ha is i magen
Literally to have ice in the stomach
Means to stay calm and composed under pressure
English idiom keep a cool head
Example Han hadde is i magen og scoret på straffesparket.
He kept a cool head and scored the penalty.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are the 25 most common Norwegian 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 Norwegian idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, ha is i magen literally means "to have ice in the stomach" but is used to mean to stay calm and composed under pressure. This free page ranks the 25 most common Norwegian 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.
ha is i magen
Literally to have ice in the stomach
Means to stay calm and composed under pressure
English idiom keep a cool head
Example Han hadde is i magen og scoret på straffesparket.
He kept a cool head and scored the penalty.
slå to fluer i en smekk
Literally to hit two flies in one smack
Means to solve two problems with a single action
English idiom kill two birds with one stone
Example Ved å sykle til jobben slår jeg to fluer i en smekk.
By cycling to work I kill two birds with one stone.
holde tunga rett i munnen
Literally to keep the tongue straight in the mouth
Means to concentrate hard so you do not make a mistake
Example Her må du holde tunga rett i munnen, ellers blir regnestykket feil.
You have to concentrate hard here, or the calculation will come out wrong.
være ute og sykle
Literally to be out cycling
Means to be completely on the wrong track about something
English idiom bark up the wrong tree
Example Nå tror jeg du er ute og sykler.
I think you are barking up the wrong tree now.
Note Informal and a little teasing, so it is common between friends and colleagues rather than in formal settings.
være på bærtur
Literally to be on a berry trip
Means to be completely mistaken or talking nonsense
English idiom be way off the mark
Example Nei, nå tror jeg du er på bærtur.
No, I think you are way off the mark now.
Note Informal and dismissive. It is fine among friends or in a heated debate, but not with a boss or a customer.
ta seg vann over hodet
Literally to take water over one's head
Means to take on more than you can handle
English idiom bite off more than you can chew
Example Jeg tror jeg har tatt meg vann over hodet med dette prosjektet.
I think I have bitten off more than I can chew with this project.
stikke fingeren i jorda
Literally to stick the finger in the ground
Means to face the facts and act on how things really are
English idiom come down to earth
Example Nå får du stikke fingeren i jorda og innse at vi ikke har råd.
Now you need to come down to earth and accept that we cannot afford it.
ha bein i nesa
Literally to have bone in the nose
Means to be tough and determined, to stand up for yourself
English idiom have backbone
Example Hun har bein i nesa og gir seg aldri.
She has backbone and never gives up.
Note Also written "ha ben i nesen" in more conservative bokmål.
bite i det sure eplet
Literally to bite into the sour apple
Means to accept something unpleasant because there is no way around it
English idiom bite the bullet
Example Vi må bare bite i det sure eplet og betale regningen.
We just have to bite the bullet and pay the bill.
gå i baklås
Literally to go into back lock
Means to jam up and stop working, said of a machine, a negotiation or a person's mind
English idiom freeze up
Example Jeg gikk helt i baklås under eksamen.
I completely froze up during the exam.
legge seg flat
Literally to lay oneself flat
Means to admit a mistake fully and apologise without excuses
English idiom eat humble pie
Example Direktøren la seg flat og beklaget hele saken.
The director owned up completely and apologised for the whole affair.
Note The standard wording in Norwegian news when a politician or a company apologises in public.
snakke rett fra leveren
Literally to speak straight from the liver
Means to say exactly what you think, bluntly and without polishing it
English idiom not mince words
Example Sjefen snakker alltid rett fra leveren.
The boss never minces words.
Note Often heard in the colloquial form "rett fra levra".
ha en finger med i spillet
Literally to have a finger along in the game
Means to be quietly involved in something or influencing it from the side
English idiom have a hand in it
Example Jeg tror han har en finger med i spillet.
I think he has a hand in it.
gå som katta rundt den varme grøten
Literally to walk like the cat around the hot porridge
Means to avoid saying the thing that actually matters
English idiom beat around the bush
Example Bare si det rett ut, ikke gå som katta rundt den varme grøten.
