Category: Animals

Kocia muzyka

Meaning:

Lit. “a cat’s music”, which can be used either to describe a very noisy and dissonant (or simply: poor) music or a noise that irritates you. You can hear/read it quite often to describe groups of people making noise not to let someone else speak or partygoers singing and breaking glasses on the streets.

The expression obviously stems from caterwaul waking Polish people at night, especially in March. Its origin being the same as that of German “Katzenjammer”, this Polish expression is not used to describe a hangover.

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Pytasz dzika, czy sra w lesie?

Meaning:

Lit. “are you asking a boar if it shits in the woods”? Which sounds ridiculous but, at the same time, quite funny. It is used to agree to a proposal and stress your full commitment and that the choice is obvious. The verb “shits” makes the expression coarse and not suitable for any official conversation. But it is perfect for accepting a proposal from a buddy to have a few beers on a Friday evening.

You may wonder why some of the examples below include the question mark while some don’t. Well, it’s because syntax in Polish does not define if a sentence is a question or a statement. It’s the intonation or the magical word “czy” (“if”), which in this case is only an element of the subordinate sentence. So, “pytasz dzika, czy sra w lesie” will be a question with the question mark and a statement without it.

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Jak koń po westernie

Meaning:

Lit. “like a horse after (shooting) a western (movie)”. The expression is usually preceded by a verb like “zmęczony” (tired) or some vulgar substitute of it. It describes a state of exhaustion after a long-time working, marching or any other, usually physical, activity.

The genesis of this parallel is obviously in horses being thought of as the most important ingredients of a good western movie, even more important than cowboys, and, as a consequences, spending most time on a set, especially recording tiresome chases.

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Nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy

Meaning:

Lit. “not my circus, not my monkeys”. Used when you are being dragged into a discussion on  a topic that you don’t really care about and is a pretty definite and also a bit rough end of the discussion. This is especially often used by Poles when a person wants to talk about politics and another one does not want to come at odds just by voicing her/his opinion. However, the expression can be used to deflect any subject: religion, a book, climate change etc. It just might sound insincere or silly when a very universal problem is being discussed. It is also sometimes used to stress that it is not your problem and you are not going to put any effort into solving it.

This seems to be a very recent addition to Polish language – around beginning of the 10’s and has been very much en vouge since then.

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Tam gdzie psy dupami szczekają

Meaning:

Lit. “where dogs bark with their asses” which is a very colourful way to describe a deep backcountry, a remote anus mundi whereto civilized folk venture rarely and locals cultivate some strange and even dangerous habits. The expression is quite often used by city dwellers considering themselves forces of enlightenment pointing at country folk. A real marvel of Polish vulgar metaphors.

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