A collection of idiomatic expressions in Slovak with English equivalents and translations.
| Idioms | English versions |
|---|---|
| Ak chceš s vlkmi žiť, musíš s nimi vyť | If you want to live with wolves you have to howl with them |
| Ako sa do hory volá, tak sa z hory ozýva | What scream goes to the mountain, the same goes back |
| Božie mlyny melú pomaly, ale isto | God's mills are more insured than functional |
| Ráno múdrejšie večera | Morning is wiser than evening = one should sleep well before taking an important decision or starting a difficult task. |
| Byť v koži niekoho iného | To be in the skin of somebody else |
| Čerstvý ako rybička | Fresh as fish |
| Hodiť flintu do žita | To throw the rifle into the corn = to give up |
| Hrať sa na slepú babu | To play on a blind squaw |
| Chodiť okolo horúcej kaše | To walk around hot porridge (beat around the bush) |
| Je mi to platné ako mŕtvemu kabát | This is as useful to me as a coat to the dead |
| Je to ako hrach na stenu hádzať | It is like throwing peas on the wall |
| Je to pre mňa španielska dedina | It is all a Spanish village to me (incomprehensible) |
| Kto do teba kameňom, ty do neho chlebom | Who with a stone into you, you with a bread into him |
| Kúpiť mačku vo vreci | To by a cat in a poke |
| Liezť na nervy | To climb upon nerves |
| Lož má krátke nohy | The lie has short legs |
| Mám to v malíčku | I have got it in my little finger |
| Mať chrobáka v hlave | To have a beetle in one's mind |
| Mať z pekla šťastie | To have a fortune from the hell |
| Najlepšia obrana je útok | Best defence is offence |
| Tam je pes zakopaný | The dog is dug over there |
| Nemaľuj čerta na stenu | Don't paint the devil on the wall |
| Padli si do oka | They fallen into each other's eye |
| Pokojný ako Angličan | Calm as an Englishman |
| Remeslo má zlaté dno | A craft has a golden bottom |
| Ťahať niekoho za nos | To pull one's nose |
| Vrana k vrane sadá, rovný rovného si hľadá – | A crow is sitting by crow, an equal is looking for another equal |
| Vyšiel na psí tridsiatok | He went on a dog's thirties |
Slovak idioms compiled by Martina Spidlova
More Slovak idioms
http://www.bratvegas.sk/articles/view/35/slovak_idioms.html
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