Just say it straight out, do not beat around the bush.
svelge en kamel
Literally to swallow a camel
Means to accept something you are against in order to get something else
Example I forhandlingene måtte vi svelge noen kameler.
In the negotiations we had to accept a few things we really disliked.
Note A staple of Norwegian political reporting, above all about coalition deals.
skjære alle over én kam
Literally to cut everyone over one comb
Means to treat very different people or cases as if they were all the same
English idiom paint everyone with the same brush
Example Du kan ikke skjære alle ungdommer over én kam.
You cannot paint all young people with the same brush.
ha en høne å plukke med noen
Literally to have a hen to pluck with someone
Means to have a complaint you want to settle with someone
English idiom have a bone to pick with someone
Example Jeg har en høne å plukke med deg.
I have a bone to pick with you.
ta beina på nakken
Literally to take the legs on the neck
Means to run off as fast as you can
English idiom take to your heels
Example Da hunden begynte å bjeffe, tok han beina på nakken.
When the dog started barking, he took to his heels.
gå fem på
Literally to go five on
Means to be taken in by a trick or a false claim
English idiom fall for it hook, line and sinker
Example Annonsen så ekte ut, og jeg gikk fem på.
The ad looked genuine, and I fell for it hook, line and sinker.
det er ugler i mosen
Literally there are owls in the moss
Means something suspicious is going on
English idiom something fishy is going on
Example Prisen er altfor lav, her er det ugler i mosen.
The price is far too low, something fishy is going on here.
Note The phrase came in from Danish, where mose means bog, so the owls were originally sitting in a marsh, not in moss.
være midt i smørøyet
Literally to be in the middle of the butter eye
Means to be in the best possible spot or situation
English idiom be in the sweet spot
Example Leiligheten ligger midt i smørøyet, rett ved torget.
The flat is right in the sweet spot, just by the market square.
Note A smørøye is the pat of butter melting in the middle of a bowl of porridge, so the image is the best part of the dish.
ha rent mel i posen
Literally to have clean flour in the bag
Means to have honest intentions and nothing to hide
English idiom be above board
Example Du kan stole på ham, han har rent mel i posen.
You can trust him, he is completely above board.
Note Most often heard in the negative, "ikke ha rent mel i posen", about someone shady.
koke bort i kålen
Literally to boil away in the cabbage
Means for a plan or an idea to disappear into talk and come to nothing
English idiom fizzle out
Example Hele planen kokte bort i kålen.
The whole plan fizzled out.
ta en spansk en
Literally to take a Spanish one
Means to solve something the quick, unorthodox way, bending the rules a little
English idiom cut corners
Example Vi tok en spansk en og hoppet over papirarbeidet.
We cut corners and skipped the paperwork.
kaste blår i øynene på noen
Literally to throw flax tow in someone's eyes
Means to deceive someone by giving a false impression
English idiom pull the wool over someone's eyes
Example Politikeren prøvde å kaste blår i øynene på velgerne.
The politician tried to pull the wool over the voters' eyes.
Note The word blår (flax tow) survives only in this phrase, which turns up mostly in political and newspaper writing.
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: Ha is i magen comes out as "to have ice in the stomach", which makes no sense until you know it means to stay calm and composed under pressure.
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 Norwegian 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 Norwegian idioms, ranked by everyday frequency, start with ha is i magen, slå to fluer i en smekk, holde tunga rett i munnen, være ute og sykle, være på bærtur. 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 Norwegian, "ha is i magen" translates literally as "to have ice in the stomach", but it actually means to stay calm and composed under pressure. The closest English idiom is "keep a cool head". Example: Han hadde is i magen og scoret på straffesparket. ("He kept a cool head and scored the penalty.")
The Norwegian equivalent is "ha is i magen", literally "to have ice in the stomach". Example: Han hadde is i magen og scoret på straffesparket. ("He kept a cool head and scored the penalty.")
In Norwegian, an idiom is called talemåte, and a proverb is ordtak. A talemåte is a fixed figurative phrase you slot into your own sentence, while an ordtak is a complete saying that stands on its own and states a piece of folk wisdom.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Ha is i magen translates literally as "to have ice in the stomach", yet it means to stay calm and composed under pressure. 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 Norwegian with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.