Lit. “to get/crawl under one’s skin”. You use this in reference of a person or other entity’s actions that are extremely inconvenient or even harmful to someone. The expression is especially apt if this spans over a considerate amount of time and causes significant losses. It can be used to describe a person’s malicious character as well as work according to a plan, for instance in a business environment.
Lit. “to roll/twirl pasta around one’s ears” which is used to describe someone trying to convince another person in a very persistent and eloquent way, by using all the power of their rhetoric and logic. This is quite often used to describe activities of successful salespeople but also when a husband/wife try to convince their spouse to buy a new house/car/tv set or have a baby. It is sometimes used to stress that a splendid oration is devoted to a subject that actually is not that important at all and that it is a waste of time and the speaker’s skills.
I don’t know where exactly does the expression come from but the verb “nawijać” itself has been used as a colloquialism signifying a banter. It normally does not have much to do with past (but you can use it to describe twirling spaghetti with a fork). So maybe some bright mind put these ends together to create this new metaphor.
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.
Lit. “the bottom and ten meters of sludge”. If you hear this have no doubt that your interlocutor is of an extremely negative opinion about somebody’s behaviour, a book, a music album or whatever else. Be sure to only use it if you really cannot find any positive aspects of the subjects of your conversation. Any proponents of what you’re criticizing this way will feel provoked to start an argument with you and await some brilliant points to support your judgment.
Pointing at something displeasing as “dno” (the bottom, of a sea, lake or a river) has been used in Polish for several decades while the level of sludge seems to be an addition of the recent twenty years in the era of Internets and everybody voicing their opinions about everything online. Several variants exist.
Lit. “to walk on walls”. This expression is used in various contexts and situations to convey lots of meanings. In the past, it seems to me, it’s been mainly used to describe a person that is in stressed out, cannot control her- or himself. Or people doing their very best to achieve something considered unrealistic. I’ve also seen instances of “chodzić po ścianach” referring to someone being extremely bored.
The meaning I’m mostly used to and it seems, a more popular nowadays, is this referring to people being completely drunk or intoxicated with some other drugs, especially if this state is reached at a house party be a couple persons in unison. The spirits (we’re not talking about a beer or two here) lift their spirits so high, that they gain superhuman powers, even if cannot remember it the day after. By the way, if you want to learn about fifty, often poetic, ways to say “drunk” in Polish, head to this page. It has them all.
