Leje jak z cebra!

English Phonemes: “LEH-yeh yahk z TSEH-brah”

Literal Translation: It pours like from bucket.

Elegant Translation: It’s pouring like from a bucket.

English Equivalent: It’s raining cats and dogs.

This is a colloquialism very similar to the English equivalent. You use it the same way. When it’s really raining hard, you can imagine that it’s not far from a waterfall like stream you’d get from pouring water directly out of a bucket.

So the next time you’re hanging out with a Polish-speaking friend or family member, and you get caught in an absolute deluge outside, you can delight them by busting this little number out :-)

Leje = he/she/it pours [verb, 3rd p. s. present tense]
Jak = like, how [depending on context]
Z = from [preposition]
Cebra = bucket, pail [noun, masc. obj. form]

Also: Please note the pre-show announcement!! “How You Say?” will be taking a 2-month break because your illustrious host with the most is about to deliver a baby! Feel free to follow us on Twitter for updates, but other than that, new shows will be back in July or August! Thanks and hugs!

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Miód Na Duszy 

English Phonemes: “myood nah DOO-[sz]ih”

Literal Translation: Honey on soul.

Elegant Translation: Honey on the soul.

English Equivalent: Heartwarming.

This is a lovely way of saying something warms your heart. Gives you the warm and fuzzies. Like someone pouring honey onto your soul. Sweet and all-enveloping. 

It’s a nice idiom to know! Enjoy!

Miód = honey [noun, masc. s. subj. form]
Na = on/onto [preposition]
Duszy = soul [noun, fem. s. obj. form]

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To fraszka!

English Phonemes: “toh FRA[SZ]-kah”

Literal Translation: This poem.

Elegant Translation: This is a poem.

English Equivalent: It’s a snap. 

A “fraszka” is a very specific type of poem. It’s a two-line poem where both lines rhyme and match rhythm almost perfectly. The purpose of it is to convey a witticism or a joke. A lot of people think this is easy, but it takes a real wit to come up with a good one. 

Sometimes, you’ll see a longer poem like this, where you have two rhyming lines, then two more, and so on. But that’s more of a proper poem in the fraszka style. Kind of like a haiku is 5 7 5 and if you see a longer poem that harkens back to that shape, that’s fine, but it’s not technically a haiku.

Examples of this kind of poem include:

“Ulepił Pan Bóg figurę z błota,
tak przyszedł na świat pierwszy idota.”
by Lech Niekarz
Which means: “Lord God clumped a figure out of mud, that’s how the first idiot came to the world.”

Or

“Czasem się trafia taka parafia,
gdzie anioł z diabłem to jedna mafia!”
by Jan Bester
Which means: “Sometimes, you chance on a parish where angel and devil are all one mafia.”

Anyway, to say something is “to fraszka” is to say that it’s a snap. Easily done. This idiom can be said about any task that you think is simple. In this idiom, you don’t need a verb because the word “is” is implied.

Enjoy!

To = this, then [depending on context]
Fraszka = specific name for the 2-line rhyming poem [proper noun, fem. s. subj. form]

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Chcesz mnie nabrać? 

English Phonemes: “htseh[sz] myneh NAH-brahch”

Literal Translation: You want me to take on?

Elegant Translation: You want to take me on?

English Equivalent: Are you pulling my leg?

Bouncing off from last week’s April Fool’s episode, this is a different way to challenge a potential trickster! You can say this to anyone you have an informal relationship with. It’s basically a question form of last week’s episode. (I wanted you to have the variety.) 

Also, fun fact, if you change the tone, you can absolutely use this as a statement! So, if feel free to adjust the tone to your wishes!

Chcesz = you want [verb, 2nd p. s. informal, present tense]
Mnie = me [pronoun, s. obj. form]
Nabrać = to take on (slang for trick, or fool) [verb, infinitive]

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Ty mnie nie nabierzesz! 

English Phonemes: “tih myneh nyeh nah-BYEH-[rz]e[sz]”

Literal Translation: You me not you will take on!

Elegant Translation: You’re not gonna take me on!

English Equivalent: To pull a fast one on someone.

Happy April Fools’ Day!

So today I’m going to equip you with one of many ways to say that you’re not going to fall for anyone’s trick! A good defensive phrase for a day like today! So if someone tries to pull a fast one on you, slam back with this phrase!

Ty = you [pronoun, s. subj. form, informal]
Mnie = me [pronoun, s. obj. form]
Nie = not/no [negating word]
Nabierzesz = you will take on [verb, 2nd. p. s. future tense, informal]

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Psi żywot!

English Phonemes: “pshee [Ż]IH-voht”

Literal Translation: Dogs’ life.

Elegant Translation: Dog life.

English Equivalent: Not fit for a dog. Going to the dogs. For the Birds. 

This phrase describes the idea that life is sub-optimal (unless you’re a dog). You have most of your basic needs met, but you’re not happy. Either you’re working too hard, you don’t get paid enough, your health isn’t 100%, or something. Something is preventing you from having a comfortable day-to-day.

Usage-wise, one usually hears this phrase as a response to something in conversation. For example, someone is telling you about how their health care plan has a million and a half hoops to go through, or your friend is describing never-ending overtime at a job they need, or their house keeps having things break and break…. Basically, all of 2020 was barely fit for a dog. You can use this phrase to empathize with a friend, or put a button on your own story of sub-optimal circumstances. Either way, you will impress your Polish speaking friends/family for knowing it!

