Category: Everyday life

Poszło się jebać

Meaning:

Lit. “went to fuck” as the verb “jebać” is a somewhat more vulgar-sounding choice to similar ”pieprzyć”, “ruchać” or even “pierdolić”. The expression is used to angrily point that some resources invested have been wasted without bringing any value and cannot be retrieved any more. This can be said if you simply spend some time on a task to no avail – or if your company has dedicated a big money and organizational effort to a project and reapt no harvest.

Occasionally this expression is used if something (like a car) simply breaks down or is destroyed, to stress that it is now lost and you won’t benefit from it any more.

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Kawa na ławę

Meaning:

Lit. “(to put) the coffee on the table”. Which is used to signify that one is speaking plainly and straight to the point instead of using lenghtly introductions to a topic or being evasive about her/his real intentions. You can also use it with an exclamation mark to (quite bluntly) encourage your interlocutor to get to the point.

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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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Zaleźć (komuś) za skórę

Meaning:

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.

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