Idiomatic Polish

How about "Mowmy prosto z mostu" = Let's talk turkey aka Let's get down to business. or "Tak czy owak" = One way or [the] other.

Actually, the former translates more towards "Let's level with each other." Apologies for the mistranslation:-)

I particularly like " Modli się pod figurą, a diabła ma za skórą "
I can think of a couple of people this applies to.......lol

I like this one: "Kurwa kurwie łba nie urwie", although it is a bit sub-standard or - to be honest - beyond any standard imaginable or acceptable.

A very rough translation of that would be 'you don't rat on your own sort'.

the nicer way to say the same thing is: "Kruk krukowi oka nie wykole" wich literally means : A raven won't poke out another's raven eye

Krakow nie byl zbudowlany na jednym dniu = Rome wasn't built in a day

Seem to recall hearing the sentence "On jest dobrym gosciem...", which I always thought meant "He's a good egg", or the like. Perhaps it was meant literally in Polish and I simply interpreted it as idiomatic:-)

I have seen it written as " Nie od razu Kraków zbudowano "

You're right.

How about:
Klnac jak szewc
wystroic się jak stróż w Boże Ciało
wpaść jak śliwka w kompot

Thanks again, Chemikiem:-) Not easy having to post nearly all off the top of one's head most of the time. No excuse for incorrect phrasing though!

has anyone mentioned 'głodny jak pies' (hungry as a dog - so hungry i could eat a horse)?

Głodny jak wilk?

or zjadlbym konia z kopytami ;)

"Glodny jak wilk" is the only such expression of that type which I know. Sure there are others. More a saying really, than an idiom, but nonetheless holds true:

"Gdzie kucharek szesc, tam nie ma co jesc" = Too many cooks spoil the broth (Lit. "Where the cooks are six, there is nothing left to eat.")

:-))

I had a boss (originally from the Lublin area) who would say he was 'głodny jak pies' when he invited me to have lunch together (he didn't like to eat by himself).

He also would ask "ło co chodzi?" and "Coś zrobił?"...

I think 'głodny jak wilk' is more common than 'jak pies' but both are used, with good reason too.

Have you seen how quickly a wolf or wolf-like dog [wilczor, German shepherd, Alsation etc.] can devour a piece of meet? It's frightening.

I'd say 'coś zrobił? ' but not 'ło co chodzi?' ;)

And talking about dogs/wolves there's a saying: nie wywołuj wilka z lasu.

BTW, there's this cool breed of dogs: wilczak, which is a German shephard's/wolf mix.

Isn't it wilczor? Or are there two types, one is wilczor and the other wilczak?

It's same. We here in Polska A call those wilczur.

Ah yes wilczur, with a u - my bad.

Although having typed both of them in to Google image, it seems they are different. Wilczaki do look more like wolves.

From what i found wilczur seems to be a colloquial word to describe wolf-like looking dogs and is strongly connected with german shepherds when "wilczak" is an official breed of dogs that do have wolf's blood.

Wilczur is a colloquial name for owczarek niemiecki and also used for any dog that resembles the breed.

And no to go off topic, there's this phrase most Polish kids hear: nie siedź na betonie/na schodach, bo dostaniesz wilka. I still don't know what kind of disease/ailment it describes ;)

ło co chodzi? ło te łoziecki ;) - I bet you don't know what łoziecki mean kaprys

"Owczarek niemiecki", I imagine means "German Shepherd".

@gumishu
The only thing that comes to my mind is owieczki but just a guess :)

'Ło' seems to exist in many regional dialects.

you guessed right - 10 points ;)

That was a hard one. Reading it again, I came up with 'łosie', so ... ;)
What dialect is it?

And to add a new expression to the list: w gorącej wodzie kąpany-hot-tempered, hot-headed

There's also 'o wilku mowa' as a rough equivalent to 'speak of the devil'

wolnoć Tomku w swoim domku - a man's home is his castle

In English the meaning would be, " Let sleeping dogs lie ".

the dialect of Kurpie and neighbouring areas

edusens.pl/edusensownik

Have a look at this site, it tells the story behind a lot of sayings/idioms like: wylać dziecko z kąpielą, wykręcić się sianem, burza w szklance wody. It's in Polish though.

@mafketis
Have you read 'Paweł i Gaweł'?

@mafketis@Chemikiem
I knew 'Let the sleeping dogs ile' and to add more idioms about dogs/wolves:
Patrzeć wilkiem - to look (at sb) in an unfriendly/angry manner
Psi obowiązek - bounden duty

@gumishu
It's nice to learn something new.

Thanks for providing that link, I will bookmark it to look at a later time. Good reading practise for me as well!

I think we are all getting away from true idioms though, and more into sayings/proverbs although these are still interesting, and some are very similar to those in English too.