Ten God phrases in Serban language that you can’t find in textbooks

Serbs are pretty religious people and that is why it is no wonder to find phrases related to God in colloquial language. I will list ten very common ones and remember that there are also variations of them in accordance to different part of Serbia. Every phrase is followed by an explanation and examples.

 

1. koštati Boga i oca - exactly the same meaning as in English „to cost an arm and a leg“; something that is very expensive, maybe more than one could imagine.

Komšija je kupio nov auto. Kaže da košta Boga i oca.

2. pričati, ostati, šetati... Bogu i svetu - to talk, stay somewhere, walk for a very long time;

Ne volim da ga sretnem. Priča o politici Bogu i svetu.

3. uhvatiti Boga za bradu - to consider yourself invincible, privileged, better than others; maybe something like „to think someone is God's own cousin“

Viđam ga često po kafanama. Ponaša se bahato prema svima - kao da je uhvatio Boga za bradu.

4. dar od Boga - gift from above; something very hard or impossible to get or obtain unless hire forces help you out a bit;

Nakon nekoliko godina su dobili ćerku, kao da je dar od Boga.

5. Bogu iza nogu - to be very distant;

Hoćemo li da odemo peške do tamo? - Ma, ne! Oni su Bogu iza nogu, na drugom kraju grada.

6. Bog zaboravi na nekoga - something very distant in time, so distant that even God has forgotten about it;

Mama, odoh do drugara. - Dobro, samo nemoj da Bog zaboravi na tebe!

7. biti Bogom dan - similar meaning as phrase number 3, but the slight difference is that in this case you are very special right from the beginning whereas in phrase number three you had to make an effort to achieve something great, but you have too idealistic perception of yourself; a God-given right

Leži i ništa ne radi po ceo dan, kao da je Bogom dan.

8. ~ do Boga - same as „do neba“, which means in great quantity, for example to love or to be dumb; it might be compared with „to the moon and back“;

Volim svoju decu do Boga!

Objašnjavam mu nekoliko puta i ne vredi. Glup je do Boga. 

9. Bog zna - God only knows! what, when, how something will happen or how long might something last; 

Moj muž je otišao na poslovni sastanak. Bog zna koliko će ostati tamo.

10. pokazati nekom Boga - to reprimand, to beat someone up as a substitute for explanation or discussion in a dispute, row, misunderstanding etc; usually used with possessive pronoun (his/her/their God);

Deca su slomila prozor. Pokazaću im njihovog Boga.

Mostly, they represent something of higher level, great amount, quantity, quality using God as suprime being and bearing in mind that there is no better/higher/nicer/more beautiful than him. These phrases are commonly found in everyday speech and literature.