Head, nose and heart: Luxembourgish idioms about the body
Your head hangs when you are sad, your nose is full when you are fed up, and a stone falls from your heart when you are relieved. Twenty-four Luxembourgish idioms built on the body, each with a native recording.
Updated · 3 min read
Body idioms are the quickest way to sound natural: they are short, frequent and full of words you already need. If the body parts themselves are new, learn them first on our health and hospital vocabulary page — and for the doctor’s visit, see Luxembourgish at the doctor and the pharmacy.
The head (Kapp)
Looss de Kapp net hänken!
Literally: Do not let your head hang!
Meaning: Do not be sad. Don’t let your head hang — said to cheer someone up.
Stiech de Kapp net an de Sand!
Literally: Do not stick your head into the sand!
Meaning: Look at reality as it is. Don’t stick your head in the sand.
Schlo der dat aus dem Kapp!
Literally: Knock that out of your head!
Meaning: Give it up; you will not get it. Hit it out of your head: give it up.
Dat huet kee Kapp a kee Schwanz!
Literally: That has no head and no tail!
Meaning: That makes no sense. Neither head nor tail — the same image as English.
Dee geet mam Kapp duerch d'Mauer!
Literally: He goes with his head through the wall!
Meaning: He is very stubborn. Going through the wall with your head: stubborn.
Wat een net am Kapp huet, dat muss een an de Been hunn.
Literally: What you do not have in your head, you must have in your legs.
Meaning: If you forget something, you have to walk the way twice. What you don’t have in your head, you must have in your legs — forget something and you walk twice.
Mouth, tongue and lips (Mond, Zong)
Du hues de Mond ze voll geholl!
Literally: You took your mouth too full!
Meaning: You promised too much. You took your mouth too full: you promised too much. The verb is huelen.
Du hëls mer d'Wierder aus dem Mond!
Literally: You take the words out of my mouth!
Meaning: You are saying exactly what I was about to say. You are taking the words out of my mouth.
Ech huele kee Blat virun de Mond.
Literally: I take no leaf in front of my mouth.
Meaning: I say what I think openly. I don’t hold a leaf in front of my mouth: I speak openly.
D'Waasser leeft mer am Mond zesummen!
Literally: The water runs together in my mouth!
Meaning: That makes me really want to eat it. The water runs together in my mouth — my mouth is watering. More food sayings in Luxembourgish food sayings.
Hie lieft vun der Hand an de Mond.
Literally: He lives from the hand into the mouth.
Meaning: He earns just enough to buy food. Living from the hand into the mouth: hand to mouth, as in English.
Deen huet eng schaarf Zong.
Literally: He has a sharp tongue.
Meaning: He says what he thinks without sparing others. A sharp tongue.
Nose, ears and hair (Nues, Oueren, Hoer)
Ech hunn d'Nues voll!
Literally: I have the nose full!
Meaning: I am tired of it. I have my nose full: I am fed up. One of the most useful idioms in the language.
Hie gesäit net méi wäit ewéi seng Nues.
Literally: He does not see further than his nose.
Meaning: He does not think about the consequences.
Schreif der dat hanner d'Oueren!
Literally: Write that behind your ears!
Meaning: Remember that well. Write it behind your ears: remember it. The verb is schreiwen.
Wien huet dir déi Flou an d'Ouer gesat?
Literally: Who put that flea in your ear?
Meaning: Who gave you that strange idea? Who put that flea in your ear? — where did you get that idea?
Si leie sech an den Hoer.
Literally: They lie in each other's hair.
Meaning: They are quarrelling. They are lying in each other’s hair: quarrelling.
D'Hoer sti mer zu Bierg!
Literally: The hairs stand up like a mountain on me!
Meaning: I am horrified. My hair is standing on end — I am horrified.
Hands, feet and the heart (Hänn, Féiss, Häerz)
Dat do ënnerschreiwen ech mat béiden Hänn.
Literally: I sign that with both hands.
Meaning: I agree with that completely. I sign that with both hands — I agree completely. The verb is ënnerschreiwen.
Eis sinn Hänn a Féiss gebonnen.
Literally: Our hands and feet are tied.
Meaning: We cannot act the way we would like to.
Bass du haut mam lénke Fouss opgestanen?
Literally: Did you get up with the left foot today?
Meaning: Are you in a bad mood today? Did you get up with the left foot today? — a bad mood, as in French and German.
Hand op d'Häerz!
Literally: Hand on the heart!
Meaning: Be honest with yourself!
Mir fält e Stee vum Häerz.
Literally: A stone falls from my heart.
Meaning: I am relieved. A stone falls from my heart: I am relieved.
Déi zwee sinn en Häerz an eng Séil.
Literally: Those two are one heart and one soul.
Meaning: Those two get along very well. One heart and one soul — two people who get along perfectly.
A family saying from the same set: children’s eyes are often bigger than their stomach (Bei de Kanner sinn d’Aen dacks méi grouss ewéi de Mo) — it is in love, friends and family in sayings.
Using body idioms correctly
- Possessives: Luxembourgish often uses a pronoun instead of “my”: mir fält e Stee vum Häerz (a stone falls from the heart to me). See personal pronouns.
- Plurals of body parts are irregular: Hand → Hänn, Fouss → Féiss, Ouer → Oueren, Aen (eyes).
- Commands with du and Dir: Looss de Kapp net hänken! (du) — Loosst de Kapp net hänken! (Dir). See the present tense and irregular verbs.
- Negation: net and keen behave differently — ech huele kee Blat, looss de Kapp net hänken. See negation in Luxembourgish.
The verbs that carry these idioms are worth learning with their full tables: huelen, leeën, stoen, loossen, gesinn and schreiwen. More idioms by theme: animals, money and work, time and patience.
Reading a saying is one thing; using it at the right moment is another. For that, practise with a person: on Edluxio you can book 1-to-1 online lessons with independent teachers, native speakers among them, and try your new sayings in a real conversation. Book a trial lesson; if your first lesson isn’t right for you, you get a full refund.
Make the idioms stick
On 16Word you type each saying from its meaning, hear the native recording, and get a Blocks break every few answers.
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Frequently asked questions
How do you say “I’m fed up” in Luxembourgish?
Ech hunn d’Nues voll — literally “I have my nose full”. It is everyday language, not rude.
What does “Mir fält e Stee vum Häerz” mean?
A stone falls from my heart: I am relieved. It is used just like the German “mir fällt ein Stein vom Herzen”.
How do you say “it makes my mouth water”?
D’Waasser leeft mer am Mond zesummen — the water runs together in my mouth.
Is “Bass du mam lénke Fouss opgestanen?” rude?
No — it is a teasing way to ask whether someone is in a bad mood.
Where can I learn the body parts in Luxembourgish?
Our health and hospital vocabulary page lists them with LOD recordings, and the doctor-and-pharmacy guide shows them in sentences.
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