IdiomDaily Life
Norwegian
NorwegianÅ være ute og sykle
Meaning: To be completely mistaken or to have no idea what you're talking about.
Literally: To be out cycling
Example: “Hvis du tror at Oslo er hovedstaden i Sverige, er du ute og sykler.” — If you think Oslo is the capital of Sweden, you're barking up the wrong tree.
English equivalent: To bark up the wrong tree
Equivalents in other languages
English: bark up the wrong tree
German: Auf dem Holzweg sein Literally: To be on the timber track
Italian: Prendere lucciole per lanterne Literally: To mistake fireflies for lanterns
French: Se mettre le doigt dans l'œil Literally: To put one's finger in one's eye
Origin: "To be out cycling": to be completely mistaken, far off the subject. The phrase is modern colloquial Norwegian, and why cycling is not documented.
More Norwegian idioms
- Å ha bein i nesa To be assertive and able to stand your ground.
- Å snakke rett fra leveren To speak frankly, without softening anything.
- Helt texas Utterly wild, chaotic or out of control.
- Å koke bort i kålen To come to nothing; to fizzle out unresolved.
- Å være midt i smørøyet To be in the most fortunate spot imaginable.
- Å svelge noen kameler To make big concessions and accept what you dislike.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
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- O papa papava o papo do pipo; o pipo papava o papo do papa. A perfectly palindromic 'p' construction that reverses meaning when you swap the nouns.
- На дворе трава, на траве дрова. (Na dvore trava, na trave drova.) A short but nasty 'tr/dr' blend — the consonant clusters that trip up every learner of Ru…
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