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71mornings · 710 words

Coming up

Every batch is written and dated in advance — that is what lets the morning email hold no state and need no credentials. Which also means it can all be read now. The last one is dated 1 January 2027.

23 October 2026Pociąg do cierpliwości

Travelling by PKP, from the booking screen to the field where the train has stopped. The announcements, the carriages and the bus that is not a train.

  1. zastępcza komunikacja autobusowarail replacement bus serviceавтобусы вместо поездов
  2. opóźnienie może ulec zmianiethe delay may changeвремя задержки может измениться
  3. stać w poluto be stuck in the middle of nowhere (of a train)стоять в чистом поле
  4. miejscówkaa seat reservation; (slang) a spot, a hangoutбронь на место; (разг.) местечко, место для встреч
  5. przedziała (train) compartmentкупе
  6. kuszetkaa couchette berth; a couchette carлежачее место в поезде; вагон с такими местами
  7. strefa ciszya quiet zone (in a train)зона тишины (в вагоне)
  8. skomunikowaniea coordinated connection between servicesстыковка рейсов, согласованная пересадка
  9. relacjaa route (of a train); an account, a report; a relationshipмаршрут (поезда); репортаж; отношения
  10. być w plecyto be behind; to be out of pocketотставать; быть в минусе
Read the ten notes
zastępcza komunikacja autobusowa
Often shortened to ZKA, said zet-ka-a: buses replace trains on part of the route. Check where the replacement bus actually stops — it is rarely at the station door.
opóźnienie może ulec zmianie
A familiar line in Polish station announcements. Ulec zmianie is formal Polish for 'to change' — and it never promises a change for the better.
stać w polu
Literally 'to stand in a field'. Travellers use it for any train stuck between stations: stoimy w polu, będę później.
miejscówka
On the train it is your reserved seat. Off it, a miejscówka is a good spot — a bar, a view, a place to park. Fajna miejscówka!
przedział
Russian borrowed купе from French; Polish built przedział from dzielić, to divide. The open-plan carriage is a wagon bezprzedziałowy, the no-compartment one.
kuszetka
From French couchette — the berth or the carriage it is in. Cheaper and less comfortable than a wagon sypialny, and the classic overnight route to the mountains or the sea.
strefa ciszy
Intercity trains mark seats as a strefa ciszy: no calls, no loud films. Knowing the phrase lets you ask someone to be quiet politely, which in Polish takes a pan and a może.
skomunikowanie
A timetable designed so you can change trains or catch a bus. It does not mean the connection will wait for ever if your first train is late — the word promises a plan, not patience.
relacja
The word in every announcement: pociąg relacji A – B is the train running from A to B. Elsewhere relacja is a report — relacja na żywo, a live feed — or a relationship. Russian реляция is a formal or historical report; for a train's route, Russian says маршрут.
być w plecy
Literally 'to be in the back'. Trains are minutes w plecy; after a bad deal you are sto złotych w plecy. One phrase for both kinds of loss.

24 October 2026Paragon i reklamacja

Your rights at the till: the offer, the small print and the complaint. The shop says gwarancja; since 2023 your claim against the seller has a different name.

  1. promocjaspecial offer, promotionакция, скидка
  2. drobny drukthe small printмелкий шрифт
  3. przecenamarkdown, price reductionуценка
  4. wyprzedażsale, clearanceраспродажа
  5. na ratyin instalmentsв рассрочку, в кредит
  6. zwrotreturn (of goods); refundвозврат
  7. odstąpić od umowyto withdraw from a contract, to cancel a purchaseотказаться от договора
  8. reklamacjacomplaint (about goods or a service), claimпретензия, рекламация
  9. gwarancjaguarantee, warrantyгарантия
  10. niezgodność towaru z umowąnon-conformity of goods with the contractнесоответствие товара договору
Read the ten notes
promocja
W promocji is 'on offer', the RU по акции; a Polish akcja is a share, a campaign or a police raid. The Lidl and Biedronka gazetka is a weekly promocja list, and Poles read it like a newspaper.
drobny druk
Literally 'small print', exactly as in English and Russian. The place where a promocja keeps its conditions, and the one part of a contract always worth a second read.
przecena
RU уценка shares the idea but carries damaged goods; a Polish przecena is just last season. Przeceniony on the tag, and the verb przecenić also means to overrate someone — the other prze-.
wyprzedaż
Feminine despite the -ż, like sprzedaż. Wyprzedaż letnia, zimowa, końcówka kolekcji; totalna wyprzedaż is the closing-down. A sale price never cancels your right to reklamacja, whatever the sign says.
na raty
Rata is one instalment, raty the plan; raty 0 procent is the shop's credit with a bank behind it — an umowa kredytu, your PESEL and a BIK record. RU рассрочка is a shop scheme; here it is always a loan.
zwrot
In a physical shop there is no legal right to return what works: zwrot is the shop's goodwill, printed on the paragon or not. Online it is the law, 14 days. Also a refund: zwrot pieniędzy, zwrot podatku.
odstąpić od umowy
The legal name of the online return: 14 days from delivery, no reason needed, refund within another 14. The same words end a phone contract or a course signed at the door. Odstąpić alone is to step away.
reklamacja
RU рекламация is a word for lawyers; here złożyć reklamację is what everyone does at the counter, and the shop has 14 days to answer or the claim counts as accepted. Nothing to do with reklama, advertising.
gwarancja
Gwarancja is the maker's or seller's voluntary promise, on its own terms. Your statutory claim against the seller is separate — since 2023, niezgodność towaru z umową — and a shop cannot send you to the producer instead.
niezgodność towaru z umową
For consumer goods bought since 1 January 2023, this is the legal basis for a complaint to the seller, who generally answers for defects revealed within two years of delivery. Rękojmia still applies elsewhere, for example when buying property.

25 October 2026Jeszcze pięć minut

Sleep, and the people who do it at the wrong time. The early bird, the night owl who is really a ghost, and two people in one bed like a playing card.

