The identification of one’s own community as well as the definition of oneself stems from the contraposition with otherness through various prejudices or stereotypes. The aim of this paper is to analyse linguistic reflections of the perception of oneself as well as of others within the Italian and Croatian phraseology. Having in mind certain general considerations about the fundamental bonds between the language and the culture, the Author analyses idiomatic expressions containing ethnonyms. The Italian examples indicating foreigners are confronted with the Croatian examples in order to establish the image of others as well as the peculiarities of different cultures and mentalities within the field of phraseology. Lastly, similarities and differences between the two languages are described at the semantic, sociolinguistic and cultural level.