"KICK MY ANGELS OUT" AND "PULL MY SOUL"

by Stamen Manolov; illustration by Gergana Shkodrova

Tue, 10/27/2026 - 11:15

Similar as they may seem, these two idioms do in fact signify quite different things

"Kick my angels out" is an ancient Bulgarian idiom dating back to the Proto-Bulgarians. While they were not Christian, they did believe little winged creatures lived in the sky. They called them "angls". The "e" was added later for reasons of harmony.

One night the Proto-Bulgarian khan dreamed about a flock of angels joyfully flipping their wings in the sky. The khan was so moved that he even smiled in his sleep. At a certain point his wife, who was ugly, evil and much older than him, turned abruptly and startled him. The angels flew away. "You kicked my angels out, pest!" said the khan, turning to the other side, before going on to dream of other things. The guards at the entrance of his tent overheard the exchange. "They kicked his angels out", they would tell their own wives. Before too long, the whole Proto-Bulgarian community would salute themselves in this new, unusual way. Whenever they met a friend in the street, the Proto-Bulgarians would first startle him, then pat him on the shoulder, smiling: "Did I kick your angels out?"

The first documents concerning "pull my soul" date back to the 13th century. In Veliko Tarnovo, the old Bulgarian capital, the son of a lord kept nagging his father to buy him a frog, but the man refused, arguing the boy didn't really need one. "Please, buy me a frog, Dad" was the only sentence exchanged between father and son, and issues such as schooling and coming home late were overlooked as a result. Months later the lord became so weary of his son's doggedness that he eventually bought him a frog. When he gave it to him, he said: "Well, you pulled my soul!"

In Modern Bulgarian "you kicked my angels out" means "you startled me", and "you pulled my soul" means "I am sick and tired of your silly demands".

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