How You Say?

Rozejdzie się po kościach.

English Phonemes: “roh-ZAY-jyeh shyeh poh KOHSH-chyahh”
Literal Translation: It will spread itself on bones.
Elegant Translation: It will spread itself upon the bones.
English Equivalent: It will blow over.

This phrase has many uses, much like how “blow over” can be used in different sentences, tenses, and situations. I’m giving you the variant you are most likely to use. 

I don’t want to get into the word alternatives and past tense/future tense details that exist in other usages of this phrase in this episode. Just know that there are other variations of this saying. If you are interested in an extended episode that contains these alternates, let me know!

Rozejdzie = he/she/it will spread [3rd p. singular, future tense]
Się = self [reflective helper word]
Po = onto [preposition]
Kościach = bones [plural obj. form]

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Z tej mąki chleba nie będzie.

English Phonemes: “z tay M[Ą]-kee HLEH-bah nyeh B[Ę]-jyeh”

Literal Translation: From this flour bread not will be.

Elegant Translation: From this flour, there will be no bread.

English Equivalent: That dog won’t hunt.

Another equivalent — a bigger stretch, but closer to the kitchen theme — is the English phrase “this dough won’t rise”, but that saying is far less popular. 

This Polish phrase is used to say something won’t work. You acknowledge that you can sense some endeavor, relationship, plan, or any other hoped-for result, will not come to fruition given the way things are going. 

Z = from, with, out of, etc. [prepostion]
Tej = this [adj. fem. singular]
Mąki = flour [n. fem. singular, obj. form]
Chleba = bread [n. masc. singular, obj. form]
Nie = not, no
Będzie = he/she/it will, will be [3rd. p. singular, future tense]

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Chcesz mnie zrobić w konia?

English Phonemes: “htseh[sz] mnyeh ZROH-beech v KOH-nyah”

Literal Translation: You want me to make into horse?

Elegant Translation: Do you want to make me into a horse?

English Equivalent: To take someone for a ride.

This is a fun way to ask someone if they intend to cheat you. To take you for a ride. To take you around the block. To sandbag you. To trick you. You get the idea. :-) It should be obvious that being the horse in this scenario is not a good thing!

So if one of your Polish-speaking friends is trying to pull a fast one on you, you can retort with this joke and shock the pants right off of them!

Chcesz = you want [2nd person singular, informal]
Mnie = me [s. obj. form] 
Zrobić = to make [infinitive]
W = in/into [preposition] 
Konia = horse [singular noun, obj. form]

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Sobota dłuższa od niedzieli.

English Phonemes: “soh-BOH-tah DWOO[Ż]-[sz]ah ohd nyeh-JYEH-lee”

Literal Translation: Saturday longer from Sunday.

Elegant Translation: Saturday is longer than Sunday.

This is a hilarious way to tell someone that their undershirt is poking out below their top layer. (Coat, sweater, over-shirt, whatever.) That’s it! Just a funny colloquialism. 

It’s pretty old and sort of out of use nowadays, especially when fashion trends made it cool (temporarily?) to have under-shirts poking out from the bottom of over-shirts. But you can still use it to draw attention, and probably get a laugh out of the unsuspecting party :-)

It’s also a slight reference to an even older saying that Saturday was shorter than Sunday. When Sunday used to be a culturally mandated day of rest, people would rush to do everything they had to do on Saturday, so even though the hours are the same, a Saturday always felt shorter. So today’s phrase originally stemmed from this even older joke.

Sobota = Saturday [fem. s. noun, subj. form]
Dłuższa = longer [fem. s. adj., subj. form]
Od = From [preposition]
Niedzieli = Sunday [fem. s. noun, obj. form]

PS: Fun Fact — days of the week, seasons, and months are written in Polish without being capitalized. Time nouns are regular nouns in Polish, whereas they are Proper Nouns in English.

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Bardzo Dobrze! 

English Phonemes: “BAHR-dzoh DOHB-[rz]eh”

Literal Translation: Very good!

Happy 100 episodes! To celebrate, I thought I’d give you this quote for when you’re out and about. You can use this positive phrase the exact same way we do in English. If you feel like saying “good” but not “very”, that’s your prerogative as well. Options!