  1. śpiocha sleepyheadсоня
  2. ranny ptaszekan early birdжаворонок
  3. nocny mareka night owlсова (о человеке)
  4. zaspaćto oversleepпроспать
  5. uciąć sobie drzemkęto have a nap, to grab forty winksвздремнуть
  6. przysnąćto doze off, to nod offзадремать
  7. nie zmrużyć okanot to sleep a winkглаз не сомкнуть
  8. lunatykowaćto sleepwalkходить во сне, быть лунатиком
  9. iść w kimęto hit the sack, to crash outидти спать, на боковую
  10. spać na waletato sleep top-to-tail (two people, heads at opposite ends)спать валетом
Read the ten notes
śpioch
From spać. Affectionate, and most often heard as wstawaj, śpiochu! — though you can own it: jestem śpiochem. Śpiochy, in the plural, are also a baby's sleepsuit.
ranny ptaszek
Ranny here means 'morning', as in ranna zmiana, the morning shift — not 'wounded'. Russian names a species, the lark; Polish just says 'a little morning bird'.
nocny marek
Marek here is not the man's name but an old word for a restless ghost, which is why it takes a small m. Russian has a сова; Polish has a nocturnal apparition.
zaspać
Zaspać is to wake too late: zaspałem do pracy. Przespać is to sleep through: przespałem cały film. Russian проспать covers both, so Polish makes you choose.
uciąć sobie drzemkę
Literally 'to cut yourself a nap', as you would a slice of bread. Drzemka alone is the nap; on a phone it is the snooze button.
przysnąć
To fall asleep briefly, usually without meaning to — in a lecture, on the tram, at the wheel. Zasnąć is simply to fall asleep, however long it lasts.
nie zmrużyć oka
Zmrużyć is to narrow the eyes; nie zmrużyć oka is not to sleep at all — Russian глаз не сомкнуть. Note the genitive oka after the negation.
lunatykować
From lunatyk, a sleepwalker, ultimately Latin lunaticus, from luna, the moon. Russian лунатик is the same word and the same sleepwalker; English lunatic went a different way.
iść w kimę
Kima is slang for sleep, and kimać is to kip. Casual company only. Russian кемарить is a relative from the same old slang.
spać na waleta
Like the jack on a playing card, with a head at each end. Russian спит валетом exactly — the same card, the same camping trip, the same feet in your face.

26 October 2026Janusz i Grażyna

The Polish internet built its own cast of characters out of first names, a monkey and a vegetable. Ten words the memes made famous, with a note on who still says each one.

  1. januszthe stereotypical Polish everyman (derogatory)поляк-жлоб (стереотип)
  2. grażynathe stereotypical Polish middle-aged womanтётка (стереотип)
  3. dresiarza tracksuit-wearing yob (derogatory stereotype)гопник
  4. karynathe loud, brash girl from the block (derogatory stereotype)подруга гопника (стереотип)
  5. madkathe entitled online motherяжемать
  6. nosaczproboscis monkey; the Polish everyman as a memeносач (мем)
  7. cebulaka stingy, small-minded Pole (derogatory stereotype)жмот (о поляке)
  8. dzbana jug; an idiotкувшин; тупица
  9. przegrywa loser; (as an identity) a life of losingлузер; провал
  10. żenuacringe, embarrassmentстыдоба, испанский стыд
Read the ten notes
janusz
A first name turned common noun on the internet in the 2010s: middle-aged, stingy, moustache, always right. Janusz biznesu is the boss who pays late. A put-down, however funny; no Janusz likes it.
grażyna
Janusz's wife: the perm, co ludzie powiedzą, and advice you did not ask for. Both names peaked around 2016 and are now slightly dated themselves — used with a wink, not as fresh slang.
dresiarz
From dres, the tracksuit — RU гопник to the life. The word is older than the memes; the internet added seba, from Sebastian, as his nickname, and karyna as his girlfriend.
karyna
Karina respelled with a y, which is the whole joke: long nails, a spray tan, a scene outside Żabka, usually with a seba, the tracksuited lad. Firmly 2010s internet; still understood, no longer fresh.
madka
Matka misspelled on purpose, the way she types it. RU яжемать is the exact same creature. Her child is a bombelek, from bąbelek, spelled as she would. Facebook groups, since about 2017.
nosacz
Nosacz sundajski, the proboscis monkey of Borneo, big nose and paunch, became the face of janusz on the Polish internet around 2016. The word itself is old zoology; the meme made it famous.
cebulak
From cebula, the onion: a derogatory caricature of stinginess, opportunism and small-mindedness. Poles use it self-mockingly, but aimed at someone else it offends — from a foreigner, doubly so.
dzban
Youth Word of the Year 2018 in the PWN plebiscite. A jug: hollow, thick-walled, all handle. The word is old; the insult is new. The vocative dzbanie is how it is actually used.
przegryw
From przegrywać, to lose. Online it names both the person and a whole self-deprecating identity; the opposite wygryw followed. Used both as a self-deprecating label and as an insult aimed at others.
żenua
Żenada, the everyday word for an embarrassing situation, respelled as if French. Indeclinable, ironic, internet-born; teenagers have since moved on to krindż, which is English in a wig.

27 October 2026Urwanie głowy

Tiredness, overload and rest. The words for a week that went wrong, from the mill you are in to finally breathing out.

