Lit. “a tea with electricity, an electric tea”. This might sound cryptic or dangerous but it is safe or even beneficial. The expression comes from the Tatra mountains and has been used by local sheepherders (and hotel owners), the górale, to describe a warming mix of tea and vodka (or vodka and tea).
Lit. “to not pour in the collar” which is a metaphor for a heavy drinker. You use this for people who enjoy more than one beer once a week but reserve some heavier terms like “pijak”, “ochlejtus” or “chlor” for those who clearly are alcoholics.
Lit. “a flacon/bottle”, a glass or ceramic container in which flowers or perfumes are stored. And -this is why the slang meaning of the word – a bottle of vodka – sounds so funny in Polish. For instance if I ever hear this expression, I imagine people pouring a drink after having removed a tulip or two from the bottle.
Lit. “to be done” but this does not mean someone has completed a task or has had enough. Instead, in Polish this expression is used to point at a person being (completely) drunk. It is far from official language, rather a colloquialism mostly used by people below 30. It is sometimes used by victims themselves – “ale się zrobiłem” meaning “I’ve really had too much to drink and was intoxicated”.
Lit. “the Wine brand of wine” meant ironically. The expression comes from this product that has been the weapon of choice of winos in communist Poland. After the collapse of the system, various brands of fruit wine remained their favourites and quite often also source of first serious hangovers for Polish teenagers. The original “brand” is no longer available but hundreds of local variants have blossomed in the meantime, some of them gaining a cult following. What they have in common is: a) all being produced out of fruits, mainly apples b) alcohol volume of around 18% c) contain high levels of sulphur.
