Idiomy z ciałem
Ten fixed phrases built out of body parts. Every language does this and no two do it the same way.
trzymać kciuki
phrase · verb
- EN
- to keep one's fingers crossed
- RU
- держать кулачки
Trzymam za ciebie kciuki.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.
Poles hold their thumbs rather than crossing fingers — and they do the gesture, thumb folded inside the fist. Do it wrong and it reads as nothing.
wziąć się w garść
phrase · verb, perfective
- EN
- to pull oneself together
- RU
- взять себя в руки
Weź się w garść i zacznij działać.
Pull yourself together and get moving.
Literally to take yourself into a fist. Russian uses hands, Polish uses one closed one — the image is tighter.
mieć muchy w nosie
phrase · verb
- EN
- to be in a sulk
- RU
- быть не в духе
Ma dziś muchy w nosie, nie zaczepiaj go.
He's in a mood today, leave him be.
Flies up the nose. Nobody can explain it and everybody uses it.
mieć węża w kieszeni
phrase · verb
- EN
- to be tight-fisted
- RU
- быть жадным, скупым
Nie licz na niego, ma węża w kieszeni.
Don't count on him, he's tight-fisted.
A snake in the pocket — you will not be reaching in there for your wallet.
dać w kość
phrase · verb
- EN
- to give someone a hard time (of things, not people)
- RU
- измотать, дать жару
Ta zima dała nam w kość.
That winter gave us a hard time.
The subject is usually a situation rather than a person: weather, an illness, a project.
mieć na końcu języka
phrase · verb
- EN
- to have on the tip of one's tongue
- RU
- вертится на языке
Mam to nazwisko na końcu języka.
That name is on the tip of my tongue.
Same image as English and Russian, and one of the few idioms in this batch that transfers whole.
wpaść w oko
phrase · verb, perfective
- EN
- to catch someone's eye, to take a fancy to
- RU
- приглянуться
Wpadła mi w oko na tej imprezie.
I took a fancy to her at that party.
The person who is noticed is the subject and the noticer is in the dative — wpadła MI w oko. That inversion is the hard part.
mieć głowę na karku
phrase · verb
- EN
- to have a good head on one's shoulders
- RU
- иметь голову на плечах
Ona ma głowę na karku, poradzi sobie.
She's got a good head on her, she'll manage.
Polish puts the head on the kark, the nape, where Russian and English use shoulders. Same compliment, different anatomy.
robić z igły widły
phrase · verb
- EN
- to make a mountain out of a molehill
- RU
- делать из мухи слона
Po co robić z igły widły? To drobiazg.
Why make a mountain out of a molehill? It's nothing.
A needle into a pitchfork where Russian grows a fly into an elephant. Negating it traps even Poles — wideł keeps the grammar, widły keeps the idiom — so sidestep it: po co…
rzucać słowa na wiatr
phrase · verb
- EN
- to make empty promises
- RU
- бросать слова на ветер
Nie rzucam słów na wiatr.
I don't make promises I won't keep.
One of the rare idioms that is word-for-word identical in Russian. Enjoy it; the next nine will not be.
Drill these ten · earlier morning · later morning
Drill these ten