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Olla pipo kireällä

Meaning: To be uptight, grumpy or in a foul mood.

Language: Finnish

Literally: To have your beanie on tight

Category: Daily Life

Origin: A too-tight woolly hat squeezing the head pictures the strained, irritable Finn perfectly; popular in modern speech.

More idioms — Daily Life

  • 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 — Amazing, fantastic — though it literally means 'a waste of time'.
  • בא לי — I feel like it; I'm in the mood for it.
  • قربونت برم — An affectionate thank-you or term of endearment — 'you're so dear to me'.

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.

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