Der er ugler i mosen
Literally There are owls in the bog
Means Something is suspicious, fishy, or not as it seems
Example Jeg tror, der er ugler i mosen med det tilbud.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are 15 of the most common Danish idioms, each with its literal translation, real meaning, and an example sentence, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Danish idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, Der er ugler i mosen literally means "There are owls in the bog" but is used to mean Something is suspicious, fishy, or not as it seems. This free tool lists 15 real Danish idioms, each with its literal translation, meaning, and an example sentence.
All 15 Danish idioms, with meanings and examples.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of July 2026.
Der er ugler i mosen
Literally There are owls in the bog
Means Something is suspicious, fishy, or not as it seems
Example Jeg tror, der er ugler i mosen med det tilbud.
at tage benene på nakken
Literally to take the legs on the neck
Means to run away or flee in a great hurry, take to one's heels
Example Da alarmen gik, tog tyven benene på nakken.
at have en høne at plukke med nogen
Literally to have a hen to pluck with someone
Means to have a bone to pick with someone
Example Jeg har en høne at plukke med dig.
at gå som katten om den varme grød
Literally to walk like the cat around the hot porridge
Means to beat around the bush, avoid getting to the point
Example Hold op med at gå som katten om den varme grød, og sig det ligeud.
at slå to fluer med ét smæk
Literally to hit two flies with one smack
Means to kill two birds with one stone
Example Ved at cykle på arbejde slår jeg to fluer med ét smæk.
at stå på bar bund
Literally to stand on bare ground
Means to have nothing to go on, be clueless, or start completely from scratch
Example Politiet stod på bar bund i sagen om det forsvundne maleri.
at koste kassen
Literally to cost the till
Means to cost a fortune, be very expensive
Example Den nye lejlighed kostede kassen.
at gå i hundene
Literally to go into the dogs
Means to go to ruin, deteriorate badly, go downhill
Example Byens gamle fabrik er gået helt i hundene.
at have is i maven
Literally to have ice in the stomach
Means to stay cool and composed under pressure
Example Målmanden havde is i maven og reddede straffesparket.
at gøre en myg til en elefant
Literally to make a mosquito into an elephant
Means to make a mountain out of a molehill, exaggerate a small problem
Example Slap af, du gør en myg til en elefant.
at have en skrue løs
Literally to have a screw loose
Means to be a bit crazy, not quite right in the head
Example Han griner altid ad de mærkeligste ting, han må have en skrue løs.
at tage bladet fra munden
Literally to take the leaf from the mouth
Means to speak frankly, not mince words, say what one really thinks
Example Chefen tog bladet fra munden og fortalte os sandheden.
Der er ingen ko på isen
Literally There is no cow on the ice
Means there's no danger, nothing to worry about
Example Bare rolig, der er ingen ko på isen endnu.
at gå over åen efter vand
Literally to go across the stream for water
Means to do something the needlessly hard way, make things more complicated than necessary
Example Du behøver ikke gå over åen efter vand, svaret står jo lige her.
at gå i baglås
Literally to go into back lock
Means to freeze up completely or get stuck (mind goes blank, or a mechanism jams)
Example Jeg gik helt i baglås, da jeg skulle holde talen.
Idioms stick when you see them in context, not on a list. Lingo7 lets you read real Danish 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: Der er ugler i mosen comes out as "There are owls in the bog", which makes no sense until you know it means Something is suspicious, fishy, or not as it seems.
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 Danish 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 Danish idioms are Der er ugler i mosen, at tage benene på nakken, at have en høne at plukke med nogen, at gå som katten om den varme grød. 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 Danish, "Der er ugler i mosen" translates literally as "There are owls in the bog", but it actually means Something is suspicious, fishy, or not as it seems. You would use it like this: Jeg tror, der er ugler i mosen med det tilbud.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Der er ugler i mosen translates literally as "There are owls in the bog", yet it means Something is suspicious, fishy, or not as it seems. 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 Danish with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.