Chuj, dupa i kamieni kupa

Meaning:

Lit. “ass, cock and a pile of rocks”. Which denotes a thing in a state of utter failure and destruction or FUBAR. Poles usually use this to voice disbelief on a specific matter as a business venture, broken marriage or… their own state.

The last example made this somewhat obscure phrase a hit in 2014 when many recordings of  private conversations between top-tier politicians representing the then-ruling Platforma Obywatelska party surfaced and led to their collapse in parliamentary elections. In one of these (probably a bit drunken) conversations Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, then interior minister, used the phrase to declare that one of his own government’s economical programs simply does not exist. See below.

Sometimes gets abbreviated to ChDiKK.

Continue reading Chuj, dupa i kamieni kupa

Na czarną godzinę

Meaning:

Lit. “for a black hour” which usually refers to financial problems, for instance, losing your job. The expression is usually coupled with the Polish verb “to save” – “oszczędzać” or “odkładać” and used when you are or have saved some money as a contingency for possible crises. May refer to cash you keep under your pillow or your secret bank account.

Continue reading Na czarną godzinę

Szewc bez butów chodzi

Meaning:

Lit. “a shoemaker walks around barefoot” which refers to situations in which a person proficient (or claiming to be) in some trade does not apply it for her/his own good. This usually sounds a bit comical but might also point at double standards of the target, especially if he or she gives others some precious advice not complying to it.

Continue reading Szewc bez butów chodzi

Mieć węża w kieszeni

Meaning:

Lit. “to have a snake in the pocket” which refers to somebody being very thrifty, or even, stingy. Poles readily apply this to inhabitants of my hometown Kraków who are widely known to save every penny they can. And so, such a person is under no circumstances willing to put hand in their pocket as if the said reptilian was sitting there waiting to bite them.

Continue reading Mieć węża w kieszeni

Szukaj wiatru w polu

Meaning:

Lit. “go seek the wind in the field”. Which is a set expression referring to something or someone that has disappeared never to be found, or even more often – has been deliberately hidden or ran away. It is used as a kind of “end of story” point to stress that the person telling a story expects the thing or the protagonist never to surface again and believes an investigation or a search party to be futile.

Continue reading Szukaj wiatru w polu