  1. nawała flood, a pile (of work)завал, наплыв
  2. urwanie głowya mad rush, chaosдурдом, голова кругом
  3. mieć młynto be swamped, to have a crazy timeзапара, дурдом
  4. nie mam siłyI have no strength left, I'm worn outнет сил
  5. wykończonyworn out, exhaustedизмотанный, вымотанный
  6. mieć dośćto have had enough, to be fed upхватит; надоело
  7. wypalenieburnoutвыгорание
  8. zarwać nocto pull an all-nighterне спать всю ночь
  9. wyspać sięto get enough sleepвыспаться
  10. odetchnąćto breathe out, to get a breatherвыдохнуть, передохнуть
Read the ten notes
nawał
Genitive after it: nawał pracy, nawał obowiązków, nawał spraw. RU навалом is 'loads' and cheerful; Polish nawał is only ever the thing that buries you. Nawalić, the verb, is to screw something up.
urwanie głowy
Literally 'a tearing-off of the head': a period when everything happens at once. Mieć urwanie głowy is to be run off your feet, and it describes a workload, never a person's mood.
mieć młyn
Młyn is a mill — the constant grinding. Also the pile-up in a rugby scrum and a mosh pit at a concert. Russian запара covers the same week.
nie mam siły
Singular where RU нет сил is plural: siły is the genitive of siła. Na + accusative names the thing you cannot face. Nie mam do niego siły is 'I can't deal with him', said with a sigh.
wykończony
From wykończyć, to finish off. Wykończenie is the finishing of a flat, and the same word describes what a week did to you. Padnięty, from paść, says it with a body on the floor.
mieć dość
Dość alone is 'enough' or 'fairly': dość dobry. Mam dość + genitive is fed up, and mam wszystkiego dość is the full stop on a bad week. RU надоело makes the thing the subject; here it is genitive.
wypalenie
Wypalenie zawodowe is the full term, and it appears on sick notes. The verb wypalić is to burn out, but also to fire a shot and, colloquially, to come off: coś wypaliło means it worked. Wypalony is the adjective.
zarwać noc
Literally to tear a night, as you tear a sleeve; RU needs a whole clause. Zarwać nockę is the same with a diminutive, said with more pride than regret.
wyspać się
Identical to RU выспаться, down to the prefix. So take the adjective instead: niewyspany is under-slept, the standard state of the country on a Monday, and it says so without complaining.
odetchnąć
The verb for the end of the pressure. Odetchnąć z ulgą is to breathe a sigh of relief — ulga from the joy batch — and odetchnąć od czegoś is to get a break from it, genitive after od.

28 October 2026Duże słowa

The other end of zdrobnienia. Endings that make a noun bigger, uglier or oddly tender — a dog becomes psisko, a hand becomes łapsko, and the weather gets a -isko of its own.

  1. psiskoa big dog; a dog spoken of fondly or crosslyпсина, собачища
  2. chłopiskoa big fellow, a hulk of a manмужичище, детина
  3. babskoa woman spoken of with contempt, a harridanбабища
  4. domiskoa huge house, a monster of a houseдомина, домище
  5. łapskoa big paw, a mitt (rude word for a hand)лапища, грабли
  6. cielskoa huge body, a bulkтуша, тушища
  7. nochala big nose, a conkшнобель, носяра
  8. buciora big clumpy bootбашмачище, сапожище
  9. ptaszyskoa big (ugly) birdптица-громадина, птичища
  10. brzuszyskoa huge belly, a paunchбрюхо, пузо
Read the ten notes
psisko
Pies with -isko, the main augmentative ending. It can mean big, but also dear, pitiful or annoying — to moje kochane psisko is about love, not size.
chłopisko
Chłop grown bigger. Both ten chłopisko and to chłopisko are correct, and dobre chłopisko is warm praise — a big man with a big heart.
babsko
The same ending as psisko, but here it only insults. Baba is already rude-ish; babsko is worse — a good lesson in how the augmentative leans towards contempt.
domisko
Dom with -isko: a large, imposing house, often with an eyebrow raised at the owners. Russian домище is a close match; the tone decides whether it is envy or scorn.
łapsko
From łapa, a paw — itself a rude or playful word for a hand. Łapsko makes it bigger and grabbier. Zabierz te łapska! is 'keep your mitts off!'
cielsko
From ciało, body. Used of animals and, rudely, of people who take up more than their share of the sofa.
nochal
From nos, with the stem changed to noch-. Teasing or insulting depending on who says it. Russian шнобель is the close slang match.
bucior
But, a shoe, grown with -ior and a stem change: but becomes bucior. The plural buciory suggests heavy, clumsy, usually muddy footwear.
ptaszysko
Ptak grown into an augmentative with -ysko; the stem ptasz- goes back to the older form ptach. Ptaszek is the diminutive; ptaszysko is the one you shoo off the balcony.
brzuszysko
Brzuch becomes brzuszysko with the -ysko suffix and the stem change ch to sz. Brzuszek is the diminutive; brzuszysko is a conspicuously large belly.

29 October 2026Ja się już zmywam

Leaving without making a speech of it. Polish washes itself away, wraps itself up and sometimes evaporates — and leaves the English way, just as Russian does.

  1. zmywać sięto take off, to make yourself scarceсмываться, сваливать
  2. zawijać sięto head off, to get goingсворачиваться, собираться уходить
  3. ewakuować sięto get out, to beat a retreat (jokingly)эвакуироваться, сваливать (в шутку)
  4. wyjść po angielskuto leave without saying goodbyeуйти по-английски
  5. ulotnić sięto vanish, to melt awayулетучиться, испариться
  6. dać nogęto leg it, to make a run for itдать дёру, смыться
  7. zwiaćto run off, to escapeудрать, свалить
  8. urwać sięto sneak off, to get away (from work, a meeting)вырваться, улизнуть
  9. wymiksować sięto back out, to wriggle out (of a plan)соскочить, слиться
  10. wagarytruancy, skipping schoolпрогул (уроков)
Read the ten notes
zmywać się
The same washing-away image as Russian смываться. The perfective is zmyć się: zmył się — he left; zaraz się zmyję — I'll be off in a minute.
zawijać się
Literally 'to wrap yourself up', colloquially 'to leave'. Zawijam się — I'm off; zawijamy się? — shall we go?
ewakuować się
The emergency word used for the smallest escape — from a party, a conversation, an awkward topic. Ewakuuję się is funnier than wychodzę, and everyone understands why you are going.
wyjść po angielsku
Poles and Russians blame the English; the English blame the French — French leave. Everyone agrees it is somebody else's habit.
ulotnić się
Literally of a gas dispersing into the air; figuratively, of someone disappearing discreetly — Russian улетучиться exactly. Accusing, amused or neutral, depending on who is left with the washing-up.
dać nogę
Literally 'to give a leg'. Russian gives дёру; Polish gives a leg. Used of criminals, cats and colleagues avoiding a meeting.
zwiać
From wiać, to blow — the wind carried him off. Wiejemy! is 'let's scram!'. The imperfective zwiewać is the running; zwiał is the empty space left behind.
urwać się
Literally 'to tear yourself off', like a button. Also used of a phone call that cuts out — połączenie się urwało — and, as in urwany film, of memory.
wymiksować się
An informal way to back out of something already agreed: wymiksować się z planów. Russian соскочить or слиться fit most of its uses.
wagary
Iść na wagary is to skip school. In Poland, 21 March — the first day of calendar spring — is informally Dzień Wagarowicza, truants' day; many schools now plan outings so fewer pupils need to vanish.

