Δεν βλέπω την ώρα
Literally I don't see the hour
Means to look forward to something impatiently
English idiom can't wait
Example Δεν βλέπω την ώρα να έρθουν οι διακοπές.
I can't wait for the holidays to come.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are the 25 most common Greek 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 Greek idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, Δεν βλέπω την ώρα literally means "I don't see the hour" but is used to mean to look forward to something impatiently. This free page ranks the 25 most common Greek 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 25 idioms, most common first.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of August 2026.
Δεν βλέπω την ώρα
Literally I don't see the hour
Means to look forward to something impatiently
English idiom can't wait
Example Δεν βλέπω την ώρα να έρθουν οι διακοπές.
I can't wait for the holidays to come.
Τα κάνω θάλασσα
Literally I make them sea
Means to mess something up completely
English idiom make a mess of it
Example Ήθελα να βοηθήσω, αλλά τα έκανα θάλασσα.
I wanted to help, but I made a complete mess of it.
Κάνω την πάπια
Literally I do the duck
Means to pretend not to know or understand something in order to dodge responsibility
English idiom play dumb
Example Μην κάνεις την πάπια, ξέρεις πολύ καλά τι έγινε.
Don't play dumb, you know perfectly well what happened.
Δεν βγάζω άκρη
Literally I don't pull out an end
Means to be unable to make sense of something
English idiom can't make head or tail of it
Example Διάβασα τις οδηγίες τρεις φορές και δεν βγάζω άκρη.
I have read the instructions three times and I still can't make head or tail of them.
Μου πήρες τα λόγια από το στόμα
Literally You took the words from my mouth
Means you said exactly what I was about to say
English idiom you took the words right out of my mouth
Example Μου πήρες τα λόγια από το στόμα, ακριβώς αυτό σκεφτόμουν κι εγώ.
You took the words right out of my mouth, that is exactly what I was thinking too.
Πέφτω από τα σύννεφα
Literally I fall from the clouds
Means to be taken completely by surprise by news you never expected
English idiom you could have knocked me down with a feather
Example Όταν άκουσα τα νέα, έπεσα από τα σύννεφα.
When I heard the news, you could have knocked me down with a feather.
Σιγά τα λάχανα
Literally Slowly the cabbages
Means said to brush something off as not impressive or not important
English idiom big deal
Example Σιγά τα λάχανα, κι εγώ μπορώ να το κάνω αυτό.
Big deal, I can do that too.
Note Informal and sarcastic: it plays down what the other person just said, so keep it for friends.
Κάνω τα στραβά μάτια
Literally I make the crooked eyes
Means to ignore something wrong on purpose
English idiom turn a blind eye
Example Ο διευθυντής έκανε τα στραβά μάτια στις καθυστερήσεις του.
The manager turned a blind eye to his lateness.
Μου έβγαλε την πίστη
Literally He pulled the faith out of me
Means someone wore me out completely with hassle or demands
English idiom put me through the wringer
Example Μου έβγαλε την πίστη μέχρι να τελειώσουμε τη μετακόμιση.
He put me through the wringer until we finished the move.
Note Very informal and a bit irreverent because of the religious word, fine with friends but not at work.
Βρέχει καρεκλοπόδαρα
Literally It is raining chair legs
Means it is raining extremely hard
English idiom raining cats and dogs
Example Μην βγεις έξω, βρέχει καρεκλοπόδαρα.
Don't go out, it's raining cats and dogs.
Έγινε της Κορέας
Literally It became Korea's
Means total uproar and chaos broke out
English idiom all hell broke loose
Example Μόλις ανακοίνωσαν το αποτέλεσμα, έγινε της Κορέας.
As soon as they announced the result, all hell broke loose.
Note Very informal. It is usually traced back to the Korean War, where Greek troops served.
Πιάνω τον ταύρο από τα κέρατα
Literally I catch the bull by the horns
Means to face a hard problem head on instead of putting it off
English idiom take the bull by the horns
Example Κάποια στιγμή πρέπει να πιάσουμε τον ταύρο από τα κέρατα.
At some point we have to take the bull by the horns.
Χάνω τα αυγά και τα πασχάλια
Literally I lose the eggs and the Easter tables
Means to get so confused that you lose track of what to do
English idiom not know whether you are coming or going
Example Με τόσες αλλαγές στο πρόγραμμα, έχασα τα αυγά και τα πασχάλια.
With so many changes to the schedule, I did not know whether I was coming or going.
Note Τα πασχάλια are the church tables used to work out the date of Easter, so the phrase pictures losing both the eggs and the calendar.
Μου ανεβαίνει το αίμα στο κεφάλι
Literally The blood rises to my head
Means to get furious in an instant
English idiom see red
Example Όταν μου μιλάει έτσι, μου ανεβαίνει το αίμα στο κεφάλι.
When he talks to me like that, I see red.
