Serbian Idioms and Phrases with "faliti"

If you are wondering how I choose the topics for everyday blog posts, the answer is very simple: they are based on the questions my students ask me in our online lessons.

One of the recent ones was to list phrases with the verb "faliti", which can mean "to miss", "not to have", "to lack", but in some idioms it cannot be translated in such a simplistic manner:

• Šta fali ? = So what ? or What's wrong with that ? This phrase is often used to strongly disagree with someone who has a different point of view. Let me make up a short dialogue: 

Ana:   Nemoj piti tu vodu !
Pera:  Što ? Šta joj fali ????

• Fali joj/mu daska u glavi ! = To have a screw loose in one's head or Not to have all their marbles. 

Na primer: Šta ovaj bunca ? - Ma pusti ga!  Očigledno mu fali daska u glavi !

• Neće ti faliti ni dlaka s glave ! = Not a hair on your head will be harmed ! 

Na primer: Ne smeju ti ništa dok sam ja uz tebe! Ne brini, neće ti faliti ni dlaka s glave !

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comment box below ;-)