Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation

Very good. Great example would be Magdalena Ogorek who was SLD (left) party in presidential elections and now loves PiS

Which only shows it is not that difficult to step over from a post-communists party to a party which so pompuosly calls itself "Law and Justice".


Why don't you use 'ó', Lenka, if you say in your profile that you reside in Poland?
[Jeśli nie grzeszysz, jako mi powiadasz, czemu się miła tak często spowiadasz?]

I didn't change the language in my phone for one word, sorry. As I was writting in English it was set up for English.

And you shouldn't trust everything you read about me in my profile ;P

SO, pippy head means human head. :):)

Probably you need a better site:
E.g, synonim.net/synonim/mak%C3%B3wka


Yes. More from the kid`s book:
To have it on the tree stump with sb.

It does?


I'm even more confused because all those synonyms on that site under " Makowka - in colloquial sense of the head", have completely different meanings e.g watermelon, spear, brain etc, so have no idea what to think.

Because they all mean a head in colloquial Polish. :):) And it isn`t brain, rather sth like brainville. :)

So now the riddle becomes 'to have a healthy human head'?
Does it just mean, 'Are you in good mental health?' A person isn't batsh1t crazy?


Unless this is something to do with speeches, I have no idea. A teensy weensy clue perhaps?

Makowka - can mean - a head.
(Wolal wprawdzie daj gwintowki lecz chcial strzelac do makowki.)

So poppy head is a red herring then? It just means head.

Yes, possible but the book offered also the meaning of clever, smart, learned. The narrator commented on some students in his class, saying they have healthy poppy seeds, contrary to the rest of the group who were halfwits.


One thread with torturous riddles is enough.:) This one is an instant answer riddle thread. It means to have a bone of contention with sb.

To give a leg.

Haha, I like that :)


Thanks, I can see that now, although I doubt I would have got it.


To run/get away? To escape?

Yes, run away.


The narrator is asked: You have it on a tree stump with Tubka? And he answers: Yes, on a large oak tree stump.

To go hare in ones`s napper.

Does this have something to do with being crazy, as in mad as a March hare?

Yes, exactly.

blowing into bamboo

Is it something to do with telling fake stories, ficticious things in order to deceive?

Yes, correct. The narrator describes his class` attitude to studying - instead of a serious approach, they blew into bamboo.

To strike/ beat bumble bees.

Sorry, but no idea, I can't grasp the significance of bumble bees for this one :(

It means to be idle doing silly things, only playing etc.

Let the horse kick you.

bąki to nie bumble bees - przynajmniej z naukowego punktu widzenia

Of course, you are perfectly right. But I used colloquial expression where a bumble bee is called bąk. Yes, a horse fly would be better.

As they are so similar to bumble bees ;) To be fair I wouldn't have got it if you had said horse flies either......


I've heard 'to kick with a horse', which is to fight without a chance of winning with someone dumb but stronger, but I don't know this one. Unless it means something similar to kicking someone when they're down?

No, neither of the two. That was a little joke played on readers by the book`s author. I will explain it after you try this one: let the goose kick you.

To wish bad things for someone?

No, it is an expression of annoynance with sb, Damn you!

Before I forget,
I read more and more about it: bull`s tax.

What about : 'one sh*ts above one's as*'?

I like a little vulgarity in sayings if they are not overused :)

Aah, thank you, you reminded me one of my fav books: Alibi by Bogdan Loebl.
I will tell you only one thing, Mike: Wyżej srasz niż dupę masz!
It is vulgar but still sounds like a poem .:):)

Where did you get it from?

Just remembered

Ok, thanks for that.


Bykowe.This goes back to 16th and 17th centuries, and relates to money received or a tax. It has meant different things over time. After 1945 though, it was known colloquially as the tax and was paid by childless and unmarried people over a certain age.

wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,168571,24929388,bykowe-w-polsce-2019-co-to-jest-bykowe-czy-bezdzietni-beda.html


Doe it refer to someone bigheaded? A conceited and arrogant person who thinks he/she is more important/intelligent etc than in reality?

Yes, bykowe. PiS government is planning to introduce it. I don`t care. :)

Yes, bigheaded and arrogant, but without reason. Lenka sent a little allusion. hahaha

from the book: sb is knocked.

Knocked over, knocked into, or something else entirely?