mať maslo na hlave
Literally to have butter on the head
Means to have a guilty conscience, to be at fault or have something to hide
Example Prečo sa tak bráni? Asi má maslo na hlave.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are 15 of the most common Slovak idioms, each with its literal translation, real meaning, and an example sentence, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Slovak idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, mať maslo na hlave literally means "to have butter on the head" but is used to mean to have a guilty conscience, to be at fault or have something to hide. This free tool lists 15 real Slovak idioms, each with its literal translation, meaning, and an example sentence.
All 15 Slovak idioms, with meanings and examples.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of July 2026.
mať maslo na hlave
Literally to have butter on the head
Means to have a guilty conscience, to be at fault or have something to hide
Example Prečo sa tak bráni? Asi má maslo na hlave.
hodiť flintu do žita
Literally to throw the rifle into the rye
Means to give up too easily, to abandon an effort prematurely
Example Nehádž flintu do žita, ešte to môžeš dokázať.
lámať si hlavu
Literally to break one's own head
Means to rack one's brains over a problem
Example Nelám si hlavu nad tým, veď to nie je až také dôležité.
mať toho veľa na krku
Literally to have a lot of it on one's neck
Means to have many responsibilities or obligations to deal with
Example Momentálne mám toho veľa na krku, sotva stíham dýchať.
vodiť niekoho za nos
Literally to lead someone by the nose
Means to deceive or dupe someone
Example Už mesiac ma vodí za nos, sľuby nikdy nesplní.
držať niekomu palce
Literally to hold thumbs for someone
Means to keep one's fingers crossed for someone, to wish them luck
Example Budem ti držať palce na skúške.
byť v siedmom nebi
Literally to be in the seventh heaven
Means to be extremely happy
Example Keď mu ponúkli tú prácu, bol v siedmom nebi.
chytiť sa za nos
Literally to catch oneself by the nose
Means to realize and admit one's own fault, often instead of blaming others
Example Namiesto obviňovania druhých by sa mal každý chytiť za nos.
chodiť okolo horúcej kaše
Literally to walk around hot porridge
Means to beat around the bush, to avoid getting to the point
Example Prestaň chodiť okolo horúcej kaše a povedz mi, čo sa stalo.
ísť s kožou na trh
Literally to go to market with one's skin
Means to put oneself on the line, to take personal responsibility and risk exposure
Example Ak chceš presadiť svoj názor, musíš ísť s kožou na trh.
mať niečoho plné zuby
Literally to have full teeth of something
Means to be fed up with something
Example Mám plné zuby jeho výhovoriek.
mať srdce na dlani
Literally to have a heart on one's palm
Means to be sincere, kind, and generous
Example Tá žena má srdce na dlani, vždy nám pomôže.
ako blesk z jasného neba
Literally like lightning from a clear sky
Means a bolt from the blue, something completely unexpected
Example Správa o jeho odchode prišla ako blesk z jasného neba.
hádzať niekomu polená pod nohy
Literally to throw logs under someone's feet
Means to deliberately put obstacles in someone's way
Example Namiesto pomoci mi iba hádzal polená pod nohy.
mať niečo za lubom
Literally to have something behind the bark
Means to be secretly planning or scheming something
Example Ten úsmev sa mi nepáči, určite má niečo za lubom.
Idioms stick when you see them in context, not on a list. Lingo7 lets you read real Slovak 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: Mať maslo na hlave comes out as "to have butter on the head", which makes no sense until you know it means to have a guilty conscience, to be at fault or have something to hide.
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 Slovak 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 Slovak idioms are mať maslo na hlave, hodiť flintu do žita, lámať si hlavu, mať toho veľa na krku. 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 Slovak, "mať maslo na hlave" translates literally as "to have butter on the head", but it actually means to have a guilty conscience, to be at fault or have something to hide. You would use it like this: Prečo sa tak bráni? Asi má maslo na hlave.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Mať maslo na hlave translates literally as "to have butter on the head", yet it means to have a guilty conscience, to be at fault or have something to hide. 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 Slovak with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.