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Зарубить на носу

Meaning: To remember something firmly, once and for all.

Language: Russian

Literally: To notch it on your nose

Category: Body & Senses

Origin: Here 'nos' meant a wooden tally stick the illiterate carried; cutting a notch into it made an unforgettable record.

More idioms — Body & Senses

  • Iets onder de knie hebben — To have mastered a skill.
  • اللي على راسه بطحة بيحسس عليها — The guilty person gives himself away.
  • Avoir le bras long — To have influence and useful connections.
  • Avoir le cœur sur la main — To be very generous and giving.
  • To cost an arm and a leg — To be extremely expensive.
  • Tener más cara que espalda — To be utterly shameless and brazen.

More Russian idioms

  • Водить за нос — To deceive or string someone along.
  • Бить баклуши — To loaf about doing nothing.
  • Остаться с носом — To be left empty-handed or outwitted.
  • Как сельдь в бочке — Packed together very tightly.
  • Делать ноги — To run away quickly.
  • Заговаривать зубы — To distract someone with smooth, evasive talk.

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