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24 of the Funniest Romanian Expressions

Romania Student Work Languages
by Paula Veselovschi Oct 5, 2015

1. A Romanian is not “surprised”… his “face has fallen off” (I-a picat fața).

 

2. A Romanian didn’t just “do so much with so little”…he “made a whip out of shit” (Face din rahat bici).

 

3. A Romanian won’t “lose temper”…his “mustard will jump off” (Îi sare muștarul).

 

4. A Romanian hasn’t just “screwed up”…he “threw his boogers in the beans” (A dat cu mucii-n fasole).

 

5. A Romanian won’t “try to fool you”…he’ll “throw vapours at you” (Te aburește).

 

6. Nor will he “lie to you”… he’ll “sell you doughnuts” (Vinde gogoși).

 

7. A Romanian doesn’t “suddenly get it”… his “coin drops” (Îi pică fisa).

 

8. A Romanian is not “extremely tired”…he’s “cabbage.” His life is not “chaotic”… it’s “cabbage.” And his room is not “a complete mess”…it’s also “cabbage” (Varză).

 

9. A Romanian doesn’t simply deem an effort “useless”… he says it’s “a rub on a wooden leg” (Frecție la picior de lemn).

 

10. You don’t “drive a Romanian nuts”… you “take him out of his watermelons” (Îl scoți din pepeni).

 

11. A Romanian will not have “the impostor syndrome”… he will “feel with the fly on his cap” (Se simte cu musca pe căciulă).

 

12. In Romania, things are not “far away”… they’re “at the devil’s mother” (La mama naibii).

 

13. A Romanian is not “crazy”…he’s “gone on a raft” (Dus cu pluta).

 

14. A Romanian won’t tell you to stop “wasting time”… he’ll tell you to stop “rubbing the mint” (Freca menta).

 

15. A Romanian won’t say that something is “cool”… he’ll say it’s “concrete” (Beton).

 

16. A Romanian is not “nervous”… he “has a carrot (in the ass)” (Are un morcov în fund).

 

17. A Romanian doesn’t just “keep quiet”… he “keeps quiet like the pig in a corn field” (Tace ca porcu-n păpușoi).

 

18. As a Romanian you don’t “fool yourself”… you “get drunk with cold water” (Te îmbeți cu apă rece).

 

19. A Romanian is not “stupid”… he’s “a Venice bush” (Tufă de Veneția).

 

20. A Romanian won’t “call it quits”… he’ll “stick his feet in” (Își bagă picioarele).

 

21. A Romanian hasn’t been “scammed”… he “took a spike” (A luat țeapă).

 

22. A Romanian is not “a drunkard”… he’s “a blotting paper” (Sugativă).

 

23. A Romanian will not look at you “confused”… he will “stare like the crow at the bone” (Ca cioara la ciolan).

 

24. A Romanian doesn’t have “unusual ideas”… he has “a curly mind” (Minte creață).

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