Psi = dogs’ [adj., neutral subj. form]
Żywot = life, lifestyle [slang, noun, neutral s. subj. form]

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Ale mu nawalił w czapkę!

English Phonemes: “AH-leh moo nah-WAH-leew v [CZ]AHP-keh”

Literal Translation: How to him he did dump into hat.

Elegant Translation: How he dumped into his hat!

English Equivalent: To stun someone into silence.

This phrase is one of my childhood favorites. It’s a bit naughty without being outright vulgar. And yet, it paints a pretty clear and vivid picture of what’s going on.

This phrase is a funny way to say that someone has done something so unexpected to someone else, that that other person has a face that looks as if the person took a poop into their hat. The closest English equivalent here is too broad and doesn’t really cover the exact facial expression this phrase connotes.

You may be wondering about whether or not the theoretical hat-owner deserved it. Usage-wise, it can be either scenario. It can be said about a good person who had the perfect comeback to a long-time bully, and it can apply to a frequent trouble-maker who really pulled a nasty move on someone undeserving. It’s mostly about the expression on the receiving person’s face. 

The last thing I’ll say about this phrase is: don’t mess it up! Nawalić and walić and przywalić and powalić all stem from the same word but depending on their context, take on different meanings. Today’s phrasing intimates one action, but if you change too much around, you’ll distort the meaning completely.

Lastly, speaking of changes, here are a couple alternatives in case you are dealing with different genders:

If the person who is doing the dumping is female, you need to change the verb ending to “nawaliła” which is the “she” option of the he/she/it construction.

If the person who is holding the hat is female, you need to change the “mu” to a “jej” which is the pronoun “her”.

Ale = how, what, but [interjection word]
Mu = short for ‘jemu’ = to/for him [pronoun, s. obj. form]
Nawalił = he did dump [verb, 3rd p. masc. s.past tense]
W = in/into [preposition]
Czapkę = hat [noun, s. obj. form]

Jej = to/for him [pronoun, s. obj. form]
Nawaliła = she did dump [verb, 3rd p. fem. s.past tense]

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Pierwsza liga!

English Phonemes: “PYEHR-v[sz]ah LEE-gah”

Literal Translation: First league.

English Equivalent: Top notch. First place.

This week, let’s learn a cute, positive phrase! Something you can use as a compliment or an exclamation of joyous support. This phrase is used the same way we would say some event or thing was/is “top notch” or “top shelf”, or even “gold medal” or “blue ribbon”. It should be said with passion and gusto!

Pierwsza = first [adj., f. s. subj. form]
Liga = league [noun, f. s. subj. form]

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Podłożyć świnię.

English Phonemes: “pohd-WOH-[ż]ihch SHFEEN-y[ę]”

Literal Translation: To put under pig.

Elegant Translation: To plant a pig.

English Equivalent: To trip someone up. 

This is another fun phrase loosely related to mud-slinging. Picture putting a pig right under someone’s feet. They’d trip, cause quite a hullabaloo, and look silly. That visual should tell you just what’s going on here. It’s more than just trash talking, it’s about deliberately setting someone up to look like an a$$ - especially at work where opinions about outward appearances and performance matter more. 

Usage Example: Say your friend tells you they keep early hours at their job because they have to leave early to pick up their kids from school. Now picture that they have a coworker who deliberately schedules important meetings late in the day in the hope of making your friend look negligent and bad at their job. That coworker is trying to downright sabotage your friend’s professional reputation - and this phrase applies perfectly to describe what’s going on.

I can think of other examples in and outside of work, like how to make someone’s Significant Other look bad in front of a group of friends, or teammates on a team, etc., but the idea is the same all over: Sabotage.

Options: you can add the word “komuś ” (someone) or “pod nogi ” (under legs) to be more specific, but that’s not necessary. 

Podłożyć = to put under [verb, infinitive]
Swinię = pig [noun, f. s. obj. form]

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Powiesić na kimś psy.

English Phonemes: “poh-VYEH-sheech nah keemsh psih”

Literal Translation: To hang on someone dogs.

Elegant Translation: To hang dogs on someone.

English Equivalent: To sling mud.

Bouncing off of of last week’s lesson, we’ve got another idiom that describes and calls out good, ol’-fashioned mud-slinging. As with last week, we’re learning the infinitive form, so you have more flexibility of use without worrying about grammar applicable to only one situation.

A special note about grammar here: Last week we saw the object form of someone is “kogoś” and today we’re seeing “kimś”, so you have every right to ask the question: What gives? 

As I’ve mentioned only a couple times before, Polish grammar is more complex than I teach on the show. If you want to learn about Nominative, Dative, Genitive, Accusative, Vocative, and so on, that level of detail is covered in a comprehensive language course. I’m trying to keep it short and sweet, so as well as translating the words into English, I’m also drawing quick parallels to English grammar. In English, we have sentence subjects and objects, (and even that’s a bit reductive), so that’s how I translate my lessons to keep them light and consumable in 5 minutes. 

Let me know if you ever want a special Megasode or Video about the bigger nitty gritty. In the kogoś/kimś example here, I could discuss how the idea of mixing someone in mud needs a different part of speech than hanging dogs *on* someone, because effectively, Polish grammar recognizes that those activities USE that “someone” object in different ways, and the way the word looks reflects that. 

Anyway, special note over.

Enjoy!

Powiesić = to hang [verb, infinitive]
Na = on/onto [preposition]
Kimś = someone [noun, masc. s. obj. form]
Psy = dogs [noun, masc. pl. obj. form]

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