Czym chata bogata
Being a guest and a host in Poland: making yourself at home, the helping you cannot refuse, the parting drink, and the parcel of food you take home.
czym chata bogata
phrase
- EN
- whatever the house can offer
- RU
- чем богаты, тем и рады
Siadajcie, częstujcie się, czym chata bogata.
Sit down, help yourselves to whatever we have.
Short for czym chata bogata, tym rada — the house offers what it has. Said over a modest spread or a groaning table alike. Russian чем богаты, тем и рады is its twin.
rozgościć się
verb · reflexive, perfective
- EN
- to make yourself at home
- RU
- располагаться, устраиваться как дома
Proszę się rozgościć, zaraz podam herbatę.
Please make yourself at home, I'll bring tea in a moment.
Built from gość, the guest: to settle in as one. Proszę się rozgościć is what you hear at the door, as your coat is being taken.
strzemienny
noun · masculine, adjectival
- EN
- the parting drink, one for the road
- RU
- на посошок
Jeszcze po jednym, na strzemiennego!
One more each, one for the road!
The stirrup cup: drunk once a guest's foot was already in the strzemię, the stirrup. This, not na drugą nóżkę, is the true Polish на посошок — the drink that means you are leaving.
nie dać się prosić
phrase · verb, perfective
- EN
- not to need asking twice
- RU
- не заставлять себя упрашивать
Zaproponowali dokładkę, a ja nie dałem się prosić.
They offered seconds and I didn't need asking twice.
To accept without needing persuasion. Said of yourself, it is cheerful; said of others, it can be a gentle dig — nie dał się długo prosić.
bez krępacji
phrase · adverb, colloquial
- EN
- don't be shy, feel free
- RU
- не стесняйся
Bierz, bez krępacji, jest tego mnóstwo.
Take some, don't be shy, there's loads.
A jokey stand-in for bez skrępowania or nie krępuj się: help yourself and do not feel awkward about it.
dokładka
noun · feminine
- EN
- a second helping
- RU
- добавка
Może jeszcze dokładkę? Nie odmawiaj.
How about another helping? Don't say no.
From dokładać, to add more. Poproszę dokładkę asks for another helping; naprawdę już nie mogę — I really can't — is the refusal a Polish host is most likely to accept.
z pustymi rękami
phrase · adverb
- EN
- empty-handed
- RU
- с пустыми руками
Nie wypada iść z pustymi rękami.
You shouldn't turn up empty-handed.
The same image as Russian с пустыми руками — bring flowers, wine or cake. The flowers differ, though: in Poland chrysanthemums belong to cemeteries, while in Russia they are an ordinary gift.
nie wypada
phrase · predicative
- EN
- it's not the done thing, it's not proper
- RU
- неприлично, так не принято
Nie wypada dzwonić po dziesiątej.
It's not the done thing to ring after ten.
Wypada, 'it falls out', here means 'it is fitting'. Czy wypada? asks whether something is done; nie wypada says it breaks a social rule — the Polish code of manners in one impersonal verb.
wałówka
noun · feminine, colloquial
- EN
- food for the road; a food parcel from home
- RU
- еда с собой; домашние припасы от родителей
Wracam do Warszawy z wałówką od mamy: pierogi, bigos i słoik ogórków.
I'm going back to Warsaw with a food parcel from Mum: pierogi, bigos and a jar of pickles.
Food packed for a journey or for work — and the bag of home cooking brought back from a weekend at your parents'. Słoiki, the jars, is the nickname for people who moved to a big city and return from home laden with it.
gość w dom, Bóg w dom
phrase · proverb
- EN
- a guest in the house is God in the house
- RU
- гость в дом — Бог в дом
Wchodźcie, gość w dom, Bóg w dom!
Come in — a guest in the house is God in the house!
An old proverb of hospitality, and Russian has it too — Dal recorded гость в дом, а Бог в доме. An ideal rather than a guarantee, but still said at the door.
Drill these ten · earlier morning · later morning
Drill these ten