ottaa ohraleipä

Literally, “barley bread takes”. Bread made of barley was historically a famine food (barley was instead, whenever possible, used to make porridge or gruel, or to feed animals, rather than used to make bread).

ottaa ohraleipä

1. (idiomatic, impersonal) to be in trouble, to go through hard times

   Nyt otti ohraleipä!

   Now we're in trouble!

See ottaa; ohraleipä is not inflected. Some forms are not used.