An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are the 24 most common Georgian idioms, ranked by how often you will actually meet them, each with its literal translation, real meaning, the closest English idiom where one exists, and an example sentence with an English translation, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Georgian idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, შენი ჭირიმე literally means "your trouble be upon me" but is used to mean a warm form of address used to soften a request or show affection for the person you are speaking to. This free page ranks the 24 most common Georgian idioms by how often you meet them, each with its literal translation, meaning, the closest English idiom where one exists, and an example sentence with an English translation.
All 24 idioms, most common first.
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Idiom list verified as of August 2026.
შენი ჭირიმე
Literally your trouble be upon me
Means a warm form of address used to soften a request or show affection for the person you are speaking to
Example შენი ჭირიმე, ერთი წუთით დამელოდე.
Be a dear and wait for me one minute.
Note Warm and informal, used with friends, family and children; გენაცვალე works the same way.
თვალის დახამხამებაში
Literally in the blinking of an eye
Means extremely fast, in an instant
English idiom in the blink of an eye
Example ტორტი თვალის დახამხამებაში გაქრა.
The cake vanished in the blink of an eye.
ხელი ჩაიქნია
Literally he waved his hand down
Means to give up on someone or something and stop trying
Example დიდხანს ვცდილობდი მის დარწმუნებას, მაგრამ ბოლოს ხელი ჩავიქნიე.
I tried to convince him for a long time, but in the end I gave up.
თავზარი დაეცა
Literally terror fell upon him
Means to be struck with shock or dread by something sudden
English idiom to be thunderstruck
Example ეს ამბავი რომ გაიგო, თავზარი დაეცა.
When he heard the news, he was thunderstruck.
გულზე მომეშვა
Literally it eased on my heart
Means to feel relief after worrying about something
English idiom a weight off one's mind
Example როცა დამირეკა და გამაგებინა, რომ ყველაფერი კარგად იყო, გულზე მომეშვა.
When he called and let me know everything was fine, it was a weight off my mind.
ცხელ გულზე
Literally on a hot heart
Means while still worked up, without stopping to think things through
English idiom in the heat of the moment
Example ცხელ გულზე ნუ მიიღებ გადაწყვეტილებას, ხვალ დაფიქრდი.
Do not make the decision in the heat of the moment, think it over tomorrow.
გრძელი ენა აქვს
Literally he has a long tongue
Means talks far too much and says things that were better left unsaid
English idiom to have a big mouth
Example მას არაფერი უნდა გაანდო, გრძელი ენა აქვს.
You should not confide anything in him, he has a big mouth.
ორ ცეცხლს შუა ჩავარდნა
Literally to fall in between two fires
Means to be squeezed from both sides at once, with no good way out
English idiom between a rock and a hard place
Example ორივე მეგობრის დახმარება არ შემიძლია, ორ ცეცხლს შუა ჩავარდნილი ვარ.
I cannot help both friends, I am caught between a rock and a hard place.
Note You will also hear ორ ცეცხლს შუა არის and ორ ცეცხლს შუა იწვის.
შენს პირს შაქარი
Literally sugar to your mouth
Means said in reply to good news or a hopeful guess, wishing that it comes true
English idiom from your lips to God's ears
Example ხვალ ალბათ ამინდი გამოსწორდება, შენს პირს შაქარი.
The weather will probably get better tomorrow. From your lips to God's ears.
გულზე ლოდი აწევს
Literally a boulder lies on the heart
Means to be weighed down by worry or grief
English idiom to have a heavy heart
Example ამ ამბის გაგების შემდეგ გულზე ლოდი მაწევს.
Ever since I heard the news, my heart has been heavy.
სულს ღაფავს
Literally he is gasping out his soul
Means to be at death's door; of a thing, to be barely holding on
English idiom on its last legs
Example ჩემი ძველი მანქანა უკვე სულს ღაფავს.
My old car is already on its last legs.
Note Used literally of a dying person, so it lands hard when said about people.
დაბალი ღობეა
Literally he is a low fence
Means a person everyone finds easy to push around or make fun of
English idiom a pushover
Example კლასში ყველა მასზე ხუმრობს, დაბალი ღობე გახდა.
Everyone in the class makes fun of him, he has become a pushover.
Note The picture is a fence so low that anyone can step over it.
თითიდან გამოწოვილი
Literally sucked out of a finger
Means made up, with nothing real behind it
English idiom made up out of whole cloth
Example ეს ბრალდება თითიდან გამოწოვილია.
This accusation is made up out of whole cloth.
ცეცხლზე ნავთის დასხმა
Literally pouring kerosene onto the fire
Means to make an already tense situation even worse
English idiom to add fuel to the fire
Example მისი სიტყვები უბრალოდ ცეცხლზე ნავთის დასხმა იყო.
His words just added fuel to the fire.
Note ცეცხლზე ზეთის დასხმა (pouring oil on the fire) is also heard, but ნავთი is the wording the dictionaries record.
სად ყოფილა ძაღლის თავი დამარხული
Literally so that is where the dog's head was buried
Means that turns out to be the hidden reason behind the whole trouble
Example აი, სად ყოფილა ძაღლის თავი დამარხული, ჩვენი მეზობელი ყოფილა დამნაშავე.