30 October 2026Blok

The housing block, from the entrance to the top floor — the prefab slabs, the rubbish chute, the landing between floors and the ground floor that is not quite on the ground.

  1. wielka płytalarge-panel prefab housingпанелька, панельный дом
  2. klatkastairwell, entrance (of a block); cage; frameподъезд; клетка
  3. zsypa rubbish chuteмусоропровод
  4. piwnicacellar, basement; storage cageподвал; кладовка в подвале
  5. śmietnikbin shelter, rubbish area; rubbish binмусорка, помойка
  6. lokatorresident, tenant, occupantжилец, квартиросъёмщик
  7. administracjabuilding management, the management officeуправляющая компания, ЖЭК
  8. spółdzielniacooperative; housing cooperativeкооператив (жилищный)
  9. wysoki partera raised ground floorвысокий первый этаж
  10. półpiętroa half-landing (between floors)лестничная площадка между этажами
Read the ten notes
wielka płyta
The 'big slab': concrete panels assembled on site above all in the mass housing programmes of the 1960s to 1980s. Russian says панелька; Polish names the slab. Still home to millions, and back in fashion with some architects.
klatka
Short for klatka schodowa, the stairwell — RU подъезд. Addresses write it kl. 2, and a courier asks która klatka? It still means a cage, and a film frame: klatka na sekundę.
zsyp
From zsypać, to pour down. A rubbish chute serving several floors, found mostly in older high-rise blocks. Many have been sealed; some still work. Russian: мусоропровод.
piwnica
Every flat comes with one: a numbered cage in the basement, komórka lokatorska on the contract. RU подвал is the same space, RU погреб a root cellar. Ask for it when viewing; it is listed separately and often forgotten.
śmietnik
The shelter (altana śmietnikowa) holds five bins, and segregacja is law: papier blue, szkło green, metale i tworzywa yellow, bio brown, zmieszane black. Mixing costs the whole block a higher fee.
lokator
RU локатор is a radar. Lokator is whoever lives in the flat, owner or not; najemca is the one on the lease. Sublokator is a lodger, and lokatorski on a sign means 'residents only'.
administracja
The office that runs the block for the spółdzielnia or wspólnota: opłaty, repairs, the notice on the door. Administrator is the person; the RU ЖЭК is gone, but this is its heir, and it keeps office hours.
spółdzielnia
The PRL structure that still owns much of Poland's housing. Its flats sell as spółdzielcze własnościowe prawo do lokalu — a right, not full ownership — and the czynsz goes to it, not to a wspólnota. Ask which a listing is.
wysoki parter
A ground floor raised above street level, often over a basement. Listings stress it for privacy — a plain parter has passers-by at your window — though the actual height varies.
półpiętro
Pół plus piętro: the landing where the stairs turn, halfway up. Remember piętro counts from the first floor above the parter — pierwsze piętro is Russian второй этаж.

31 October 2026Obiad miał potencjał

Diagnosing a meal that went wrong without saying niedobre ten times. Stale, rancid, soggy and stringy — plus a reheated cutlet that can also mean recycled news.

  1. czerstwystale (of bread); corny (of a joke)чёрствый (о хлебе); плоский, затёртый (о шутке)
  2. zjełczałyrancid (of fat, oil, nuts)прогорклый
  3. brejaslop, mush, sludgeбурда, каша-размазня
  4. zakaleca dense, underbaked layer in a cake; figuratively, a dudнепропечённый слой (в выпечке); провал
  5. rozgotowanyovercooked, cooked to mushразваренный
  6. przypalonyburnt (of food)подгоревший
  7. mdłybland, insipid; sickly, nauseatingпресный, безвкусный; тошнотворный, приторный
  8. łykowatytough, stringy (of meat)жилистый, жёсткий (о мясе)
  9. odgrzewany kotletold news, a rehash (literally 'a reheated cutlet')старьё, перепев старого
  10. niebo w gębieheavenly, absolutely deliciousобъедение, райское наслаждение
Read the ten notes
czerstwy
Like Russian чёрствый for bread — but not for a hard-hearted person, who is nieczuły. Czerstwy żart is a corny joke, and czerstwy staruszek, surprisingly, a hale old man.
zjełczały
Only for fats: butter, oil, nuts, crisps. Milk goes kwaśne, meat goes nieświeże, and fat goes zjełczałe. One of the harder words to pronounce with a full mouth.
breja
Anything that should have had a shape and lost it: overcooked porridge, melted snow on the pavement, a plot with no structure. Russian бурда covers the food; Polish breja covers the weather too.
zakalec
Every Polish baker's nightmare: the dense, wet streak where the cake did not rise. Also figurative — a film or a project can be a zakalec.
rozgotowany
Roz- here means 'apart': cooked until soft enough to fall apart. With pasta, it is the opposite of al dente.
przypalony
Przy- suggests catching or scorching; spalony is stronger. In football, spalony is also offside — the one burnt thing nobody eats.
mdły
Mdły covers bland food and a sickly taste or smell alike. Mdli mnie is 'I feel queasy' — where the word leads if you keep eating.
łykowaty
From łyko, bast — the fibrous inner bark once used for shoes and rope. A steak compared to tree bark tells the chef everything.
odgrzewany kotlet
Literally a reheated cutlet; figuratively, a joke, story or scandal served up again as if it were new.
niebo w gębie
Literally 'heaven in the gob' — gęba is the rude word for mouth, which is what makes the praise sound sincere. The happy ending of this batch.

1 November 2026Na bogato

Showing off, Polish style: lavish spending, flashy gadgets and affected manners mocked with two nasal letters. Ten expressions for going all out — and judging the results.

