Czy to był podryw?
Flirting, from the first line to the basket. Polish goes out with people, hunts with fishing words, and has borrowed ghosting outright.
poderwać
verb · perfective, colloquial, + acc.
- EN
- to pick up, to chat up (successfully)
- RU
- склеить, закадрить
Poderwał ją na koncercie.
He picked her up at a concert.
Literally to jerk upwards, like lifting something off the ground. The imperfective podrywać is the attempt; poderwać means it worked. The act itself is podryw.
zagadać
verb · perfective, colloquial, + do + gen.
- EN
- to strike up a conversation (with someone)
- RU
- заговорить с кем-то, завязать разговор
Podoba ci się? To do niej zagadaj.
You like her? Then go and talk to her.
Zagadać do kogoś — with do, as with dzwonić do — is the first move, flirting or not. Zagadywać kogoś, without do, is something else: to talk at someone so they do not notice what you are doing.
tekst na podryw
phrase · noun, masculine
- EN
- a pickup line
- RU
- фраза для подката
Najgorszy tekst na podryw? 'Bolało, jak spadłaś z nieba?'
The worst pickup line? 'Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?'
Colloquial tekst is a line someone comes out with, especially a cheeky one: ale tekst! Na podryw names its purpose, the way na wynos does.
mieć branie
phrase · verb, imperfective, colloquial
- EN
- to be popular (romantically), to have admirers
- RU
- пользоваться успехом
Od kiedy zapuścił brodę, ma branie.
Since he grew a beard, he's been getting a lot of attention.
An angler's word: branie is the bite on your line. The fish are biting, and you are the bait. Also used of anything selling well: ten model ma branie.
zarywać
verb · imperfective, slang, + do + gen.
- EN
- to hit on (someone)
- RU
- подкатывать, клеить
Cały wieczór zarywał do barmanki.
He spent the whole evening hitting on the barmaid.
Younger and blunter than podrywać, and it takes do: zarywać do kogoś. The same verb without do means something else entirely — zarywać noc is to pull an all-nighter.
zauroczenie
noun · neuter
- EN
- a crush, infatuation
- RU
- влюблённость, увлечение
To nie miłość, tylko chwilowe zauroczenie.
It's not love, just a passing crush.
From urok, charm — literally being put under a spell. Weaker and shorter than miłość, and Poles use it to say so: to tylko zauroczenie.
chodzić z kimś
phrase · verb, imperfective, colloquial
- EN
- to go out with someone, to date
- RU
- встречаться с кем-то
Chodzą ze sobą od liceum.
They've been going out since secondary school.
Chodzić z kimś is to be going out with someone — no walking required. Russian says встречаться; Polish chodzą ze sobą covers everything from school crushes to years together.
ghostować
verb · imperfective, slang
- EN
- to ghost (someone)
- RU
- резко оборвать общение без объяснений
Po trzech randkach zaczął mnie ghostować.
After three dates he started ghosting me.
Borrowed from English ghost, with the gh kept in the spelling: to vanish from someone's life without a word. The Polish endings do the rest — ghostuje, zghostował.
dać kosza
phrase · verb, perfective, colloquial, + dat.
- EN
- to turn someone down
- RU
- отшить, дать от ворот поворот
Zaprosił ją na kawę, ale dała mu kosza.
He asked her out for coffee, but she turned him down.
Literally 'to give a basket', as in German einen Korb geben. The one refused dostaje kosza. Old Polish had a darker version: serving a suitor czarna polewka, a black soup.
zaiskrzyło
verb · perfective, past, impersonal use
- EN
- there was a spark, sparks flew
- RU
- проскочила искра
Między nimi od razu zaiskrzyło.
There was a spark between them straight away.
Here the verb zaiskrzyć is used impersonally: nobody sparks, it just sparks — między nimi zaiskrzyło. Depending on context, that spark is attraction or a row about to start.
Drill these ten · earlier morning · later morning
Drill these ten