Danish/Norwegian: know something like the palm/back of hand

Discussion in 'Nordic Languages' started by frugihoyi, Dec 2, 2013.

  1. frugihoyi Senior Member

    English - USA, Portuguese - Brazil
    In English there is this expression: "I know it like the palm (or back) of my hand." It means that you know something very well.
    How do you say this in Danish and in Norwegian? I thought that it was "jeg kjenner det som min egen baklomme" in Norwegian. I was sure I had heard that before, but a Google search for that phrase gave no results.
  2. På dansk kan man "kende ..... som sin egen lomme" og jeg er slet ikke i tvivl om at man kan det samme på Norsk i en eller anden form, som du selv nævner..

    In Danish you can "know .... as your own pocket". Norwegian, no doubt, has a similar expression as you suggest.
  3. frugihoyi Senior Member

    English - USA, Portuguese - Brazil
    Tusind tak Billebob.
  4. basslop

    basslop Senior Member

    The exact phrase in Norwegian would be: "jeg kjenner det (like godt) som min egen bukselomme".

    By the way: The English phrase seems stronger than the Norwegian and the Danish ones. I mean, it is reasonable to assume that most people know their palm better than their pockets.:idea:
  5. frugihoyi Senior Member

    English - USA, Portuguese - Brazil
    Takk basslop!
  6. Kornblomst New Member

    My husbands Grandma uses " at kende noget som sine fingre" as well
  7. sjiraff

    sjiraff Senior Member

    Scotland, UK
    A similar expression also is "Å være lommekjent i et område" which as far as I know is the same thing, meaning you know an area like the back of your hand/ know it well.
  8. HelleG New Member

    There is the expression "jeg kender det ud og ind" and that seems to be more common. A quick Google search shows very few hits of "... egen bukselomme" (less than 10 actually), where as "kende det ud og ind) has endless hits.

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