Enjoy!

Bardzo = very
Dobrze = good [adv.]

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Każdy orze jak może.

English Phonemes: “KAH[Ż]-dih OH-[rz]Eh yahk MOH-[ż]eh”

Literal Translation: Everyone plows how is able

Elegant Translation: Everyone plows however they can

English Equivalent: We do what we can.

This is a fun phrase. It definitely draws from Poland’s agricultural roots. The witticism basically means that the maximum each of us can ever do is to do our very best, whatever form that takes.

Picture a farmer with two horses. That person can plow quite a lot of land rather quickly. If that same farmer only has one horse, it’s harder. If they have no horse, that’s far more limiting, but maybe they might get a strong friend to pull the plow with them. And if they have no strong friends that can help, then it’s just a single farmer manning a plow on a field doing the best they can with what they have. 

This quip is very popular. Everyone knows it quite well. So if you’re ever in a situation with your Polish-speaking friends/family where someone is telling you about a story where they tried to reach a goal but fell short despite giving it their all, you can bust out this pearl of wisdom and look wise, compassionate, AND impressive, all in one fell swoop!

Każdy = everyone [s. subj. form]
Orze =  he/she/it plows (is plowing) [3rd p. s. present tense]
Jak = how 
Może = he/she/it is able, can [3rd p. s. present tense]

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Happy 2-Year Podcastiversary!

No regular lesson today. I’m gonna sing you a traditional Happy Birthday song in Polish!

“Sto Lat” Lyrics and Translation: 
http://www.polishamericancenter.org/StoLat.htm

Also exciting, I’m announcing our Patreon Page coming out next week!

Thanks to all you wonderful listeners! I hope you’re having as much fun as I am. See you again next week for a regular episode!

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Siadaj i zajadaj!

English Phonemes: “SHAH-dahy ee zah-YAH-dahy”

Literal Translation: Sit down and tuck in!

English Equivalent: Dig in!

This is a fun and informal way to tell someone to ‘dig in’ at a meal. Although it’s directed towards a singular person, you *can* use this in a group setting. So when you’ve finally finished cooking something nice, and your friends are all excited, that’s the perfect time to drop this phrase and ring the dinner bell. :-) You’re encouraging your buddy (or buddies) to “Go on!”, “Get in there!”, or “Go nuts and enjoy!”

Siadaj = sit down [s. informal imperative verb]
I = and
Zajadaj = tuck in, eat heartily, dig in [s. informal imperative verb]

Plus! A very special milestone has been reached by the show! We recently surpassed 1,000 subscribers! Thank you and welcome to all the new subscribers! And big hugs and thank you to the older listeners as well. Hooray to us all and I hope you all continue to enjoy. :-)

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Do trzech razy sztuka!

English Phonemes: “doh t[sz]ehh RAH-zih [SZ]TOO-kah”

Literal Translation: To three times art!

Elegant Translation: The third time’s the art!

English Equivalent: Third time’s the charm!

This phrase works exactly the same way as “third time’s the charm” in English. Be cheerful when using it!

Do = to [proposition]
Trzech = three [adj, obj. form]
Razy = times [n. s. obj. form]
Sztuka = art, trick, performance [n. s. subj. form]

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Jak się człowiek śpieszy, to się diabeł cieszy.

English Phonemes: “yahk shyeh [CZ]WOH-vyek SHPYEH-[sz]ih toh shyeh DYAH-behw CHYEH-[sz]ih”

Literal Translation: When themself person hurries then himself devil is happy.

Elegant Translation: When a person rushes, the devil rejoices.

English Equivalent: Haste makes waste. 

This is a fun way to tell someone to slow down. We’ve had episodes before with cautionary phrases similar to this one. Let’s just say the Polish are a cautious people. :-)

Jak = when, if, how
Się = himself/herself/itself [reflective helper word]
Człowiek = person [s. subj. form]
Śpieszy = he/she/it is rushing, hurrying [3rd p. s., present tense]
To = then
Diabeł = devil [s. subj. form]
Cieszy = he/she/it is happy, rejoices, delights in [3rd p. s., present tense]

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