English-Finnish idioms

A

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)	To leave immediately.
Antaa vetää!	let pull	To ask someone leave immediately, "Get out/off!".
aukoa päätään	to open one's head	To speak provocatively to someone.

E

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".

H

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.

I

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.

J

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.
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.

K

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.
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	A place that is somewhere in an area with no interesting things surrounding it.
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 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"

L

Idiom	English translation	Meaning
ei (tule) lasta eikä paskaa	this won't result in either a baby or shit	Describes an unsuccessful, painful effort.
lavealla tiellä	on the wide road	To live outside the law (possible Biblical metaphor).
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

M

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.

N

Idiom	English translation	Meaning
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".

O

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.
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.
(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.

P

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.
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.
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.

R

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

S

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 cargabe 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

T

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.

U

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.

V

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.
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.

Y

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.

Ä

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.

Ö

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.