бити байдики
Literally to beat baidyky (small wooden pegs)
Means to loaf around, be idle, do nothing productive
Example Замість того, щоб готуватися до іспиту, він цілий день бив байдики.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are 15 of the most common Ukrainian idioms, each with its literal translation, real meaning, and an example sentence, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Ukrainian idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, бити байдики literally means "to beat baidyky (small wooden pegs)" but is used to mean to loaf around, be idle, do nothing productive. This free tool lists 15 real Ukrainian idioms, each with its literal translation, meaning, and an example sentence.
All 15 Ukrainian idioms, with meanings and examples.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of July 2026.
бити байдики
Literally to beat baidyky (small wooden pegs)
Means to loaf around, be idle, do nothing productive
Example Замість того, щоб готуватися до іспиту, він цілий день бив байдики.
замилювати очі
Literally to soap up the eyes
Means to deceive someone, pull the wool over their eyes
Example Політики часто замилюють очі виборцям гучними обіцянками.
тримати язик за зубами
Literally to hold the tongue behind the teeth
Means to keep quiet, not reveal a secret
Example Про нашу розмову тримай язик за зубами, добре?
собаку з'їв
Literally (he) ate a dog (on this matter)
Means to be very experienced or skilled at something
Example У ремонті машин він собаку з'їв, звертайся тільки до нього.
ловити ґав
Literally to catch crows
Means to be inattentive, daydream and miss something
Example Переходячи дорогу, не лови ґав, дивись по сторонах.
як сніг на голову
Literally like snow on the head
Means something sudden and unexpected, out of the blue
Example Новина про звільнення впала як сніг на голову.
робити з мухи слона
Literally to make an elephant out of a fly
Means to exaggerate, make a big deal out of something trivial
Example Заспокойся, не треба робити з мухи слона.
передати куті меду
Literally to add too much honey to the kutia
Means to overdo something, go too far, exaggerate
Example З компліментами він явно передав куті меду.
товкти воду в ступі
Literally to pound water in a mortar
Means to waste time doing pointless, repetitive work
Example На цих зборах ми вже другу годину товчемо воду в ступі.
ні риба ні м'ясо
Literally neither fish nor meat
Means mediocre, indecisive, neither one thing nor the other
Example Його відповідь була ні риба ні м'ясо, ніхто нічого не зрозумів.
грошей кури не клюють
Literally chickens don't peck at the money
Means to have an enormous amount of money
Example Кажуть, у нього грошей кури не клюють.
сьома вода на киселі
Literally seventh water on kissel (jelly)
Means a very distant, barely related relative
Example Той чоловік мені сьома вода на киселі, я його майже не знаю.
як Пилип з конопель
Literally like Pylyp out of the hemp
Means to say or do something suddenly, abruptly, and out of place
Example Він вискочив зі своїм запитанням, як Пилип з конопель.
накивати п'ятами
Literally to wave with one's heels
Means to run away quickly, flee
Example Побачивши поліцію, злодій накивав п'ятами.
ведмежа послуга
Literally a bear's favor
Means a favor that backfires and causes harm instead of helping
Example Твоя порада виявилась ведмежою послугою.
Idioms stick when you see them in context, not on a list. Lingo7 lets you read real Ukrainian 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: Бити байдики comes out as "to beat baidyky (small wooden pegs)", which makes no sense until you know it means to loaf around, be idle, do nothing productive.
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 Ukrainian 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 Ukrainian idioms are бити байдики, замилювати очі, тримати язик за зубами, собаку з'їв. 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 Ukrainian, "бити байдики" translates literally as "to beat baidyky (small wooden pegs)", but it actually means to loaf around, be idle, do nothing productive. You would use it like this: Замість того, щоб готуватися до іспиту, він цілий день бив байдики.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Бити байдики translates literally as "to beat baidyky (small wooden pegs)", yet it means to loaf around, be idle, do nothing productive. 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 Ukrainian with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.