 27

    vara som natt och dag

    to be like chalk and cheese

    Tip: lit. 'be like night and day'

  28. 28

    ha ett finger med i spelet

    to have a finger in every pie

    Tip: lit. 'have a finger in the game'

  29. 29

    ha fingrarna i syltburken

    to have your fingers in the till

    Tip: lit. 'have the fingers in the jam jar'

  30. 30

    tas på bar gärning

    to be caught red-handed

    Tip: lit. 'be taken in bare deed'

  31. 31

    få äta upp sina ord

    to eat humble pie

    Tip: lit. 'have to eat up one's words'

  32. 32

    svälja sina ord

    to eat your words

    Tip: lit. 'swallow one's words'

  33. 33

    vara någons ögonsten

    to be the apple of someone's eye

    Tip: lit. 'be someone's eye-stone'

  34. 34

    vara jordens salt

    to be the salt of the earth

    Tip: lit. the same

  35. 35

    vara värd namnet

    to be worth its salt

    Tip: lit. 'be worthy of the name'

  36. 36

    vara guld värd

    to be as good as gold

    Tip: lit. 'be worth gold'

  37. 37

    vara en tom tunna

    to be full of hot air

    Tip: lit. 'be an empty barrel'

  38. 38

    både äta kakan och ha den kvar

    to have your cake and eat it

    Tip: lit. 'both eat the cake and keep it'

  39. 39

    tugga på det ett tag

    to chew it over

    Tip: lit. 'chew on it for a while'

  40. 40

    grubbla över det

    to stew about it

    Tip: lit. 'brood over it'

  41. 41

    lugna ner sig

    to simmer down

    Tip: lit. 'calm down'

  42. 42

    lämna en bitter eftersmak

    to leave a bad taste

    Tip: lit. 'leave a bitter aftertaste'

  43. 43

    skära det tunt

    to slice it thin

    Tip: lit. the same — about splitting hairs

  44. 44

    hela paketet

    the whole enchilada

    Tip: lit. 'the whole package'

  45. 45

    handla om i grunden

    to boil down to

    Tip: lit. 'be about, at bottom'

  46. 46

    ett recept för katastrof

    a recipe for disaster

    Tip: lit. the same