adarra jo
Literally to hit the horn
Means to tease someone, to pull someone's leg
Example Adarra jotzen ari zara, ezta?
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are 15 of the most common Basque idioms, each with its literal translation, real meaning, and an example sentence, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Basque idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, adarra jo literally means "to hit the horn" but is used to mean to tease someone, to pull someone's leg. This free tool lists 15 real Basque idioms, each with its literal translation, meaning, and an example sentence.
All 15 Basque idioms, with meanings and examples.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of July 2026.
adarra jo
Literally to hit the horn
Means to tease someone, to pull someone's leg
Example Adarra jotzen ari zara, ezta?
hanka sartu
Literally to put a leg in
Means to make a blunder, to mess up, to put one's foot in it
Example Barkamena eskatu behar diot, ondo hanka sartu dut.
hankaz gora egon
Literally to be with legs upward
Means to be upside down, in total disarray, in chaos
Example Festaren ondoren, etxea hankaz gora zegoen.
sudurra sartu
Literally to put the nose in
Means to meddle, to poke one's nose into other people's business
Example Ez sartu sudurra besteren kontuetan.
ahoa bete hortz gelditu
Literally to remain with mouth full of teeth
Means to be left speechless, dumbfounded
Example Berri hura entzutean, ahoa bete hortz gelditu zen.
musutruk
Literally in exchange for a kiss
Means for free, without paying anything
Example Sarrerak musutruk lortu genituen kontzerturako.
bertan behera utzi
Literally to leave down right there
Means to cancel, to call off a plan
Example Euriagatik, bilera bertan behera utzi zuten.
odol hotzean
Literally in cold blood
Means coolly and deliberately, without emotion
Example Mehatxuen aurrean, odol hotzean erantzun zuen.
begi onez ikusi
Literally to see with a good eye
Means to view favorably, to approve of
Example Ez zuten begi onez ikusi nire erabakia.
hitzetik hortzera
Literally from word to tooth
Means instantly, right away, without hesitation
Example Galdetu bezain laster, hitzetik hortzera erantzun zuen.
hitza jan
Literally to eat the word
Means to break a promise, to go back on one's word
Example Etorriko zela agindu zuen, baina hitza jan zuen.
burua berotu
Literally to heat up the head
Means to worry a lot, to get worked up over something
Example Ez ibili burua berotzen kontu horrekin, konponduko da eta.
izerdi patsetan egon
Literally to be soaked in sweat
Means to be drenched in sweat, sweating profusely
Example Korrika egin ondoren, izerdi patsetan zegoen.
adarrak jarri
Literally to put horns on someone
Means to be unfaithful to, to cheat on one's partner
Example Bere bikotekideak adarrak jarri zizkion, eta harremana hautsi egin zuten.
lepoa egin
Literally to do the neck
Means to bet, to be utterly certain of something
Example Lepoa egingo nuke bihar euria egingo duela.
Idioms stick when you see them in context, not on a list. Lingo7 lets you read real Basque books with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, so you meet idioms in the wild and tap any line you do not get. Save them and review later. Free to start.
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is fixed by convention, not built from its words. That is why a word-for-word translation fails: Adarra jo comes out as "to hit the horn", which makes no sense until you know it means to tease someone, to pull someone's leg.
Learn a few at a time, not a whole list. Pick the ones you keep running into, say them out loud in a real sentence, and you will remember them far longer than by drilling flashcards.
The most reliable way to absorb idioms is to meet them in context, again and again, in things you actually read. Parallel text and audio let you catch an idiom in a real Basque sentence and check what it means without breaking your reading. That is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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Some of the most common Basque idioms are adarra jo, hanka sartu, hankaz gora egon, sudurra sartu. Each one means something you could not guess from the words alone, which is exactly why learners have to meet them in context. This tool lists 15 of them with their meaning and an example sentence.
In Basque, "adarra jo" translates literally as "to hit the horn", but it actually means to tease someone, to pull someone's leg. You would use it like this: Adarra jotzen ari zara, ezta?
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Adarra jo translates literally as "to hit the horn", yet it means to tease someone, to pull someone's leg. Translate word for word and you get nonsense, so idioms have to be learned as whole units.
The fastest way is to meet them in context and reuse them, not to memorize a list. Learn a handful at a time, notice them while reading and listening, and try them in your own sentences. Reading real Basque with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.