iti komu na živce
Literally to go on someone's nerves
Means to irritate or annoy someone
English idiom get on someone's nerves
Example Njegovo večno pritoževanje mi gre res na živce.
His constant complaining really gets on my nerves.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are the 25 most common Slovenian 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 Slovenian idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, iti komu na živce literally means "to go on someone's nerves" but is used to mean to irritate or annoy someone. This free page ranks the 25 most common Slovenian 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.
iti komu na živce
Literally to go on someone's nerves
Means to irritate or annoy someone
English idiom get on someone's nerves
Example Njegovo večno pritoževanje mi gre res na živce.
His constant complaining really gets on my nerves.
držati pesti za koga
Literally to hold fists for someone
Means to wish someone luck and silently root for them
English idiom keep one's fingers crossed
Example Jutri imaš izpit, zato bomo držali pesti zate.
You have an exam tomorrow, so we will keep our fingers crossed for you.
iti kot po maslu
Literally to go as if over butter
Means to go smoothly, with nothing getting in the way
English idiom go like clockwork
Example Predstavitev je šla kot po maslu.
The presentation went like clockwork.
na vrat na nos
Literally on neck on nose
Means in a great hurry, without thinking it through
Example Odšla sta na vrat na nos, brez pozdrava.
The two of them left in a mad rush, without saying goodbye.
mačji kašelj
Literally a cat's cough
Means something trivial and easy to handle
English idiom a walk in the park
Example Selitev v novo stanovanje ni bila mačji kašelj.
Moving into the new flat was no walk in the park.
Note Usually appears in the negative (ni mačji kašelj) to stress that something was hard.
delati iz muhe slona
Literally to make an elephant out of a fly
Means to blow a small problem far out of proportion
English idiom make a mountain out of a molehill
Example Nehaj delati iz muhe slona, saj ni tako hudo.
Stop making a mountain out of a molehill, it is not that bad.
vreči puško v koruzo
Literally to throw the rifle into the corn
Means to give up and stop trying
English idiom throw in the towel
Example Po tretjem neuspešnem poskusu je vrgel puško v koruzo.
After the third failed attempt he threw in the towel.
pasti v vodo
Literally to fall into the water
Means for a plan or an event to come to nothing
English idiom fall through
Example Zaradi dežja so vsi naši načrti za piknik padli v vodo.
Because of the rain all our picnic plans fell through.
držati jezik za zobmi
Literally to hold the tongue behind the teeth
Means to stay quiet and keep something to oneself
English idiom hold one's tongue
Example Če hočeš obdržati službo, drži jezik za zobmi.
If you want to keep your job, hold your tongue.
imeti maslo na glavi
Literally to have butter on one's head
Means to be guilty of something and have a reason to feel uneasy about it
Example Očitno ima maslo na glavi, ker se izogiba vprašanjem.
He clearly has something to answer for, since he keeps dodging the questions.
ubiti dve muhi na en mah
Literally to kill two flies with one swing
Means to settle two things with a single action
English idiom kill two birds with one stone
Example Z eno potjo na pošto in v trgovino sem ubila dve muhi na en mah.
With one trip to the post office and the shop I killed two birds with one stone.
izgubiti glavo
Literally to lose one's head
Means to panic and stop thinking clearly
English idiom lose one's head
Example Ko je izvedela za nesrečo, je za trenutek izgubila glavo.
When she heard about the accident, she lost her head for a moment.
vleči koga za nos
Literally to pull someone by the nose
Means to deceive someone and keep them believing something untrue
English idiom string someone along
Example Cel mesec me je vlekel za nos, da mi bo vrnil denar.
For a whole month he strung me along about paying me back.
biti na konju
Literally to be on a horse
Means to have made it, to be doing well now that the hard part is over
English idiom be sitting pretty
Example Odkar je odprl svoje podjetje, je res na konju.
Ever since he opened his own company, he has been sitting pretty.
iti rakom žvižgat
Literally to go whistle to the crayfish
Means to be ruined or lost for good
English idiom go down the drain
Example Če ne dobimo posojila, gre ves projekt rakom žvižgat.
