Att sätta sig på tvären

Meaning: To be obstinate and refuse to cooperate.

Language: Swedish

Literally: To sit down crosswise

Category: Daily Life

Origin: Planting yourself sideways across the way pictures stubborn, deliberate resistance.

Equivalents in other languages

Hungarian: Nem enged a negyvennyolcból — literally: He won't budge from the forty-eight

Wyjść jak Zabłocki na mydle — To lose out badly on a deal.
Pabuç pahalı — Things are getting dangerous; time to be careful.
İki ayağını bir pabuca sokmak — To rush and pressure someone relentlessly.
يضرب في حديد بارد (yadrib fi hadid barid) — To waste effort on a hopeless task.
از این ستون به آن ستون فرج است (az in sotun be ān sotun faraj ast) — Even a small change may bring hope.
יצא מכליו (Yatsa miklav) — To lose your temper; to be beside yourself.

ge järnet — Exert maximum effort; give one's all.
ta sig vatten över huvudet — Get in over one's head; take on more than one can manage.
under kniven — Undergoing surgery, or under intense pressure to perform.
fjällen falla från någons ögon — To suddenly understand something that was previously hidden or obscured.
en koloss på lerfötter — Something that appears powerful and impressive but rests on a fundamentally weak foundati…
köra med — To tease, bully, or push someone around.