фаќа магла
Literally to catch fog
Means to flee or vanish suddenly, especially to dodge a duty or trouble
Example Штом требаше да ја плати сметката, тој фати магла.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are 14 of the most common Macedonian idioms, each with its literal translation, real meaning, and an example sentence, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Macedonian idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, фаќа магла literally means "to catch fog" but is used to mean to flee or vanish suddenly, especially to dodge a duty or trouble. This free tool lists 14 real Macedonian idioms, each with its literal translation, meaning, and an example sentence.
All 14 Macedonian idioms, with meanings and examples.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of July 2026.
фаќа магла
Literally to catch fog
Means to flee or vanish suddenly, especially to dodge a duty or trouble
Example Штом требаше да ја плати сметката, тој фати магла.
гледа низ прсти
Literally to look through fingers
Means to turn a blind eye, to deliberately overlook something
Example Таткото им гледа низ прсти на децата за нивните мали лаги.
влече за нос
Literally to pull by the nose
Means to lead someone on, to deceive them
Example Веќе месеци ме влече за нос со празни ветувања.
тера мајтап
Literally to drive a joke
Means to joke or kid around with someone, tease them (sometimes while trying to fool them a bit)
Example Не се лути, само терам мајтап со тебе.
фаќа сеир
Literally to catch a spectacle
Means to gloat, to enjoy watching someone else's misfortune
Example Кога избувна караницата, соседите излегоа само да фаќаат сеир.
бере гајле
Literally to gather worry
Means to worry, to fret over something
Example Не бери гајле, работите ќе се средат.
ја открива Америка
Literally to discover America
Means to announce something obvious as if it were a big discovery
Example Штотуку ми кажа дека зимата е студена, како да ја откри Америка.
тепа време
Literally to beat time
Means to kill time
Example Го чекав автобусот и тепав време на телефонот.
фаќа око
Literally to catch the eye
Means to be eye-catching, visually appealing
Example Овој фустан навистина фаќа око.
игла во стог сено
Literally needle in a stack of hay
Means something practically impossible to find
Example Да го најдеш вистинскиот клуч во таа фиока е како да бараш игла во стог сено.
виси на конец
Literally to hang on a thread
Means to be in a precarious, highly risky situation
Example По операцијата, неговиот живот висеше на конец.
коски и кожа
Literally bones and skin
Means to be extremely thin, skin and bones
Example По болеста остана само коски и кожа.
ни лук јал, ни лук мирисал
Literally neither ate garlic nor smelled garlic
Means to have had absolutely nothing to do with something
Example Кога го прашаа за парите, тој рече дека ни лук јал, ни лук мирисал.
нашол кој да збори
Literally found who to talk
Means look who's talking, said to someone who criticizes others for a fault they share themselves
Example Ти ми велиш дека доцнам? Нашол кој да збори!
Idioms stick when you see them in context, not on a list. Lingo7 lets you read real Macedonian 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: Фаќа магла comes out as "to catch fog", which makes no sense until you know it means to flee or vanish suddenly, especially to dodge a duty or trouble.
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 Macedonian 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 Macedonian idioms are фаќа магла, гледа низ прсти, влече за нос, тера мајтап. 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 14 of them with their meaning and an example sentence.
In Macedonian, "фаќа магла" translates literally as "to catch fog", but it actually means to flee or vanish suddenly, especially to dodge a duty or trouble. You would use it like this: Штом требаше да ја плати сметката, тој фати магла.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Фаќа магла translates literally as "to catch fog", yet it means to flee or vanish suddenly, especially to dodge a duty or trouble. 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 Macedonian with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.