  1. na bogatolavishly, over the top, all outс размахом, по-богатому
  2. szpanshowing off, swankпонты
  3. lansować sięto promote yourself, to seek attentionпиариться, светиться, привлекать внимание
  4. bajera gadget, a flashy extra; smooth talkфишка, прибамбас; лапша на уши
  5. odpicowanyspruced up, dolled up, tricked outразодетый, при параде; начищенный до блеска
  6. wystrzałowystunning, eye-catching, knockoutсногсшибательный
  7. gadżeciarza gadget freakгаджетоман
  8. ą ęposh, la-di-da, affectedманерный, жеманный, с претензией
  9. pokazówkaa show, a display put on for appearancesпоказуха
  10. blichtrglitz, tinsel, empty glamourмишура, показной блеск
Read the ten notes
na bogato
Lavishly, with every extra. Admiring, playful or ironic, depending on who is describing whose wedding. The opposite is po taniości, on the cheap.
szpan
Close to Russian понты: showing off to impress. Szpanować is the verb, szpaner the person, and dla szpanu — for the swank — the motive.
lansować się
From French lancer, to launch: lansować is to promote a product or popularise a fashion. With się you promote yourself. The noun lans is the whole scene of being seen.
bajer
Bajery are the bells and whistles — z bajerami, fully loaded. Bajer is also smooth, exaggerated talk: bajerować kogoś is to sweet-talk someone.
odpicowany
People, cars and buildings can all be odpicowane: dressed up, polished or done up to impress. Odpicować się is to get dolled up.
wystrzałowy
From wystrzał, a gunshot: something that goes off with a bang. Used approvingly of outfits, people, parties and ideas — a rare compliment in this batch.
gadżeciarz
Gadżet plus -iarz, the suffix of people with a habit. The natural buyer of every bajer; the feminine gadżeciara exists but is rarer.
ą ę
Also ą i ę: a mocking label for pretentious manners, named after the nasal vowels that careful speakers pronounce with conspicuous care. The label is about the attitude as much as the accent.
pokazówka
Close to Russian показуха: an action staged to impress an audience rather than to change anything. It can also mean a demonstration or exhibition event, without the sneer.
blichtr
A bookish, disapproving word for glamour with nothing behind it. Works in conversation too, when you want to sound as unimpressed as possible.

2 November 2026Apartament z aneksem

Reading between the lines of Polish property listings: small flats sold as apartamenty, kitchens sharing the living room, and a pointed word for bad development.

  1. patodeweloperkadevelopers' abuses: cramped, badly planned new buildsуродливая застройка ради прибыли
  2. apartamenta luxury flat; in adverts, often any flatроскошная квартира; в рекламе — часто обычная
  3. kawalerkaa small one-room flatоднушка, квартира-студия
  4. aneks kuchennya kitchenette, an open kitchen areaкухня-ниша, кухонный уголок
  5. ślepa kuchniaa windowless kitchenкухня без окна
  6. pokój przechodnia walk-through roomпроходная комната
  7. stan deweloperskian unfinished interior, ready for finishingпод чистовую отделку
  8. czynsz administracyjnya service charge (paid to the building management)плата за содержание дома, коммуналка
  9. komórka lokatorskaa storage unit (for a flat's resident)кладовка, кладовое помещение
  10. odstępnea payment for giving up rights; in rental ads, also rent to the landlordотступные; в объявлениях об аренде — также плата собственнику
Read the ten notes
patodeweloperka
Pato-, from patologia, plus deweloperka, property development. The label for building that puts profit ahead of residents: cramped layouts, poor light, and parks that exist only in the brochure.
apartament
Traditionally a spacious, luxurious flat. Property adverts use apartament for small, ordinary ones too, so the label guarantees little. Mieszkanie is the neutral word.
kawalerka
From kawaler, a bachelor — the flat for one. Its newer, smaller sibling is the mikrokawalerka, sometimes under 15 square metres.
aneks kuchenny
A cooking area built into another room, usually the living room. In listings, salon z aneksem means the sofa and the hob share one space.
ślepa kuchnia
Literally a 'blind kitchen': one without a window. Ślepa uliczka is a dead-end street — the same blindness, outdoors.
pokój przechodni
Exactly Russian проходная комната: you pass through it to reach another room. Check the doors on the floor plan before agreeing to share the flat.
stan deweloperski
Usually plastered walls, floor screed and installed services — but no flooring, kitchen or bathroom fittings. The exact list is in the contract, and the rest is your budget.
czynsz administracyjny
The trap in every rental ad: czynsz alone may mean the landlord's rent or this second payment to the wspólnota or spółdzielnia. Always ask czy czynsz jest wliczony? — is the service charge included?
komórka lokatorska
Komórka is a small room — and a mobile phone, and a cell. In new builds the komórka lokatorska is often sold separately, like the parking space — check whether the price includes it.
odstępne
Context matters: odstępne can be a takeover fee for premises, or simply the landlord's share of the rent in an ad. In contract law, it is also an agreed price for withdrawing from a deal.

3 November 2026Sezon grzewczy

The first cold week in a Polish flat: asking about the heating without drowning anyone, the gurgling radiator, the box that splits the bill — and the flatmate who is always cold.

  1. ogrzewanieheatingотопление
  2. odpowietrzyćto bleed (a radiator), to let the air outспустить воздух (из батареи)
  3. podzielnikheat cost allocator (the box on a radiator)распределитель тепла (на батарее)
  4. uchylićto open slightly, to set ajar; to overturn (a ruling)приоткрыть; отменить (решение)
  5. przeciągdraughtсквозняк
  6. termoforhot-water bottleгрелка
  7. farelkafan heaterтепловентилятор
  8. zmarzluchsomeone who always feels the coldмерзляк
  9. zimno jak w psiarnifreezing cold (indoors)холодина, собачий холод
  10. ani ziębi, ani grzejeto leave someone indifferent, to make no difference to someoneни жарко ни холодно
Read the ten notes
ogrzewanie
RU asks уже топят? — but Polish topić drowns or melts things. Ask kiedy włączą ogrzewanie? On the bill it shrinks to c.o., centralne ogrzewanie.
odpowietrzyć
Od- takes away, powietrze is air. A radiator that gurgles and stays half cold gets a small key in its valve until the air hisses out and water follows. RU says спустить воздух.
podzielnik
The small box on each radiator in many blocks. Not a real meter: it estimates, and splits the building's heating bill between flats — so a neighbour who keeps his radiators off warms up through your walls for free.
uchylić
An uchylone okno is open a crack or tipped on its tilt hinge. The same verb overturns rulings — sąd uchylił wyrok — and uchylać się od is to dodge a duty, from taxes to the army.
przeciąg
RU сквозняк. W przeciągu tygodnia, 'within a week', is heard everywhere, but purists want w ciągu: w przeciągu, they say, all you can catch is a cold.
termofor
RU грелка. Polish grzałka sounds like it but is a heating element: the coil in a kettle, or the immersion heater RU calls кипятильник. Not one to take to bed.
farelka
Named after Farel, the firm that made fan heaters: a brand turned noun, like RU ксерокс or Polish adidasy for any trainers. The box in the shop says termowentylator.
zmarzluch
Exactly RU мерзляк; zmarzlak is the same person. Every flat-share has one: two jumpers, a termofor, and a hand on the radiator dial.
zimno jak w psiarni
Literally 'cold as in a kennel'. RU собачий холод keeps the dog; Polish moves you into its house. Psiarnia on its own is also a sneering slang word for the police.
ani ziębi, ani grzeje
The picture of RU мне ни жарко ни холодно, and the order is free: ani grzeje, ani ziębi works too. The hotter variant, ani ziębi, ani parzy, turns warming into scalding.

