Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation

Another one: what does it mean to call a male an old horse ?


Great! to be nitpicking.

Does it mean he's about due to give up work and retire?

No, sorry, I forgot to add: a young male, or rather man.. And it is pejorative.

A man who has sex with lots of women and isn't too fussy about what they look like?

"Prosto z mostu" = Straight from the shoulder (literally: "Straight from bridge")
:-)

That means telling it like it is, unfiltered, etc.

that he's irresponsible/lazy/doesn't pull his weight?

What does it mean to call a woman a 'paper hanger'?

Exactly, Dirk. I simply find it interesting how language image differs often from language to language! In English, the reference is to a part of the body, in Polish, a piece of mechanical engineering.

One of the first expressions I ever learned in Polish was "Madry Polak po szkodzie" = "20/20 hindsight" aka "Bad luck teaches pluck" or in German "Aus Schaden wird man klug" and "Nach der Tat weiss jeder Rat".

:-)

I find ancient languages more extreme than new languages, it's darker and lot more fun!

:):) That`s great, what made you think so? :):)


yes, a man who behaves in an immature way, I suppose that idiom used to be longer in the past, sth like: such an old horse but so silly.


Opps, I translate it into papierowy wieszak, wieszak na papier but nothing comes to my mind .

Think of a job supposedly held by Adolf Hitler before he entered politics... (Polish people used to do it themselves every couple of years)...

Well, without googling I remember that Hitler had an ambition to become an artist.... But Poles called him a silly painter in WW2 songs, so it means he didn`t become one of artistic kind, but rather an interior painter. Do you mean wallpaper? And "hanger" isn`t an object but a person? Aaaa.....:):)

In this way I recalled another idiom, this time it is the same in both languages:it dawned on me.

In fact he was merely a post card painter during his student days before getting tossed out of Vienna's premier art academy.

Yes! In the US, AH was sometimes referred to as a "paper hanger" so, someone (not pawian who obviously knows) what does it mean to call a woman a "paper hanger"? (nb nothing to do with politics)

I am afraid it is much too difficult. Other members might reply with: arms/hands are dropping, the phrase I sometimes think of when I read radical enunciations in PF.

(sigh) it's like looking for wind in the field....

Too difficult to explain my logic, but I guess my mind must be in the gutter now and again ;)

Can't get the paper hanger thing, I can only think of a female interior decorater, but


this means sth to do with a weird situation, so it's not about decorating I think......

Well, I was right, that wall paper hanger is too hard. It means a woman who uses too heavy make up which in slang Polish is called tapeta - wallpaper.


Not weird but a hopeless situation when you don`t know what to do/say, especially when somebody astonishes you with their silly behaviour.

I would never have got that one, but for sure I'll remember it now.


Frequent occurrence on PF :D

After the birds

Actually, you should have written: after the byrds. :):)

the Polish word is tapeciara... I was confused the first time I heard it and had to have it explained.


yes, exactly

After reading one member`s story, a useful Polish saying came to my mind: better is the enemy of good. I often recall it when I look around. What does it mean?

That striving for something better, or perfection perhaps, might spoil something that is already good enough? Be happy with what you already have?

Is this similar to '(the) perfect is the enemy of (the) good' where the idea is that trying to improve some things just makes them less effective (and/or waiting for something perfect can cause people to lose opportunities)

You are both right. However, I prefer to make it a bit deeper as far as personal sentiments go. I believe the saying includes the element of inevitability, namely progress can`t be stopped and we constantly get new improvements. But we are so strongly accustomed to old ways that we tend to disregard all these benefits that progress brings. One example - they installed movement-activated lighting in our apartment block. Yes, you don`t need to push the button and energy is also saved. But what about my past habit of walking up the stairs (I don`t use the lift) in complete darkness? I liked that, now it is impossible.

During today`s Sunday walk, I thought of a few more:

equal boy/man/chap/guy
(do sth) till sh.itty death

Not to mention some heated kisses after a date . The lighting ruins it!

Yes, exactly, it didn`t come to my mind. :)

I know an expression in English "The perfect is the enemy of the (just) good enough".
:-)

Pawian is this one or two idioms? You mentioned that you thought of a few more, so I am thinking it's more than one?

Two in two seperate lines. :)