Ukrainian phrases which seemed difficult to understand While learning Ukrainian you might have already met a lot of phrases which seemed difficult to understand. I would like to help you understand some of these expressions. I am giving you the context, the explanation and the English analogue of those if I know it. 1. If a young man imagines himself as very handsome or as someone who owns a good fortune and acts in such way, you can hear about him: "Перший хлопець на селі" (the first man in the village). Often the phrase has a bit of irony. You can see a very similar phrase in English: "A big frog (fish) in a little pond". 2. When people do not like each other at all and always have rude conversations, or even punch each other their relationship could be described as "Як кіт з собакою" (A cat-and-dog existence). 3. Do you know whether cats cry? Even if it does, how many tears do they cry? Probably very few. The phrase “Як кіт наплакав” (as much as cat’s tears) can be found in English as “A drop in the ocean”. 4. Sometimes small events can destroy a big business so then people say: “Ложка дьогтю в бочці меду “ (“A spoon of tar in a barrel of honey”). The phrase has an English analogue “ A fly in the ointment”. 5. If one has a lot of experience with a particular subject, we often say he can “Собаку з’їсти” (to eat a dog). In English, it can be expressed “Be a dab hand at sth.” 6. On contrary ”Сісти в калюжу” (to sit in a puddle) means being in a stupid position or “Be left with egg on one’s face”. To be continued.