My latest compilation from Culture.pl includes an article by Marek Kępa titled The Peculiar World of Polish Animal Idioms. Here’s his intro:
Curious what it means to have a snake in one’s pocket or buy a cat in a bag? In this article, Culture.pl discusses popular Polish animal idioms – presenting their literal translations, explaining their figurative meanings and providing examples of their use in Polish texts. Be advised: some of the animal idioms found here might sound peculiar to English speakers!
And here’s the list, without his explanations and examples:
- Pierwsze koty za płoty ‘First cat over the fence’
- Kupić kota w worku ‘To buy a cat in a bag’
- Siedzieć jak mysz pod miotłą ‘To sit like a mouse under a broom’
- Nudzić się jak mops ‘To be bored like a pug’
- Nie dla psa kiełbasa ‘The sausage isn’t for the dog’
- Ciągnie wilka do lasu ‘A wolf is drawn to the woods’
- I wilk jest syty, i owca cała ‘The wolf is full and the sheep’s unscathed’
- Na bezrybiu i rak ryba ‘When there’s no fish, a crayfish is a fish’
- Czuć się jak ryba w wodzie ‘To feel like a fish in water’
- Mieć węża w kieszeni ‘To have a snake in one’s pocket’
- Robota nie zając, nie ucieknie ‘Work is not a hare, it won’t run off’
- Koń by się uśmiał ‘A horse would laugh at that’
- Znać się jak łyse konie ‘To know each other like bald horses’
- Gapić się jak cielę na malowane wrota ‘To stare like a calf at a painted gate’
- Jedna jaskółka wiosny nie czyni ‘One swallow doesn’t make it spring’
Far Outliers 