4 November 2026Proszę czekać na połączenie

Forty minutes on a Polish helpline, from the 800 number to the dropped call. The konsultant is not an operator, the hash key is a little cross, and a call where nobody speaks shares its name with a children's game.

  1. infoliniacustomer helpline, hotlineгорячая линия
  2. połączeniecall; connectionзвонок; соединение
  3. oczekiwaniewaiting, wait; expectationожидание
  4. nagrywaćto record (sound or video)записывать (звук, видео)
  5. krzyżykhash key; small cross; sharp (in music)решётка (клавиша); крестик; диез
  6. PESELPolish personal identification numberличный номер
  7. konsultantcustomer service agent, adviserоператор (колл-центра)
  8. abonamentsubscription, monthly planтариф, абонентская плата
  9. rozłączyćto disconnect, to cut off (a call)разъединить, прервать звонок
  10. głuchy telefonsilent call; Chinese whispersнемой звонок; испорченный телефон
Read the ten notes
infolinia
RU горячая линия. Polish has a gorąca linia too, but it is for emergencies and heads of state. You dzwonisz na infolinię — na, as with na policję — and an 800 in front means the call is free.
połączenie
The formal word for a call. Nieodebrane połączenie is a missed call — literally one nobody picked up. In speech it is telefon: miałem telefon od szefa. A train connection is a połączenie too.
oczekiwanie
Czekanie in a suit: announcements and official letters oczekują, people czekają. Like RU ожидание it is also expectation, and oczekiwania, plural, are what the hold music is busy lowering.
nagrywać
RU записывать does both jobs; Polish splits them. Zapisać is on paper or to disk, nagrać is sound and video. Voicemail says nagraj wiadomość po sygnale — record a message after the tone.
krzyżyk
Krzyżyk, a little cross, is what people call the hash key; kratka, its other name, matches RU решётка. In age a krzyżyk is ten years: mam na karku czwarty krzyżyk means being in your forties. In music it is a sharp.
PESEL
Often asked for before your name. The first six digits are your date of birth, and the tenth is even for women and odd for men: the konsultant knows your age and sex before you say hello.
konsultant
RU оператор is whoever answers; Polish operator is the network itself — Play, Orange — or else a surgeon or a cameraman. The voice on the line is a konsultant, and you are waiting for the first free one.
abonament
RU абонемент is a pass, and for the pool Polish usually says karnet. Abonament is what you pay monthly — phone, internet, TV. Abonent is you, and abonent czasowo niedostępny is RU word for word.
rozłączyć
Rozłączyło mnie: the impersonal -ło, no subject. RU нас разъединили at least blames a 'they'; Polish blames nobody at all. Rozłączyć się is hanging up yourself.
głuchy telefon
A call where nobody speaks — a fault on the line, or someone who wants you to know they can ring. Also the children's game: RU испорченный телефон breaks the phone, Polish only makes it deaf.

5 November 2026Decyzja w toku

A residence-card file from the first visit to the appeal: the words on the forms and the letters that arrive in the post, including the paragraph everyone skips.

  1. karta pobyturesidence cardкарта побыту (разг.); ВНЖ
  2. stempelstamp (in a passport)штамп, печать
  3. znak sprawycase reference numberномер дела
  4. wojewodavoivode, the government's regional representativeвоевода (глава воеводства)
  5. stawić sięto appear in person, to reportявиться
  6. braki formalneformal defects, missing documentsформальные недочёты
  7. w tokupending, in progressв процессе, на рассмотрении
  8. rozpatrzyćto consider, to decide on (a case)рассмотреть
  9. pouczenienotice of rights and appeal procedureразъяснение прав
  10. odwołanieappeal (against a decision); cancellationапелляция; отмена
Read the ten notes
karta pobytu
The plastic card is only the proof; the permit itself is the decision, zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy. In conversation it shortens to karta.
stempel
The mark the urząd wojewódzki puts in your passport once the file is complete: proof your stay is legal while the case drags on. It does not let you travel out and back into Schengen, which is the trap.
znak sprawy
The string of letters and slashes at the top of every letter from the office. Put it on everything you send back, or your copies join someone else’s file. Znak here is a mark, as in znak drogowy, not a sign.
wojewoda
A medieval title that survived: the government’s representative in the region, not the elected marszałek. Your file sits in the urząd wojewódzki, not at city hall.
stawić się
The verb on every summons: you, in person, on the date given. The imperfective stawiać się is colloquial for putting up resistance — a different mood entirely.
braki formalne
The standard reason for the letter you dread: a missing photo, copy or stamp. It is headed wezwanie do uzupełnienia braków formalnych: an order to fix it by a deadline, not a refusal.
w toku
The office's stamp for 'not decided yet': sprawa w toku, postępowanie w toku. Tok is an old noun, 'course', so it is literally 'in the course of'.
rozpatrzyć
Same root and same job as RU рассмотреть. The outcome is rozpatrzony pozytywnie or negatywnie; the date is another matter.
pouczenie
RU поучение is a sermon. The Polish one is the paragraph at the bottom of every decision saying how and by when to appeal. The part everyone skips and should read first.
odwołanie
Also what happens to a cancelled flight, from odwołać. In a residence case it is usually fourteen days from delivery, filed through the wojewoda; the pouczenie says so.

