Idioms in Hindi Posted by Nitin Kumar on Feb 26, 2011 in Hindi Language
Idioms in Hindi are very interesting. It would be useful to learn some of the idioms in Hindi as they are used quite often in daily life.
Let me show you today some of the common idioms that we use in our conversation. Romanised pronunciation is given in brackets.
1. आँखें चुराना (Aankhein Churana) – not like to be seen
2. आँखो का तारा (Aankhein ka tara) – Beloved
3. मुँह मीठा करना (Muh mitha karna) – to distribute sweet in joy
4. चहरा उतरना (Chehra utarna) – to be sad/disappointed
5. दन्तो तले उंगली दबाना (danto tale ungali dabana) – to be very surprised
6. साँस लेना (Sans lena) – to feel free after much work
7. बात पक्की होना (baat pakki hona) – to be agree on something
8. बाल-बाल बचना (bal bal bachna) – to get away from a trouble by a close margin
9. अकल का दुश्मन (akal ka dushman) – to be dumb
10. जान पर खेलना (jaan par khelna) – to be fearless
11. पेट में चूहे कूदना (pet mein chuhe kudna) – to be very hungry
12. आसमान पर चड़ना (aashman par chadna) – to be proud
13. आकाश पाताल का अंतर (aakash patal ka aantar) – to be a big difference
14. हवा से बातें करना (hawa se bate karna) – to run at high speed
15. पत्थर की लकीर (patar ki lakir) – to be firm on saying
16. पहाड़ टूट पड़ना (pahad tut padna) – to get into a big trouble
17. ईद का चाँद होना (id ka chand hona) – only to be seen after long time (usually a person)
18. चकमा देना (chakma dena) – to deceive
19. उल्टी गंगा बहना (ulti ganga behna) – to be unusual (happening)
20. छ्क्के छुड़ाना (chakke chudana) – to defeat
21. फूँक फूँक कर कदम रखना (phunk phunk kar kadam rakhna) – to be very careful (in action)
22. दम में दम आना (dam mein dam aana) – to feel free from fear
23. दाँत से दाँत बजाना (dant se dant bajana) – to feel very cold
24. मुँह में पानी आना (muh mein pani aana) – to be tempted by food
25. नाक काटना (nak katna) – to blame or embarrass someone
26. कमर टूटना (kamar tutna) – to feel disappointed
27. कमर कसना (kamar kasna) – to prepare for something
28. कलेजा पत्थर का होना (kaleja patar ka hona) – to be mentally very strong
29. दाँत खट्टे करना (dant khate karna) – to defeat someone
30. ईंट से ईंट बजाना (int se int bajana) – to destroy someone
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About the Author: Nitin Kumar
Nitin Kumar is a native Hindi speaker from New Delhi, India. His education qualification include Masters in Robotics and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. Currently, he is working in the Research and Development in Robotics in Germany. He is avid language learner with varied level of proficiency in English, German, Spanish, and Japanese. He wish to learn French one day. His passion for languages motivated him to share his mother tongue, Hindi, and culture and traditions associated with its speakers. He has been working with Transparent Language since 2010 and has written over 430 blogs on various topics on Hindi language and India, its culture and traditions. He is also the Administrator for Hindi Facebook page which has a community of over 330,000 members.
Comments:
sarita:
in the 5th idiom ‘datto’ please check ,hindi spelling is wrong according to me,i recommend this site to many people so please
Nitin:
@sarita It has “न” and there is no double “त”. These two point makes it “danto” instead of your suggested spelling “datto”.
Also, the romanised spellings are not standardized.
`ria:
this web is nice and helpful, readers. i like the essay of mr nitin kumar. i guess if this web is revised then it could the very helpful for the next generation. at last= a good web for hindi. i used it for my daughter anushkas project and belive it or not she got 20/20 mks.
pls correct the timings posted
Nitin Kumar:
@`ria Could you please then me what revision you are suggesting? and what timing need to be corrected?
Swami Snehaananda:
but the way you understood idoms is interesting and certain extent misleading. Idioms are not proverbs. If you go to the meaning of Idiom from the words like “idiomatic usage, means any language use peculiar to a language” Most of the language itself become peculiar to one person to another. Mostly every one has his or her style. and different localities differ in their styles and accents. If you understand the idioms as group of words to communicate a meaning other than the meaning of the words present in use, many types of phrases and proverbs which are used can be taken as Idoms. But for me it is an idiosyncrary about the Idioms. Analysing the structure of Idioms in western european languages it becomes clearer it is Verb + preposition = Idioms or Verb+ Averbs= Idioms ( reference High school English Grammar, Wren and Martin) As per this defenition, if a language does not have prepositions it becomes difficult to form idioms at all. There for the possibility of Idioms becomes very less practically nill.
Nitin Kumar:
@Swami Snehaananda @Snehaananda: There is a distinct difference between a proverb and an idiom. A proverb is a sentence in itself but an idiom is not. Idiom is a phrase which need subject and object to understand its meaning. So, it has a linguistic significance. I think you are confusing with Hindi dialects with different localities. Variation in an idioms may exist because of the dialect but this happens in every language. For Standard Hindi, an idiom meaning remain unaffected. Idiom has not lost any significance, every Hindi speakers who speak Hindi on daily basis rely on idioms. My grandfather and my father uses it and so does I. I have heard the same idioms in Hindi movies (or should I say Hindustani movies) and from my friends. So I don’t see a bad future for them.
Milan:
Baal pakna – graying of one’s hair (to mature or grow wise, usually beyond one’s years)
narendra:
oont pahad ke niche aana wt is the meaning of that
Tripta Gupta:
Sir, can you please help me in make a story which based on 20 idioms of hindi in hindi language or can you please suggest me some websites which help me to find these types of work???
name:
What is correct idiom,
mann changa to kasoti me ganga or mann changa to kathiti me ganga?
HS ROCKS:
i want an idiom “Daam Vasuul Karna”
Nitin Kumar:
@HS ROCKS This idiom means: to get worth from something
lavi:
Plz someone tell the meaning of hindi idiom kaleja chalni hona in hindi as soon as possible plz
simran:
The meaning of the 28th idiom is wrong. It’s right meaning is “being insensitive towards others”..”kaleja pathar ka hona” and “kaleje par pathar rakh ke koi kaam karna” they both have different meanings
simran:
The spelling of”danto” is also wrong
afnan:
Please give me the meaning of the idiom’kopdi ganji karna’
Nitin Kumar:
@afnan Namaste Afnan,
It means to shave the head (to make it bald). Hope this help!
Sneha:
pls tell me the meaning of ‘apka pani hi khara h’
Nitin Kumar:
@Sneha This will translate into English as “it is your water that is hard”. He or she wants to say that you have hard water.
Farah:
Well sir please could you give me one nice easy sentence of phholo naa SAMAANA
Nitin Kumar:
@Farah @Farah: Jab main pass ho gayi tab main fule na samayi 🙂 In English, it will translate to: I was very happy when I passed the exam.
Archi:
Bail maind Chad sakna meaning
shivam:
what is the meaning of मुहँ तोड़ जवाब देना ?
Nitin Kumar:
@shivam it means to give a strong reply.
Dev:
Can u pl tell me other idioms having the same meaning as ‘Danton tale fingers cabana’
soumya:
is khoon chusna an idiom
Nitin Kumar:
@soumya yes
Arzoo:
Please tell me Hindi muhavare for koi kaam baar baar karna