At slå koldt vand i blodet

Meaning: To calm down and keep a cool head.

Language: Danish

Literally: To pour cold water into the blood

Category: Body & Senses

Origin: A centuries-old Danish image of cooling overheated, panicking blood back to a steady temperature.

More idioms — Body & Senses

• Брати ноги в руки — To hurry up and get moving quickly.
• על הפנים — Terrible, awful, in a wretched state.
• Les doigts dans le nez — To do something with the greatest of ease.
• By the skin of your teeth — By the narrowest possible margin.
• Ser uña y carne — To be inseparable; the closest of friends.
• Fare le corna — To ward off bad luck — or to signal that a partner is being unfaithful.

More Danish idioms

• At gå agurk — To go crazy or berserk.
• At have rotter på loftet — To be a little crazy.
• Det blæser en halv pelikan — It is extremely windy.
• At tisse i bukserne for at holde varmen — A quick fix that makes the problem worse soon after.
• At save den gren over man selv sidder på — To undermine your own position.
• At gå over åen efter vand — To do something in a needlessly roundabout way.

← Back to Idioms

Loading the full interactive collection…