So that is where the real reason lay, it turns out our neighbour was to blame.
ფეხს ითრევს
Literally he drags his foot
Means to be slow and unwilling about something and keep putting it off
English idiom to drag one's feet
Example მთელი თვეა ფეხს ითრევენ და ანგარიში ჯერ არ დაუწერიათ.
They have been dragging their feet for a whole month and still have not written the report.
კუდი ყავარზე აქვს გადებული
Literally he has his tail laid over the roof shingle
Means to be conceited and full of self importance
English idiom to be too big for one's boots
Example პატარა წარმატებას მიაღწია და უკვე კუდი ყავარზე აქვს გადებული.
He had one small success and is already too big for his boots.
Note ყავარი is the split wooden shingle of a village roof, so the picture is rural and openly mocking.
კვირაში შვიდი პარასკევი აქვს
Literally he has seven Fridays in a week
Means keeps changing his mind and never sticks to a decision
English idiom to blow hot and cold
Example მას კვირაში შვიდი პარასკევი აქვს, დღეს ერთს გეტყვის, ხვალ მეორეს.
He blows hot and cold, today he tells you one thing and tomorrow another.
Note დღეში შვიდი პარასკევი აქვს (seven Fridays in a day) is the same phrase with the exaggeration turned up.
მეცამეტე გოჭი
Literally the thirteenth piglet
Means someone who pushes into a matter nobody asked them to join
Example ყველგან თავს იჩენს, როგორც მეცამეტე გოჭი.
He turns up everywhere, like the thirteenth piglet.
Note Colloquial and openly mocking.
ჩიტმა ამბავი მომიტანა
Literally a bird brought me the news
Means said playfully when you have found out about someone's mischief but will not say who told you
English idiom a little bird told me
Example ჩიტმა ამბავი მომიტანა, გუშინ გაკვეთილი რომ გააცდინე.
A little bird told me you skipped your lesson yesterday.
Note Usually said to a child who has just been found out.
ბედნიერ ვარსკვლავზეა დაბადებული
Literally he was born on a lucky star
Means to be an unusually fortunate person
English idiom born under a lucky star
Example ის ყოველთვის იგებს ლატარიაში, ალბათ ბედნიერ ვარსკვლავზეა დაბადებული.
He always wins the lottery, he must have been born under a lucky star.
Note Dictionaries mark it as a little old fashioned, but it is still understood everywhere.
ყვავი ჩხიკვის მამიდაა
Literally the crow is the jay's aunt
Means said of someone who is a relative in name only, with no real family tie
Example ის ჩემი ნათესავია, მაგრამ ისეთი შორეული, ყვავი ჩხიკვის მამიდააო.
He is a relative of mine, but such a distant one that it hardly counts.
Note Often quoted in full as the proverb ყვავი ჩხიკვის მამიდაო, გაფრინდა და წავიდაო.
არც მწვადი დაიწვება, არც შამფური
Literally neither will the mtsvadi burn, nor the skewer
Means to settle a delicate matter so that nothing is spoiled and nobody is offended
Example საქმე ისე უნდა მოვაგვაროთ, რომ არც მწვადი დაიწვას და არც შამფური.
We have to handle it so that neither the meat nor the skewer gets burnt.
Note მწვადი is Georgian meat grilled on a skewer, the centrepiece of any feast, which is why the image lands.
ჩაილურის წყალი დალია
Literally it drank the water of Chailuri
Means it came to nothing and was forgotten, gone for good
English idiom to go down the drain
Example ფული, რომელიც მას ვასესხე, ჩაილურის წყალი დალია.
The money I lent him went straight down the drain.
Note Chailuri is an old place name in Kakheti, so the phrase sounds bookish and a bit old fashioned.
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: Შენი ჭირიმე comes out as "your trouble be upon me", which makes no sense until you know it means a warm form of address used to soften a request or show affection for the person you are speaking to.
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 Georgian sentence and check what it means without breaking your reading. That is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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The most common Georgian idioms, ranked by everyday frequency, start with შენი ჭირიმე, თვალის დახამხამებაში, ხელი ჩაიქნია, თავზარი დაეცა, გულზე მომეშვა. Each one means something you could not guess from the words alone, which is exactly why learners have to meet them in context. This page lists 24 of them with meanings and example sentences.
In Georgian, "შენი ჭირიმე" translates literally as "your trouble be upon me", but it actually means a warm form of address used to soften a request or show affection for the person you are speaking to. Example: შენი ჭირიმე, ერთი წუთით დამელოდე. ("Be a dear and wait for me one minute.")
The Georgian equivalent is "თვალის დახამხამებაში", literally "in the blinking of an eye". Example: ტორტი თვალის დახამხამებაში გაქრა. ("The cake vanished in the blink of an eye.")
In Georgian, an idiom is called იდიომა, and a proverb is ანდაზა. An ანდაზა is a complete proverb sentence that carries a lesson, while an იდიომა (also called ფრაზეოლოგიზმი or მყარი შესიტყვება in Georgian grammar) is a fixed figurative phrase you build your own sentence around.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Შენი ჭირიმე translates literally as "your trouble be upon me", yet it means a warm form of address used to soften a request or show affection for the person you are speaking to. 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 Georgian with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.