Meaning:
Lit. “a forbidden mug” – when talking about someone’s face of course. Poles use this phrase mentioning someone definitely looking like an alcoholic, a bum or a criminal.
Category: Body
Idzie jak krew z nosa
Meaning:
Lit. “it goes as blood from the nose”. Used to describe a project, an activity that moves forward very slowly and with great difficulty. Also to stress the fact that a person tasked with something does this unwillingly, has no talent nor time to take care of the task.
Z dupy
Meaning:
Lit: “out of the asshole/from the asshole”. This colloquialism came to prominence ten or fifteen years ago and is used to denote ideas or actions that are completely out of place and useless. It is often combined with the noun “pomysł” (an idea).
Chłop jak dąb
Meaning:
Lit. “a man like an oak”. This expression is used to point that a guy is tall, strong, able bodied. Oaks are traditionally revered as the strongest trees and you can still find some impressive old specimens in Polish woods. Interestingly enough, some of them are given human names, for instance a certain Bartek that for many people is a symbol of Polish statehood.
Kaleczyć język
Meaning:
Lit. “to cut/wound a tongue/language” as in Polish the “język” noun is used to convey both meanings. The expression is a metaphor used to describe someone speaking a language poorly and making many grammatical or lexical mistakes. You can hear it when Poles talk about a foreigner trying to use their language – or a Pole speaking bad English or German.
You could also say “skaleczył się w język” – he cut/wounded his tongue – no metaphor, just bloody facts. This sentence is pretty unequivocal due to the use of reflexive form of the verb with “się” (herself/himself).