Baciti koplje u trnje
Literally to throw the spear into the thorns
Means to give up, to abandon an effort or fight
Example Nemoj baciti koplje u trnje nakon prvog neuspjeha.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are 15 of the most common Bosnian idioms, each with its literal translation, real meaning, and an example sentence, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Bosnian idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, Baciti koplje u trnje literally means "to throw the spear into the thorns" but is used to mean to give up, to abandon an effort or fight. This free tool lists 15 real Bosnian idioms, each with its literal translation, meaning, and an example sentence.
All 15 Bosnian idioms, with meanings and examples.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of July 2026.
Baciti koplje u trnje
Literally to throw the spear into the thorns
Means to give up, to abandon an effort or fight
Example Nemoj baciti koplje u trnje nakon prvog neuspjeha.
Praviti se Englez
Literally to play the Englishman
Means to pretend not to notice or understand something, to feign ignorance
Example Ne pravi se Englez, dobro znaš o čemu pričam.
Praviti od muhe slona
Literally to make an elephant out of a fly
Means to exaggerate a small problem, to make a mountain out of a molehill
Example Smiri se, praviš od muhe slona.
Vući nekoga za nos
Literally to pull someone by the nose
Means to deceive or string someone along
Example Dosta je bilo, vuče me za nos već mjesecima.
Gledati kroz prste
Literally to look through the fingers
Means to deliberately overlook something, to turn a blind eye
Example Nastavnik mu gleda kroz prste jer mu je otac direktor.
Sjediti na dvije stolice
Literally to sit on two chairs
Means to try to please or benefit from two opposing sides at once
Example Ne možeš vječno sjediti na dvije stolice, moraš izabrati stranu.
Kao grom iz vedra neba
Literally like thunder from a clear sky
Means completely unexpected, out of the blue
Example Njegova ostavka došla je kao grom iz vedra neba.
Biti mokra kokoš
Literally to be a wet hen
Means to be timid, meek, or spineless
Example Prestani biti mokra kokoš i reci mu istinu u lice.
Imati pik na nekoga
Literally to have a pique on someone
Means to hold a grudge against someone
Example Otkad sam ga pobijedio na turniru, ima pik na mene.
Fali mu daska u glavi
Literally a plank is missing in his head
Means he is a bit crazy, not quite right in the head
Example Skočio je u rijeku po ovoj hladnoći, sigurno mu fali daska u glavi.
Kad na vrbi rodi grožđe
Literally when grapes grow on the willow
Means never, when pigs fly
Example Vratit će mi dug kad na vrbi rodi grožđe.
Baciti oko na nešto
Literally to throw an eye on something
Means to take a fancy to something, to have one's eye on it
Example Bacila sam oko na onu crvenu haljinu u izlogu.
Držati jezik za zubima
Literally to hold the tongue behind the teeth
Means to keep quiet, to hold one's tongue
Example Bolje drži jezik za zubima dok se sve ne razjasni.
Preko glave mi je
Literally it is over my head
Means to be fed up with something, to have had enough
Example Preko glave mi je njegovih vječnih žalbi.
Ubiti dvije muhe jednim udarcem
Literally to kill two flies with one blow
Means to accomplish two goals with a single action, kill two birds with one stone
Example Ako svratim u banku na putu do posla, ubit ću dvije muhe jednim udarcem.
Idioms stick when you see them in context, not on a list. Lingo7 lets you read real Bosnian 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: Baciti koplje u trnje comes out as "to throw the spear into the thorns", which makes no sense until you know it means to give up, to abandon an effort or fight.
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 Bosnian 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 Bosnian idioms are Baciti koplje u trnje, Praviti se Englez, Praviti od muhe slona, Vući nekoga za nos. 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 Bosnian, "Baciti koplje u trnje" translates literally as "to throw the spear into the thorns", but it actually means to give up, to abandon an effort or fight. You would use it like this: Nemoj baciti koplje u trnje nakon prvog neuspjeha.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Baciti koplje u trnje translates literally as "to throw the spear into the thorns", yet it means to give up, to abandon an effort or fight. 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 Bosnian with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.