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Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation


Chemikiem
2 Jul 2019 #481
E..g, to have a healthy/good poppy head.

I can't find anything searching in Polish, only idioms to do with cake and figs. I will have to think some more.

to lick one`s wounds.

Same as in English? Recovering after a defeat of kinds, time taken to regain back strength?

sb is liks a flag in the wind?

Someone who constantly changes their mind and opinions, who can adapt to circumstances for personal benefit maybe? A changeable and unpredictable person?
Lenka 5 | 3,418
2 Jul 2019 #482
Very good. Great example would be Magdalena Ogorek who was SLD (left) party in presidential elections and now loves PiS
Ziemowit 14 | 4,278
2 Jul 2019 #483
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".

Magdalena Ogorek

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?]
Lenka 5 | 3,418
2 Jul 2019 #484
Why don't you use 'ó', Lenka

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
OP pawian 221 | 24,014
2 Jul 2019 #485
I can't find anything searching in Polish, only idioms to do with cake and figs. I will have to think some more.

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

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

Recovering after a defeat of kinds, time taken to regain back strength?

Yes. More from the kid`s book:
To have it on the tree stump with sb.
Chemikiem
5 Jul 2019 #486
pippy head means human head. :):)

It does?

Probably you need a better site:

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.
OP pawian 221 | 24,014
5 Jul 2019 #487
Because they all mean a head in colloquial Polish. :):) And it isn`t brain, rather sth like brainville. :)
Chemikiem
5 Jul 2019 #488
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?

To have it on the tree stump with sb.

Unless this is something to do with speeches, I have no idea. A teensy weensy clue perhaps?
Ironside 53 | 12,364
5 Jul 2019 #489
I'm even more confused

Makowka - can mean - a head.
(Wolal wprawdzie daj gwintowki lecz chcial strzelac do makowki.)
Chemikiem
6 Jul 2019 #490
So poppy head is a red herring then? It just means head.
OP pawian 221 | 24,014
6 Jul 2019 #491
Does it just mean, 'Are you in good mental health?' A person isn't batsh1t crazy?

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.

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

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.
Chemikiem
7 Jul 2019 #492
saying they have healthy poppy seeds, contrary to the rest of the group who were halfwits.

Haha, I like that :)

It means to have a bone of contention with sb.

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

To give a leg.

To run/get away? To escape?
OP pawian 221 | 24,014
7 Jul 2019 #493
Yes, run away.

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

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.
Chemikiem
7 Jul 2019 #494
Does this have something to do with being crazy, as in mad as a March hare?
OP pawian 221 | 24,014
7 Jul 2019 #495
Yes, exactly.

blowing into bamboo
Chemikiem
8 Jul 2019 #496
Is it something to do with telling fake stories, ficticious things in order to deceive?
OP pawian 221 | 24,014
8 Jul 2019 #497
Yes, correct. The narrator describes his class` attitude to studying - instead of a serious approach, they blew into bamboo.

To strike/ beat bumble bees.
Chemikiem
11 Jul 2019 #498
Sorry, but no idea, I can't grasp the significance of bumble bees for this one :(
OP pawian 221 | 24,014
11 Jul 2019 #499
It means to be idle doing silly things, only playing etc.

Let the horse kick you.
gumishu 13 | 6,134
11 Jul 2019 #500
To strike/ beat bumble bees.

bąki to nie bumble bees - przynajmniej z naukowego punktu widzenia
OP pawian 221 | 24,014
11 Jul 2019 #501
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.
Chemikiem
11 Jul 2019 #502
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......

Let the horse kick you.

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?
OP pawian 221 | 24,014
11 Jul 2019 #503
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.
Chemikiem
11 Jul 2019 #504
To wish bad things for someone?
OP pawian 221 | 24,014
12 Jul 2019 #505
No, it is an expression of annoynance with sb, Damn you!

Before I forget,
I read more and more about it: bull`s tax.
Lenka 5 | 3,418
12 Jul 2019 #506
What about : 'one sh*ts above one's as*'?

I like a little vulgarity in sayings if they are not overused :)
OP pawian 221 | 24,014
12 Jul 2019 #507
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?
Lenka 5 | 3,418
13 Jul 2019 #508
Just remembered
Chemikiem
13 Jul 2019 #509
it is an expression of annoynance with sb, Damn you!

Ok, thanks for that.

bull`s tax.

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

'one sh*ts above one's as*'?

Doe it refer to someone bigheaded? A conceited and arrogant person who thinks he/she is more important/intelligent etc than in reality?
OP pawian 221 | 24,014
13 Jul 2019 #510
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.


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