6 November 2026Paczkomat i kurier

Parcel life in Poland: the box that is not a doughnut, the locker you open by phone, the courier who was not let in, and what to do when it arrives crushed.

  1. paczkaparcel; packпосылка; пачка
  2. wysyłkadispatch, shippingотправка
  3. gabarytsize, bulk (of an item)габарит
  4. skrytkacompartment; hiding placeячейка; тайник
  5. skrzynkaletterbox; inbox; gearboxпочтовый ящик; ящик
  6. zastaćto find (someone) at home; to come uponзастать
  7. upoważnienieauthorisation (to act for someone)доверенность
  8. placówkabranch (of a post, bank); institutionотделение; учреждение
  9. folia bąbelkowabubble wrapпузырчатая плёнка
  10. protokół szkodydamage reportакт о повреждении
Read the ten notes
paczka
Also a pack, as RU пачка: paczka papierosów, paczka chusteczek. Not to be confused with pączek, the doughnut of tłusty czwartek, one nasal vowel away.
wysyłka
The seller's side: wysyłka is the act of sending, przesyłka the item in transit. 'Czas wysyłki' in a shop is when they hand it over, not when you get it.
gabaryt
Same word as RU габарит. Lockers come in sizes A, B and C, and a big item is a paczka gabarytowa. On the street, odpady wielkogabarytowe are the sofas left by the bins.
skrytka
In the InPost app it is 'Otwórz skrytkę'. Elsewhere the same word is a hiding place, skrytka pocztowa is a PO box and skrytka bankowa a safe-deposit box.
skrzynka
The letterbox in the hall, the inbox on the screen (skrzynka mailowa) and the gearbox in the car (skrzynka biegów). Skrytka, one letter away, is the locker. The InPost app opens only one of them.
zastać
Same verb as RU застать. 'Kurier nie zastał adresata' is the stock line of a failed-delivery notice, whether or not anyone rang the bell.
upoważnienie
A short signed authorisation, so someone else can collect your registered letter or parcel at the post office. Without it the awizo stays in the drawer.
placówka
Placówka pocztowa is the official name of a post office branch; any branch, school or embassy can be one. The dictionary's first sense is a diplomatic mission.
folia bąbelkowa
Folia is film or foil, so it also covers cling film (folia spożywcza). Bąbelek is a bubble, as in lemonade, hence 'bubbly foil'.
protokół szkody
The form the courier fills in at your door if the box arrives crushed. Sign for a visibly damaged parcel without one and your claim gets much harder.

7 November 2026Trochę skrócić

In the hairdresser's chair: the understatements everyone opens with (tylko końcówki, trochę skrócić), the words for fringe, parting and grown-out roots, and the hedgehog you request when you give up.

  1. końcówkisplit ends; ends of the hairсекущиеся кончики, кончики волос
  2. podciąćto trim, to take a little off; to clip (wings)подрезать
  3. odświeżyćto freshen up; to refreshосвежить, обновить
  4. o dwa palceby two fingers' widthна два пальца
  5. grzywkafringe, bangsчёлка
  6. przedziałekparting (in the hair)пробор
  7. pasemkahighlights, streaksмелирование, пряди
  8. odrostgrown-out roots (of dyed hair); regrowth; shootотросшие корни; поросль
  9. zapuścićto grow out (hair, beard); to neglect; to put down (roots)отрастить; запустить
  10. na jeżacropped very short (lit. like a hedgehog)под ёжик
Read the ten notes
końcówki
The opening line in the chair. Elsewhere końcówka is a word ending or the closing minutes of a match; for hair it is always plural.
podciąć
Trim, not cut. The same verb clips wings (podciąć skrzydła: crush someone's ambition) and, with żyły, opens veins. RU подрезать also means to cut someone up on the road.
odświeżyć
The customer's classic understatement: tylko odświeżyć. The same verb refreshes a web page (odświeżyć stronę), a memory or a coat of paint.
o dwa palce
The hairdresser's ruler is the hand. To you trochę means a little, to the stylist it can mean ten centimetres, so agree the length in fingers (o dwa palce, o szerokość dłoni).
grzywka
Literally a little mane: diminutive of grzywa. One consonant from grzywna, a fine, so mind the dictation. RU чёлка does the same job.
przedziałek
Diminutive of przedział, the compartment: one word divides trains, the diminutive divides hair. Choose na środku or z boku before the scissors come out.
pasemka
Diminutive of pasmo, a strand. Pasmo alone is a band: a mountain range (pasmo górskie), a radio band, a run of luck (pasmo sukcesów).
odrost
Hairdressers say it in the plural: farbowanie odrostów is a line on every price list. Gardeners use the same word for a shoot growing from a stump.
zapuścić
For hair Russian says отрастить, Polish zapuścić. The RU запустить sense of neglect survives too: zapuścić ogród. Zapuścić korzenie is to settle for good.
na jeża
RU ёжик is the same hedgehog, a rare perfect match. The verb is ostrzyc się, used for dogs and sheep too; na zero, with the maszynka, is shorter still.

8 November 2026Pendolino stoi na szlaku

The railway as announced rather than as taught: what 'pociąg zatrzymany na szlaku' really says, the second number after the platform, and the carriage you should have booked.

