На иголках и на чемоданах | On pins and needles and ready for a trip
Jul 2, 2021
1 min read
Я как на иголках. Сижу на чемоданах. Do you know what these idioms mean?📍🧳🤔
(сидеть) как на иголках = literally “to sit like on needles”; to be on pins and needles; to be nervous about something; to anticipate something
(сидеть) на чемоданах = literally “to sit on the suitcases”; to be ready for a trip
Both phrases take the prepositional plural:
иголка - иголки - иголках
чемодан - чемоданы - чемоданах
Very often the verb сидеть (to sit) is omitted, and the prepositional phrase is used alone.
The note that сидеть is often dropped, leaving just на иголках or на чемоданах, is a useful detail for learners. For visual learners, making a small illustration of each idiom could help; a pixel art converter is one option for turning a simple image into a stylized icon.