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

I don't know if this easy one has been used before

I'm an automobile.

In what circumstance is it used?

It means someone won't be drinking as they're driving so it would be used in response to being offered a drink?

Or to forestall offers... it was clear to me the first time I heard it but it does lack a certain logical sense.

Here someone asks an expert how it came to and the expert basically says 'don't worry about it'....

sjp.pwn.pl/poradnia/haslo/Jestem-samochodem;11913.html

Wow, didn't think about it. For some reason the automobile threw me off.

Why I chose that word and not 'car'....

I'd heard this before so I knew what it meant but yeah, not entirely logical. Thanks for the link.

I guess it is an idiom. As nobody would take its literal meaning. There would be a need to call a physiatrist but I guess it would be obvious like Jestem samochodem brum brum !

What about....

because I know....

When is it used?

When someone knows something that the other person doesn't? Don't think it's this though...

Your'e right.... it's not that

(to be fair, etymologically and diachronically (ie in the past) it had a different meaning but synchronically (now) it looks and sounds the same as 'because I know'

I have no idea about this one maf....

It's not a rare expression at all... and after a time or two hearing it in context I understood it (without realizing why it meant what it meant)...

another hint: How many coffee beans would it take to weigh a metric ton?

Is it meant when someone is trying to establish their authority or expertise on a subject? They know best and don't need advice?

If this is Polish "bo ja wiem" that means that I don't actually know.

I think you're right Alien :) Especially in light of the coffee beans hint.

Yes! Correct! IIRC this is related to an older usage of bo similar to 'czy' though it sounds like 'because I know'

Used in answer to questions and also in thinking out loud...

A super easy one (inspired by another thread)

X has a good pen

What does it mean?

Someone who likes to sign anything they can?


Ah, but it's only easy when you know the answer! Your last one stumped me.

Actually it means someone is a talented writer.

OK, thanks maf. I'm not doing so well with your idioms....

They're just things I've picked up that often aren't in books or anything...

What's an idiomatic meaning of in life

never

Yes!

example:
A: Kupiłbyś taką bryczkę?
B: ... w życiu....

A: Would you buy a car like that?
B: Never...

Next, for non-Brits only! Zapnij pas!

" bo ja wiem" doesn't mean "I don't know" (at least not in the most plain use of "I don't know") - it means more like "I have my doubts" (I understand that native English speakers use "I don't know" to tell they have doubts/bad feelings about something)

"jestem samochodem" is simple and intuitive :P - "jestem" is shorter than "przyjechałem" (or "przyszedłem" because people can also be asked "piechotą jesteś?") - and "jestem" underlines the simple fact that the speaker is there :P - and "samochodem" is abundantly clear because "przyjechałem samochodem" is obvious enough - what is unfortunate is that in Polish if you want to say "I am an engineer" you need to use the instrumental (i.e. inżynierem) to sound natural and native

Maybe more like "I dont' really know...." or... lots of times that I've heard it the most natural translation would be "I dunno..." (that is the voice doesn't go down like a statement but stays level to indicate an incomplete thought).

an afterthought: "bo ja wiem" can indeed mean "I don't know" (as a statement) (it looks like I don't really know my native tongue)

Since nobody's gotten it yet, I'll post his reverse idiom (Brits are excluded)

What idiomatic meaning does Zapnij pas! have in Britain?

Is that what each Tory government said to the people - time for some austerity measures.

It means prepare for trouble.


I think you are getting too close to the Polish 'tighten seat belt'

the hair stands oak