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

Does it mean what I wrote in #747?

Not noticing what's under your nose because of looking elsewhere/far away?

That's how I understand it.

The one about having the lamp post up the arse (probably coming from that one) is about getting all fired up by something but the light doesn't reach the brain.

Ok, thanks. Similar in a way to engaging brain before putting mouth in gear.

My understanding, after consulting with an educated native speaker (phd in a non-language related field) it has two meanings...

one - being in the light makes it harder to see what's around you (esp things that could be.... not good for you).

two - it's often easier to do bad things out in the open because people don't notice (similar to the old Agatha Christie trope about people being invisible when dressed in work outfits).

@Rich,
"Have you a better one?" is British English!
We Yanks tend to use the modal auxilliary "Do + pronoun",
where as the Brits mostly forego this usage:

"Have you some change?" vs. "Do you have some change?"
etc.

Both are technically correct. Cf. German from Germany vs. Austrian or Swiss High German. etc.

I knew you were not an American...Americans speak American, not British.


See above...

You are trying to hard...

In America, the quoted sentence would be:

We, Americans, use...

...with both commas...professor...

Americans from the '40's and earlier spoke an English closer in certain ways to
British English.

My parents were rather older when I was born.

Thanks for the explanation maf.

A day or two ago on TV, a military official was being interviewed about the russian drones in Poland. At one point he said he would have to 'open the kitchen' to answer a particular question.

What does kitchen mean in this context?

Have you got is more normal.

Do you have is also very common.

"Have you"..? for possession is a common mistake among learners. Native speakers of English rarely use it.

Sensitive or classified information? Reveal plans not meant for non-military personnel?

Roughly, yeah. One meaning of 'kuchnia' is "miejsce, w którym opracowuje się szczegóły jakiejś pracy nieujawniane ogółow" (place where details of work/affairs that are not made public are worked out) - also found in the name of an old TV series "Kuchnia Polska" (and the name of a political column in some newspaper some time ago).

sjp.pwn.pl/slowniki/kuchnia.html

In English you might say..... "show how the sausage is made?" "show the man behind the curtain?" "give away trade secrets"?


I wouldn't call it a grammatical mistake, it's more of a.... stylistic one. It sounds very old fashioned now though it can be heard occasionally, especially in very formal/stuffy situations. I think I heard it in a courtroom scene on tv recently (I forget the series) when the judge asked "Have you any new evidence?" (or something very similar).

Same.


Makes sense. To look under the bonnet of the car.

Just heard this on TV (or noticed it....)

Life like in Madrid

What does it mean?

Easy one mafy, it is a Polish idiom for wealthy and worry - free existence reflecting the perception of Madrid as a hiqh - quality city with endless opportunity for fun, culture and leisure, though residence note the need for caution regarding petty crime and suggests basic Spanish is essential for truly enjoying the city.
I learned that at the Uni, maf.

I don't think this is about the quality of life in Madrid. It's just that Madrid rhymes well.
Życie jak w Madrycie.

Basically yes. Like randka z policjantką or plastik fantastyk.


More that it figured out that search engines have a somewhat limited A.I. assistant.

People never believe me when I say I can spot unedited AI writing....

I'd say the rhyming element is there, but also Poland has the usual more northern stereotypes of lazy southerners so Spain has connotations of unhurried and stress-free existence.

It's almost always obvious. Only a skilled user of the ones you pay for can get round that, and even then...


Makes sense. We say "manana manana".

To nie Kanada...

To be fair, some of it is his own work, given that there's no AI out there so stupid as to write "residence" when it means "residents".


A Polish friend once explained "Jutro, jutro" as meaning "It's like manana manana but without the sense of urgency."

Its a Polish idiom or didn't you know that ?

Another one!

What does to make someone gray mean?

You're completely right. The quality of life in Madrid is far lower than in cities such as Valencia or Monte Carlo, but one needs to have been to Europe to know that, so the poor dumb one doesn't know it.
And one needs to know Polish to understand that Życie and Madrycie rhyme, so that also counts out the poor dumb one.

To stress someone out

Nope.

It does here in the Great U.S. of A.

It's not about the USA so still- nope

Where does it say that it is not ?
So what is your Polish guess then, Love

With emotional stress

Grey?

There's an expression about a grey ending. Are they connected?

In the thread title.