Just Sayings: “Að fleygja barninu út með baðvatninu”

This one—which is international yes, but weirdly popular in Iceland—is a bit harsh. It’s direct translation is “to toss the child out with the bath water,” meaning to sacrifice something valuable along with all the worthless stuff. But what everyone actually thinks when they hear this phrase is what the hell Mom? Did you not see me in the tub? Mean. In Iceland, this idiom is not often used by your average person, but rather by frustrated lobbyists that just really want attention. They yell this as loudly as they can in order to pressure Parliament into giving them whatever it is that those greedy fuckers want. We hope their baths clog.

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