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.

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Jak Reksio szynkę

Meaning:

Lit. “as Reksio (would) ham” which usually is preceded by a verb signifying biting or eating.  Together they form expression meaning you would definitely fancy eating something. Well, at least literally as the only context Poles use it in is being physically attracted to another person and willing to engage in sexual acts with her/him. This willingness is usually purely hypothetical as the phrase is mostly thrown by one chum to another when seeing a pretty girl on television. It probably is not that popular amongst women but can be used by either gender.

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Zrobić z dupy jesień średniowiecza

Meaning:

Lit. “to make the The Autumn of the Middle Ages of one’s ass”. I’m pretty sure this steps directly from the Polish translation of Marsellus Wallace’s line in Pulp Fiction: “I’m gonna git Medieval on your ass.” promising the rapist Zed a long and painful death. I think what happened is the people translating the movie, while lacking a matching set phrase in Polish, coined a new expression containing both the middle ages and the ass which turned out to be a brilliant idea and caught on among Polish movie (and middle ages) enthusiasts in the mid-90s.

The new invention sounds funny while retaining the seriousness of someone getting a severe punching.

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