A collection of idiomatic expressions in Swedish with English equivalents and translations.
| Idioms | English versions |
|---|---|
| Att ana ugglor i mossen | To smell a rat; to have suspicions ("To suspect owls in the moss/bog") |
| Att ha tomfar på loftet | To have bats in the belfry; to be a bit stupid/crazy ("To have gnomes in the attic") |
| Droppen som fick bägaren att rinna över | The straw that broke the camel's back ("The droplet that caused the beaker to overflow") |
| Först till kvarn (får först mala) | First come, first served ("First to the mill does the first grinding") |
| Göra en höna av en fjäder | To make a mountain out of a molehill ("To make a hen out of a feather") |
| Grädde på moset | The icing on the cake ("The cream on the mash") |
| Gå som katten kring het gröt | To beat around the bush; to pussyfoot ("To walk like a cat around hot porridge") |
| Ha en gås oplockad | To have a bone to pick ("To have an unplucked goose") |
| Ha en räv bakom örat | To be cunning ("To have a fox behind the ear") |
| Ha millimetrarna på sin sida | To be lucky ("To have the millimeters on your side") |
| Inte döma hunden efter håren | Don't judge a book by its cover ("Don't judge the dog after the hair") |
| Inte för allt smör i hela Småland | Not all the tea in China ("Not for all the butter in Småland") |
| Ingen ko på isen | There is no cause for concern; no immediate danger ("No cow on the ice") |
| Inte sälja skinnet förrän björnen är skjuten | Don't count your chickens until they hatch ("Don't sell the skin before the bear is shot") |
| Känna som sin egen ficka | To know like the back of one's hand ("To know like one's own pocket") |
| Mycket snack och lite verkstad | All talk, no action ("Lots of talk and no workshop") |
| Skriva som en kråka | To write illegibly ("To write like a crow") |
| Stava som en kråka | To spell badly ("To spell like a crow") |
| Ta sig vatten över huvudet | To bite off more than you can chew ("Take water over your head") |
| Vara ute och cykla | To be utterly confused; to misunderstand something ("To be out cycling") |
| Trampa i klaveret | To put one's foot in one's mouth - to do something awkward or embarrassing putting sb/oneself on the spot in a negative way ("To step (heavily) on the accordion") |
Hear some Swedish idioms:
Swedish idioms
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Swedish_idioms
http://lostinstockholm.com/2013/05/31/13-hilarious-swedish-idioms/
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lista_över_svenska_idiomatiska_uttryck
http://idiom.nu/kategori/svenska-idiom/
https://youtu.be/q8RFdTFfkQE
- SwedishPod101.com - Learn Swedish with SwedishPod101
- Swedish learning software
- Learn Swedish with Glossika
- Find Swedish Tutors with LanguaTalk
Information about Swedish | Useful phrases | Silly phrases | Numbers | Colours | Family words | Time | Weather words | Idioms | Tongue twisters | Tower of Babel | Books about Swedish on: Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk [affilate links]
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.
It's all Greek to me | It's raining cats and dogs | As easy as falling off a log | A sandwich short of a picnic | It's small world | When pigs fly | Out of sight, out of mind | Crystal-clear | Penny Pinching | Practice makes perfect | The grass is always greener | As Snug as a Bug in a Rug
Czech | French | Greek | Icelandic | Lithuanian | Manx | Russian | Slovak | Spanish | Swedish | Welsh
Useful phrases | Silly phrases | Numbers | Numerals | Colours | Telling the time | Dates | Weather words | Family words | Terms of endearment | Language names | Country names | Idioms | Proverbs | Tongue twisters | Signs | Compass directions | UDHR | Tower of Babel | Songs | Omniglot | Seven dwarfs | Zodiac signs | Computer parts | Compass directions | Animal sounds
[top]
You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.
If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.
Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com
[top]
