медведь на ухо наступил (medved' na ukho nastupil)

Meaning: To lack musical ability or have poor sense of pitch and rhythm.

Language: Russian

Literally: a bear stepped on one's ear

Category: Animals

Origin: Russian folklore where bears represented wild, uncontrolled forces; stepping on the ear symbolized disrupting musical sensitivity.

More idioms — Animals

att vara rädd som en hare — To be extremely fearful and jumpy, ready to flee at the slightest danger.
let the cat out of the bag — to reveal a secret inadvertently.
go belly up — to fail completely; to go bankrupt.
bark up the wrong tree — to pursue a wrong course; to blame the wrong person.
get your ducks in a row — to organize yourself; to prepare systematically.
in a pig's eye — absolutely not; never; expressing strong disagreement.

пускать пыль в глаза (puskat' pyl' v glaza) — To deceive or mislead someone, creating false impressions through trickery.
Ни пуха ни пера (Ni pukha ni pera) — Good luck — to which the ritual reply is 'To the devil!'.
Ехать зайцем (Yekhat' zaytsem) — To ride a train or bus without paying.
После дождичка в четверг (Posle dozhdichka v chetverg) — Never — or certainly no time soon.
Кот наплакал (Kot naplakal) — A laughably tiny amount.
Зарубить на носу (Zarubit' na nosu) — To remember something firmly, once and for all.

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