Swedish/English idioms

A frozen Lake Mälaren

As I've mentioned before, I'm half-Swedish but have always lived in England. (A matter of significant regret right now, as I've got no chance of qualifying for a Swedish passport.)

Anyway, the upshot is that I'm apt to regard English culture as a bit mundane and, on the contrary, to idealize Swedish culture because it reminds me of childhood memories and holidays. It's therefore been a salutary experience, now that I'm making a daily effort to read the news in Swedish, to discover that the two languages share many of the same idioms and clichés.

A Swedish politician is as likely to slip on a "bananskal" as an English one on a banana-skin.

The pithy phrase "slowly but surely" is in Swedish the equally pithy "sakta men säkert".

Similar expressions or words used figuratively in both languages:

Banérförare: flag-bearer, standard-bearer

Botten på tunnan: bottom of the barrel

Bråkdelen av en sekund: fraction of a second

Ett steg längre: one step further
Grönt ljus: green light
Gör sig hemmastadda: make her/himself at home

Hörnsten: cornerstone

Klämtade klockan: the bell tolled
Lejonparten: the lion's share
Lyste med sin frånvaro: were conspicuous by their absence

Lämna stafettpinnan vidare: hand on the baton

Målat in sig i ett hörn: painted her/himself into a corner

Obetalbar: priceless (e.g. someone's astonished face)

Rak som en eldgaffel: straight as a poker

Sedan trillade poletten ner: then the penny dropped
Tappa mark: lose ground
Tas på sängen: be caught napping
Tummen ner: the thumbs-down

Visste inga gränser: knew no bounds

And finally, it isn't just British politicians who say this:

Det är helt oacceptabelt att resenärer drabbas så fort det blir lite vinterväder.
It's completely unacceptable that travel is disrupted as soon as there's a bit of winter weather....

What classes as "a bit of winter weather" might vary between the two countries, but the sentiment remains the same!

*

Of course there are many picturesque Swedish expressions that don't translate directly to English equivalents:

"mota Olle i grind": counter Olle at the gate. I.e. stop something before it gets out of hand, nip it in the bud. [There's something about the name Olle that means it gets used in comic or folky contexts.]