pitää kynttiläänsä vakan alla

Finnish

Etymology

From the Bible, literally pitää (to hold) kynttilää (candle) + -nsä (third person possessive suffix) vakan (of the bushel) alla (under); "to keep one's candle under the bushel".

Verb

pitää kynttiläänsä vakan alla

  1. (idiomatic) to hide one's light under a bushel (to conceal one's talents or positive qualities, especially due to modesty or shyness; to avoid attention)
    Älä pidä kynttilääsi vakan alla!
    Don't hide your light under a bushel!

Conjugation

For the conjugation of the verb, see pitää, kynttilää takes a possessive suffix according to the subject of the sentence, vakan alla is not inflected.

Synonyms

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