Heittää lusikka nurkkaan
Meaning: To die.
Language: Finnish
Literally: To throw the spoon in the corner
Category: Daily Life
Origin: When a person could no longer eat, their spoon was set aside for good — a gentle Finnish euphemism for death.
Equivalents in other languages
- German: Den Löffel abgeben — literally: To hand over the spoon
More idioms — Daily Life
- Olla pipo kireällä — To be uptight, grumpy or in a foul mood.
- Mít kliku — To be lucky.
- A freca menta — To waste time; to loaf around doing nothing useful.
- A-i pica fisa — To finally understand something.
- חבל על הזמן (Ḥaval ʿal ha-zman) — Amazing, fantastic — though it literally means 'a waste of time'.
- בא לי (ba li) — I feel like it; I'm in the mood for it.
More Finnish idioms
- Päästä kuin koira veräjästä — To escape consequences entirely; to get off scot-free.
- Olla kuin Ellun kanat — To live a carefree, comfortable life.
- Vetää lonkalta — To improvise; to wing it.
- Mennä metsään — To go completely wrong.
- Olla pinna kireällä — To be on edge and short-tempered.
- Lyödä rahoiksi — To cash in; to profit handsomely.
From our compliments & insults
- Tu es mon rayon de soleil — A warm way to tell someone they brighten your day.
- Joli comme un cœur — Utterly charming or adorable.
- Tu as un cœur d'or — You are genuinely kind and generous.