Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation

How indicative of what nationalities think of or picture foreigners!
In German, there was an expression before the end of WWII, roughly translated as follows:

The teacher walks into a particularly noise classroom and roars, "HEY, WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS, A YESHIVA?" (Ruhe, hier ist keine
Judenschule!). The Polish idiom implies Jews are rootless without a homeland, the German expression implies that Jews are noisy.

Yes, I have known this first one since my elementary school, But the other is new to me, I have never heard it.

Ok, thanks for the explanation.


Does it mean to twist or turn everything around?

Staying with the bovine theme, what about "to punch/strike a bull"? synonyms include to 'shoot a bull' or 'make a bull' but the first was more common in one google test I did while 'shoot a bull' was more common in another....

hint: nothing to do with the (US?) expression 'to shoot the bull'

It still means to make a mistake., doesn`t it?

Bovine themes continued: what about strike sb like a bull ?

To shoot a bull was done on page 2, posts 51 and 53, presume this is the same thing.


I will have to ponder again, but was my answer in post 153 about the cat's tail correct or not?

oops.... have 'Czech mistake' and 'Czech movie' (two very different things) been done?

I heard a similar one in my grammar school once (quite a long time ago). It was almost exactly the same as you have described. The history teacher walked into a class and said:

Proszę o ciszę! Żydowski porządek panuje w waszej klasie!

The class burst into laughter as no one ever heard such a phrase, so one can safely say the expression had already been outdated. [The teacher was known was using expressions which sounded weird to the class as for example: Niech mnie dunder świśnie! And to this very day I don't know what dunder is!]

Oops, sorry, I was going to reply to it but sb had me distracted. Yes, it means twisting things to make people believe your version. Similar to "try to wriggle out of sth," if I am correct.


No, Łyżko, the Polish version is actually more favourable for Jews, it means they are always busy looking after their business, whether customers come or not.


No. Czech movie is hard to understand while a Czech mistake is a silly one made during writing..

Never heard of that.. but beating a horse on the other hand... Walic konia...

Byk aka bull is sometimes used to connotate a mistake like on an exam

Give us a clue then Maf :)


Does it mean to show someone no mercy?


No. To try to wriggle out of sth means to avoid doing something you don't want to do. The best comparison I can think of for twisting things to make people believe your version, is to ' put a spin on something' - to twist sth to one's advantage, bending the truth, although this does often refer to events. Politicians are very adept at putting a spin on something ;)

A couple more:

Not all flour turns into bread
If you brew your own beer drink it yourself

If you've seen a bunch of Czech movies (and I lurve Czech movies) the Polish idiom makes no sense.... (French movie or Korean soap opera might be more apt in my particular case, though maybe not for you...)


As you make your bed so must you lie in it...


All that glitters....

Nonetheless, pawian, the image of the money-hungry Jew continued to haunt them, don't you understand? Who does "business" for free?
:-)

Nope, it is much simpler as it means to hit sb with your head.


Be prepared to experience failure in life.


I see.


Very easy,. It is thunder. :) The same as niech Cię/mnie piorun strzeli/trzaśnie.

Yes!



I like the different ways that both of you have interpreted this :)


I was looking for sth not quite so obvious! The meaning of most English idioms is not apparent e.g 'he kicked the bucket' means 'he died'.

This is an easy one, but I like it :)

What does gingerbread have to do with a windmill?

What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?


stereotypes... there's a reason they exist!

And Czech movie?

Or, What does that have to do with the price of fish?, which is what I would say. Too easy!!


Oops sorry Maf, I forgot to reply, but I'm afraid it's too hard for me to understand :(

Are you being meta? Because czeski film refers to a situation that doesn't make any sense....

Yet both of them are wrong. I can understand maf's confusion. It is funny that pawian doesn't get it either. It makes sense he is a Soviet hence his grasp on the Polish culture is erratic at best.

That saying refers to something that is incompatible/ something they will not bring expected result. An example: a couple doesn't get along - insert saying - meaning : they will not get married i.e. they will spilt.

hahaha you seem to be fascinated with Polish pop music of 1960s. But that song about a relationship which can`t come off is only one of possible usages of the saying. So, my version, though from a different perspective, is also correct. So, s m a f o y (you know what it means - stop making a .. etc) again. :):)

youtube.com/watch?v=eeKI8KcPgBA

To match each other like in a basket of poppy seed.

Not really. I'm familiar with Polish culture unlike you.


Is not. You're making it up as you go. Perspective my foot. Something is compatible and gonna work together or not. that is the meaning of that saying.


No, I don't speak Soviet.

you could use 'all that glitters' in that context in the US (esp if it had been a love-at-first-sight kind of couple).

Who knows?

Guys, before I forget, delph gave me this concept: To call sb onto the rug/mat.

Is it like 'call someone on the carpet' (is that not used in the UK)? I

Yes, exactly. But Polish version makes this carpet quite little - dywanik.

Yes, that`s a good one.

And from another barrel: To make big eyes (at sb)

Sure, but if we concentrate that saying to its bare essence its says such and such thingy won't work, won't produce an expected/hoped for result. Whereas in 'all that glitters' is about recognizing a true value of things/people.

Not the same.

Ok, my interpretation of that idiom is that 'not all efforts produce a result' - not all flour will turn into bread, but some will. It depends on interpretation. I interpret 'all that glitters' as not everything on close inspection, is how it appears to be on the surface. So, loosely, it could be argued that there is a similarity in meaning, which is why I said I liked their definitions.


To be like two peas in a pod?

I'm presuming this is one idiom? Is it flirting with somebody a person finds attractive?

No, that's what it would be in English, in Polish it expresses disbelief or amazement, something like 'staring with [one's] mouth [hanging] open'

In my experience it often seems to imply the person is playing dumb... (feigning surprise)