Τρώω πόρτα
Literally I eat door
Means to be refused entry somewhere
English idiom have the door slammed in your face
Example Πήγαμε στο κλαμπ, αλλά φάγαμε πόρτα.
We went to the club, but we got turned away at the door.
Note Colloquial, most often about bouncers refusing to let you into a club or bar.
Στο πι και φι
Literally In the pi and phi
Means in a very short time, almost instantly
English idiom in a jiffy
Example Ετοίμασε το φαγητό στο πι και φι.
She got the food ready in a jiffy.
Μου μπαίνουν ψύλλοι στ' αυτιά
Literally Fleas get into my ears
Means to start suspecting that something is going on
Example Όταν άλλαξε ξαφνικά θέμα, μου μπήκαν ψύλλοι στ' αυτιά.
When he suddenly changed the subject, I started to get suspicious.
Note The English phrase that looks similar, a flea in your ear, means a sharp telling off, so it is a false friend.
Κάθομαι σε αναμμένα κάρβουνα
Literally I sit on lit coals
Means to be very anxious and restless while waiting for something
English idiom be on tenterhooks
Example Όλη την ώρα της εξέτασης καθόταν σε αναμμένα κάρβουνα.
She was on tenterhooks the whole time the exam lasted.
Μου κόπηκαν τα γόνατα
Literally My knees were cut
Means to go weak from shock or fear
English idiom my legs turned to jelly
Example Όταν είδα το αποτέλεσμα των εξετάσεων, μου κόπηκαν τα γόνατα.
When I saw the test results, my legs turned to jelly.
Ο κόμπος έφτασε στο χτένι
Literally The knot reached the comb
Means the situation has reached the point where something has to give
English idiom matters have come to a head
Example Μετά από τόσα ψέματα, ο κόμπος έφτασε στο χτένι.
After so many lies, matters have come to a head.
Βάζω νερό στο κρασί μου
Literally I put water in my wine
Means to soften my demands and compromise
English idiom meet someone halfway
Example Μετά τη συζήτηση, έβαλε λίγο νερό στο κρασί του.
After the discussion, he softened his position a little.
Μου στοίχισε ο κούκος αηδόνι
Literally The cuckoo cost me a nightingale
Means something turned out far more expensive than it was worth
English idiom cost an arm and a leg
Example Επισκεύασα το αυτοκίνητο, αλλά μου στοίχισε ο κούκος αηδόνι.
I got the car repaired, but it cost me an arm and a leg.
Note You will also hear it with κόστισε in place of στοίχισε, with no change in meaning.
Ρίχνω στάχτη στα μάτια
Literally I throw ash in the eyes
Means to mislead people by creating a false impression
English idiom pull the wool over someone's eyes
Example Με τα μεγάλα λόγια προσπαθεί να μας ρίξει στάχτη στα μάτια.
With all his big talk he is trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
Μένω στα κρύα του λουτρού
Literally I stay in the cold parts of the bathhouse
Means to end up with nothing after counting on something
English idiom be left out in the cold
Example Μας υποσχέθηκαν δουλειά και τελικά μείναμε στα κρύα του λουτρού.
They promised us a job and in the end we were left out in the cold.
Δίνω τόπο στην οργή
Literally I give place to the anger
Means to hold back and let a quarrel cool down instead of hitting back
Example Καλύτερα να δώσουμε τόπο στην οργή παρά να τσακωθούμε άσχημα.
It is better to let things cool down than to have an ugly fight.
Note Slightly formal and bookish, it comes from a New Testament phrase and you hear it more from older speakers.
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: Δεν βλέπω την ώρα comes out as "I don't see the hour", which makes no sense until you know it means to look forward to something impatiently.
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 Greek 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 Greek idioms, ranked by everyday frequency, start with Δεν βλέπω την ώρα, Τα κάνω θάλασσα, Κάνω την πάπια, Δεν βγάζω άκρη, Μου πήρες τα λόγια από το στόμα. 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 25 of them with meanings and example sentences.
In Greek, "Δεν βλέπω την ώρα" translates literally as "I don't see the hour", but it actually means to look forward to something impatiently. The closest English idiom is "can't wait". Example: Δεν βλέπω την ώρα να έρθουν οι διακοπές. ("I can't wait for the holidays to come.")
The Greek equivalent is "Δεν βλέπω την ώρα", literally "I don't see the hour". Example: Δεν βλέπω την ώρα να έρθουν οι διακοπές. ("I can't wait for the holidays to come.")
In Greek, an idiom is called ιδιωματισμός, and a proverb is παροιμία. Greek calls a fixed expression whose meaning is not literal an ιδιωματισμός (also ιδιωματική έκφραση), while a παροιμία is a complete traditional saying that states a piece of folk wisdom.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Δεν βλέπω την ώρα translates literally as "I don't see the hour", yet it means to look forward to something impatiently. 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 Greek with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.