Idioms that native speakers use a lot in their speech

The most popular Russian idioms

‘to make an elephant out of a fly’
English equivalent: ‘To make mountains out of molehills’

Делать из мухи слона [delat’ iz mukhi slana]

‘to feel not in one’s own plate’
English equivalent: ‘to be like a fish out of water’, to feel uncomfortable in a situation

Чувствовать (себя) не в своей тарелке [chuvstvovat' seb'a ne v svayey tarelke]

‘to lead (someone) grabbing at their nose’,  to fool around with someone

Водить за нос [vadit’ za nos]

“I will show you where crawfish hibernates”
It means a person wants to punish you cruelly for something or teach you a lesson

Я тебе покажу, где раки зимуют! [Y'a t'ebe pakazhu gde raki zimuyut]

‘I give you a tooth that ...’
I swear my words are true, and I'm even ready to sacrifice my tooth as proof.

Example: Зуб даю, что с понедельника начну заниматься спортом

‘even a hedgehog understands’
It means ‘it’s a no-brainer’

И ежу понятно [I ezhu panyatna]

‘neither fish nor meat’
It is used to describe a mediocre person (‘wishy-washy’ or ‘wimp’)

Ни рыба ни мясо [ni ryba ni myasa]

‘cat wept’
‘very little’ or ‘hardly enough’

‘one leg is here, another leg is there’
A Russian speaker would use this idiom to give someone an order to go and fetch or do something really quickly

Одна нога здесь,  другая там [adna naga zdes’, drugaya tam]

This idiom suggests that two people are very similar in their behaviour or have the same characteristics

Два сапога пара [dva sapaga para]

‘chickens don’t peck at money’
The phrase is used to denote that someone is wealthy

Денег куры не клюют [denig kury ne klyuyut]

‘eyes scatter’
is applied when there is a wide choice , and you don’t know what to lay your eyes on first

Глаза разбегаются [glaza razbigayutsya]

‘with one left’
a person can complete something with their left hand, i.e., a task is very easy

‘with sleeves rolled down’
a job or atask was done carelessly or badly, without giving it proper attention (English idiom is ‘to roll up your sleeves’)

Спустя рукава [spustya rukava]

‘to be in chocolate’
this means to have a comfortable life without any hardships

быть в шоколаде [v  shekalade]