Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation

An American version might be "Did you just fall off the turnip truck?" or more generally "Were you born yesterday?" (though both of those are usually used negatively "I didn't just fall off the turnip truck" or "I wasn't born yesterday".

What about "Mustard after dinner"?

Now I do know this one. If I gave you the middle finger you would know what I mean. I first encountered this working in France where it's called Bras d'honneur.


Yep, that's about right. Haven't heard that expression for years though!

Mustard after dinner?

I always thought it meant too late to be of any use as mustard's always served with the meat.

Yep, or as my mother used to say "a day late and a dollar short"... (or closing the barn door after the horse has gotten out)

Mine too, Maf! Actually, as my own mother worked for an unusually miserly soul before striking out on her own, she preferred instead "a day late and fifty cents short"LOL

Two more about fingers:

To lick one`s fingers

To refuse to bend a finger

and He gave me a finger

That`s not a Polish idiom, I am afraid.

If you want to make it Polish, you should complete it with a few more words.
Or change give into show.

how would rich know any Polish idioms? he didn't know mortadella or that hitchiking was common in the PRL...

No, he was only yanking out chains. :):)

Would this mean to eagerly anticipate something, as in licking one's lips?


I don't know if it's the same but in the UK we have a saying ' to not give/budge an inch', which means that a person is not changing their opinion on something, their mind is made up.


FYI, an American term, not really used in the UK :)

Nope, 'refuse to do anything'.


to indicate how delicious it was as referred to food, drink, snack anything eatable really.

That strikes me as having virtually the same meaning then. If a person is not going to budge an inch, then they're not going to do anything on the grounds that their mind is made up. How does it differ?


To be honest that was my first thought, but it seemed a bit too obvious to be an idiom.

finger lickin' good! (original slogan of KFC when it was kentucky fried chicken and not a weird sandwich and milkshake place...) (assuming that's palce lizać)


to not lift a finger?

Yes, but primarily it refers to tasty food anticipation.


Yes, exactly.


Not quite. This inch idiom suggests obstinacy, stubborness. While finger idiom means the refusal to take action. e..g, I won`t bend a finger to defend you, you little rascal!

Another one: My mum often said (in imperative style but addressing nobody in particular): Be wise and write poems

Ok, thanks, I can see the difference now.


Not sure about this one. I'm inclined to think it's something along the lines of find something worthwhile to do? Do something beneficial/constructive with your time? Not sure about the relevance to poems though.

No, it is an expression of helplessness when you jave no idea whatsoever how to deal with sth.

You should know this one: the scythe hit the rock. (actually, ran into)

Is it the equivalent of 'to hit a brick wall?' To run into some sort of problem that makes you stop what you're doing? An insurmountable obstacle as such.


I wouldn't have got that one!

Yes! But it involves some active resistance which blocks the progress as well as an element of surprise because the resistance wasn`t expected.

To go out of (one`s) skin (to do sth).

We have a saying ' to get under one's skin' which means to try and find out what a person thinks and feels, or that someone is very irritating, but I don't think this is it. To 'jump out of one's skin' is to be scared or surprised by something, but I don't think it means that either. I'll have to think some more.......

To go out of one`s skin means to do your best, to strive to do sth. Similar expressions are to stand on your eyelashes/ stand on your head.


This one is the same in Polish.

Now, nouns. What kind of a husband is slipper man?

One that doesn't leave the house too often ;)

Does it mean a husband that does what he's told, and the wife is in charge? In the UK we have a phrase ' to wear the trousers', and generally it refers to a woman who is the one in control of the relationship.

Yes, exactly.

What does it mean sheet metal lover about a woman, but mostly young one.

No idea at all about this one :-(

I understand this (the word is 'blachara' )but AFAIK there's no equivalent in (American) English...

It refers to a young woman who wants a guy with a hot car and/or likes to pose for pictures with cars...

joemonster.org/i/d/laskisamochodyaq005.jpg

Actually, something very similar to that is a Polish idiom: give him a finger and he'll take the whole hand.

Aha...I can see that now.


We would say ' give him an inch and he'll take a mile'.

Exactly, once I didn`t know it but students explained it to me. :) We talked about our likes and dislikes and one of them used that word.


When you quoted another poster, one idiom came to my mind: to mix sb with mud.

Is that to blacken a person's reputation?

Yes, in a nasty way.

That is the only way that can be meant.

Looking for a hole in the whole.