Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation - part 2

Yes. Except today vVaseline has been replaced with soap as shorter. But still Lenka`s version and screwing without soap are different ones.

I haven`t used that saying in the forum yet.
Namely, each stick has two ends.

I would guess at two sides to every story.

Its a proverb that tells about looking at different perspectives.
Especially before holding another person accountable for something that went wrong.
It save you a lot of bitterness if you hear the other person out.
Bible Study 101

Six of one and half a dozen of the other, swings and roundabouts, one man's meat is another man's poison, a nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse.

And as Feniks says, there are two sides to the same story.

Yes! Or another Polish saying: each medal has two sides.


Or quite the opposite. Hearing what Novi or Ptak communicate when they gossip about forum members gives decent people and apes a lot of bitterness. :):):)

But Pawian insane tantrums are a sure indication of the urgent need for more insane asylums.

Spot on. He will probably commit suicide when the forum shuts down.

Which one???? ):):)

I have just used this one on certain member who cherishes amasing dreams about cows:
until he strikes you on your pockets!! What does it mean???

A new one before I forget:

to drive sb out on the wheelbarrow. What does it mean and what is its origin?

I agree, but consider the unintended consequences. Without Pawian PF, PF would shrink to microscopic size and die a painful death, taking the mummified Pawian remains to the cyber dumpster.

The world will be a better place without this pos having a platform to spew his marxist agenda.

To expose someone to financial loss or large expenses?


To kick someone out of somewhere?

No question about it :::)))

AmaSSing! Joker and Ptak would prefer to see the forum closed to punish me for my activity here. :):):)

Boys, I never put all my apples in one basket only. :):):)

Shows just how toxic you are dunnit.

Yes, it shows how hard you are trying to ignore me. hahahaha

Thank you for being only words and zero action. You are a true friend. :):):

Double exactly!
However, I also asked about the origin of the wheelbarrow idiom.

A new one before I forget - in another thread I mentioned Norwegian ski jumpers who cheated during an important competition. Unbelievable! Norwegians??? Time to die..........
They combined with their skiing suits. What does it mean?

No idea I'm afraid.


Connected? Linked together?

A few minutes ago you posted a vid of Peasants movie song. The fate that Jagna meets in the novel/film adaptation is is the herald of wheelbarrow drive. :):):)


:(:(:( Of course not. We are talking about idioms........ :):):)

OK, she was ejected from the village and subjected to humiliation from the villagers. The origins lie in humiliation or am I barking up the wrong tree?

How???


No, you aren`t coz your skin is as thick as tree bark or rhinocerous`. :):P):)


Wow! Why are you using Past Simple when talking about the plot??? Very unusual. :):):):):):):)

On a cart.

Exactly - on a cart filled with manure! In modern times, a cart has been replaced with a wheelbarrow. Used in communist times by furious workers who dealt with their good for nothing bosses nominated by the communist party.
And the last case of it took place in democratic Poland in 1993.

Because I was talking about the end result. She was removed from the village. Never really thought about it to be honest.


Thanks for the explanation.


I really don't have much idea about this one...

Of course. But plots are covered with Present Simple in reviews. That`s what I teach my students. :):):)


Come on! You are tougher than that!
Check the direct Polish translation of combine in slang/colloqiual meaning.

It can be translated in many ways depending on what one wants to say. Don't know the slang meaning. Anything to do with unity?

They were up to no good with their ski suits.

They were cheating with their ski suits.

The verb kombinować is _very_ expressive and has no good equivalent in English*. It implies a mix of guile, improvization and get things done in a not entirely legal or ethical way. The character Rysiek in Miś is a worldclass kombinator and in a sense the whole movie is about the weird extremes people had to go through to get things done that shouldn't be that hard.

It was a necessary skill in the PRL and a family without a kombinator who knew how to get things done and/or find hard to find goods had to made do without.

*at least in the US, maybe the UK has something... I've sometimes heard 'tricky' applied to people but I don't know if it's the same thing

Thanks maf, now I know where's he's coming from. I've heard examples of this many times before especially , as you say, under communism. It's a way of beating the system.


Scheming possibly.