If we do not get the loan, the whole project goes down the drain.
Note Informal and slightly jokey, at home in speech rather than in formal writing.
metati komu polena pod noge
Literally to throw logs under someone's feet
Means to obstruct someone on purpose
English idiom put a spoke in someone's wheel
Example Namesto da bi mi pomagal, mi je metal polena pod noge.
Instead of helping me, he kept putting obstacles in my way.
biti pod copato
Literally to be under the slipper
Means to be run by one's wife
English idiom be under the thumb
Example Vsi se mu smejijo, da je pod copato.
Everyone teases him for being under the thumb.
Note Said mockingly about a husband, so it can sting if he is in the room.
ne imeti dlake na jeziku
Literally to have no hair on one's tongue
Means to say exactly what one thinks without softening it
English idiom not mince words
Example Nova direktorica nima dlake na jeziku.
The new director does not mince her words.
pustiti koga na cedilu
Literally to leave someone on the strainer
Means to abandon someone who was counting on you
English idiom leave someone in the lurch
Example Obljubil je pomoč, potem pa nas je pustil na cedilu.
He promised to help and then left us in the lurch.
priti na zeleno vejo
Literally to come onto a green branch
Means to recover financially and start doing well
English idiom get on one's feet
Example S to plačo nikoli ne bomo prišli na zeleno vejo.
On this salary we will never get on our feet.
Note Often used in the negative, about someone who never gets ahead.
kupiti mačka v žaklju
Literally to buy a cat in a sack
Means to buy something sight unseen, without checking what you are getting
English idiom buy a pig in a poke
Example Rabljenega avta ne kupuj po sliki, da ne kupiš mačka v žaklju.
Do not buy a used car from a photo, or you will end up buying a pig in a poke.
biti brez glave in repa
Literally to be without head and tail
Means to be muddled and impossible to follow
English idiom have neither rhyme nor reason
Example Njegova razlaga je bila brez glave in repa.
His explanation had neither rhyme nor reason.
delati se Francoza
Literally to make oneself a Frenchman
Means to pretend not to know or notice something
English idiom play dumb
Example Ko sem ga vprašala, kdo je razbil vazo, se je delal Francoza.
When I asked him who broke the vase, he played dumb.
Note Informal and disapproving; Croatian and Serbian use the same phrase.
gledati kot tele v nova vrata
Literally to stare like a calf at a new gate
Means to stare blankly, without understanding a thing
English idiom look like a deer in the headlights
Example Ko so ga vprašali o proračunu, je gledal kot tele v nova vrata.
When they asked him about the budget, he looked like a deer in the headlights.
Note Mocking, so it is safer said about someone than to their face.
nositi srce na dlani
Literally to carry one's heart on one's palm
Means to be open about one's feelings and hide nothing
English idiom wear one's heart on one's sleeve
Example Vedno nosi srce na dlani in ne skriva svojih čustev.
She always wears her heart on her sleeve and hides nothing she feels.
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: Iti komu na živce comes out as "to go on someone's nerves", which makes no sense until you know it means to irritate or annoy someone.
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 Slovenian 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 Slovenian idioms, ranked by everyday frequency, start with iti komu na živce, držati pesti za koga, iti kot po maslu, na vrat na nos, mačji kašelj. 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 Slovenian, "iti komu na živce" translates literally as "to go on someone's nerves", but it actually means to irritate or annoy someone. The closest English idiom is "get on someone's nerves". Example: Njegovo večno pritoževanje mi gre res na živce. ("His constant complaining really gets on my nerves.")
The Slovenian equivalent is "iti komu na živce", literally "to go on someone's nerves". Example: Njegovo večno pritoževanje mi gre res na živce. ("His constant complaining really gets on my nerves.")
In Slovenian, an idiom is called frazem, and a proverb is pregovor. A frazem is a fixed multi-word expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from the individual words, while a pregovor is a complete sentence that states a piece of folk wisdom.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Iti komu na živce translates literally as "to go on someone's nerves", yet it means to irritate or annoy someone. 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 Slovenian with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.