Angloland Learn Serbian - Phrases of the week 11

BITI U OBLACIMA literally means to be in the clouds and its translation equivalent may well be ‘to be daydreaming’, to be uptight and pretentious, to be complacent or to be self absorbed which will depend on the context , biti means to be , u means in and oblak means a cloud with its plural form oblaci meaning clouds.

BILA JE TO POSLEDNJA KAP literally means it was ‘the last drop’ its translation equivalent may well be ‘it was the last straw’ to refer to the situations which have come to a boiling point , to say that you are sick and tired , fed up or simply annoyed, bila je means it was , poslednja means the last, kap means the drop of water or any liquid. In this particular case it is a shorter version of a quote by Njegosh ‘poslednja kap u časi žuči’ meaning ‘the last drop in a glass filled with gall’

SLXLM

LITI KROKODILSKE SUZE literally means to shed or cry crocodile tears , to pretend to cry profusely , to show insincere sadness , liti means to shed, to spill, krokodil is a crocodile , krokodilske is an adjective from the noun, suza is a tear and suze are its plural.

PROGUTATI KNEDLU literally means to swallow a huge rounded noodle , to gulp when you feel anxious or scared or if you are about to say something unpleasant - progutati means to swallow , knedla is a big rounded noodle . IMATI KNEDLU U GRLU is a related phrases meaning ‘to have a noodle in your throat’ literally but metaphorically to feel afraid, humiliated , about to say something unpleasant or annoying.

PROMENITI PESMU literally means to change your song but it translates into English as ‘to change your tune’, to change your opinion all of sudden , ‘to U turn’ on a decision - promeniti means to change, pesma means a song or a poem, pesmu is the same noun but used here in its fourth grammar accusative case.