  1. konduktortrain ticket inspectorконтролёр в поезде
  2. ulgowyreduced-fare, concessionaryльготный
  3. bezprzedziałowyopen-plan, without compartmentsбескупейный
  4. tyłem do kierunku jazdyfacing backwards, against the direction of travelспиной по ходу движения
  5. odjazddeparture (of a train or bus); something wildотправление; что-то невероятное
  6. tortrack (the rails); track number; circuitпуть; трасса
  7. szlakline section between stations; trailперегон; тропа
  8. trakcjatraction; the overhead-line systemтяга; контактная сеть
  9. rozjazdrailway points, switchстрелка (ж.д.)
  10. wykoleić sięto derail; to go off the railsсойти с рельсов
Read the ten notes
konduktor
RU кондуктор sells tickets on a bus. Polish konduktor checks them on a train, so the job is closer to контролёр. On a bus you will not hear the word.
ulgowy
Ulga is a legal category, not a favour: students, children, pensioners and others have statutory discounts, each with its own document to show. Ask for the right one at the counter.
bezprzedziałowy
In seat selection the choice is przedziałowy (closed compartments, you know przedział) or bezprzedziałowy (open rows). The first is quieter, the second does not trap you with six strangers' knees.
tyłem do kierunku jazdy
A seat preference worth stating at booking, and the usual reason a passenger asks Czy możemy się zamienić? Facing forward is przodem do kierunku jazdy.
odjazd
On boards it is the opposite of przyjazd. The same word means euphoria or something extraordinary, hence odjazdowy, fantastic, and odjechany, out there.
tor
Announcements give both numbers: peron is the platform you stand on, tor the rails beside it. RU платформа and путь differ the same way, so catch the second number. Also tor wyścigowy.
szlak
Pociąg zatrzymany na szlaku means stuck between stations, not at one. RU перегон is the exact term. The same word is a hiking trail: czerwony szlak, szlak turystyczny.
trakcja
The favourite explanation over the station speakers: awaria trakcji, short for sieci trakcyjnej, the overhead wire. In the dictionary trakcja is the kind of traction, elektryczna or spalinowa, closer to RU тяга than the announcement lets on.
rozjazd
Literally a going-apart: the fork where tracks split. Awaria rozjazdu is another standard delay. RU стрелка shares the railway meaning, and also a clock hand and a meeting.
wykoleić się
From kolej, rail. People derail too: wykolejony and wykolejeniec describe someone whose life went off the track, usually into drink or crime.

9 November 2026Wziąść i włanczać

A dinner where everyone corrects everyone: the mistakes Poles make in their own language, and why the PWN language advice line has heard every question twice. Know the right form and know which wrong one will pass in company.

  1. włączaćto switch on; to includeвключать
  2. wziąćto takeвзять
  3. zdjąćto take off; to take downснять
  4. założyćto put on (clothes); to found; to assumeнадеть; основать; допустить
  5. w każdym raziein any case, at any rateво всяком случае
  6. bądź co bądźafter all, all things consideredкак-никак
  7. ilośćquantity, amountколичество
  8. pleonazmpleonasm, redundant phrasingплеоназм
  9. poradnia językowalanguage advice serviceязыковая консультация
  10. dyktandodictation, spelling testдиктант
Read the ten notes
włączać
Heard everywhere as włanczać, which no dictionary has. Written down it marks you out in a second. Same root: włączyć, wyłączyć, dołączyć.
wziąć
Spoken as wziąść, written wziąć; the PWN advice line has a standing question: dlaczego nie wziąść? The irregular forms are wezmę, weź, wziął.
zdjąć
RU снять also photographs and rents a flat; Polish splits it: zdjąć, zrobić zdjęcie, wynająć. Same -jąć family as wziąć: zdejmę, zdejmij, zdjął.
założyć
Poles say ubrać kurtkę constantly. Careful speech: założyć what you put on, ubrać whom you dress (ubrać dziecko, ubrać choinkę). RU надеть/одеть splits the same way and breaks the same way.
w każdym razie
Often said as w każdym bądź razie, a blend with bądź co bądź that keeps coming up in questions to PWN's language advisers. Most people won't notice; one at the table will.
bądź co bądź
The real idiom behind the slip above, literally 'be what may be'. RU как-никак is a good twin; Poles tend to use it with some weight, before a concession.
ilość
Purists keep ilość for things you cannot count (ilość wody) and liczba for things you can (liczba ludzi). Everybody says ilość ludzi anyway; some linguists call the rule artificial.
pleonazm
The name for a favourite error of native speakers: cofnąć się do tyłu, wracać z powrotem, w miesiącu maju, okres czasu. Each is common and each is pencilled in red at school.
poradnia językowa
Poles ask the PWN Poradnia Językowa or the Rada Języka Polskiego about commas and cases as if consulting an oracle. Questions and answers are public, so you can read what everyone got wrong.
dyktando
Polish spelling hides in ó/u, rz/ż and ch/h, which sound identical. Dyktando is the school ritual that drills them, and adults still fail it cheerfully.

10 November 2026Jakoś to będzie

The national shrug in eight sentences: how Poles answer 'how are you', what 'zobaczymy' from a parent means, and the proverbs that forgive a disaster before it happens.

  1. jakoś to będzieit'll work out somehow; we'll muddle throughкак-нибудь обойдётся
  2. nie narzekamI can't complain; I'm doing fineне жалуюсь
  3. jakoś lecigetting by, so-soкое-как, потихоньку
  4. zobaczymywe'll see; probably notпосмотрим
  5. na dniachany day now, within daysна днях (только о будущем)
  6. ułożyć sięto work out, fall into place; to settleсложиться, наладиться
  7. machnąć rękąto give up on, to wave it offмахнуть рукой
  8. na pałęat random, without preparing; any old howнаобум
  9. nie ma tego złegoevery cloud has a silver liningнет худа без добра
  10. jak nie urok, to przemarsz wojskif it isn't one thing it's anotherне одно, так другое
Read the ten notes
jakoś to będzie
Not optimism, rather a refusal to plan: said when there is no plan and no one wants one. The calmer cousin is co ma być, to będzie. RU как-нибудь образуется is its neighbour.
nie narzekam
In Poland this is a good answer, often the best you will get. Complaining is the national pastime, so declining to do it counts as joy.
jakoś leci
A step below nie narzekam: life flies by, somehow, without commentary. The reply to jak leci? is almost always one of these two.
zobaczymy
RU посмотрим matches, down to the parental no. From a landlord or a contractor it is worse: nothing is scheduled, nothing will be.
na dniach
Always future, always vague: whoever says it cannot name the day. RU на днях can also point backwards, Polish never does; for the past say niedawno or parę dni temu.
ułożyć się
Literally to arrange itself: the passive hope behind jakoś to będzie. Also ułożyć sobie życie, to sort your life out, and ułożyć się do snu, to lie down to sleep.
machnąć ręką
Same gesture as RU махнуть рукой: machnąć ręką na coś, to write it off. Machnąć alone is also colloquial for dashing something off (machnąć list).
na pałę
The active partner of jakoś to będzie, the same attitude in action: an exam answered by guessing, a project built the night before. A pałka is also a truncheon, which sets the tone.
nie ma tego złego
Word for word the RU proverb нет худа без добра. Poles usually say the full tail (co by na dobre nie wyszło) and usually to someone who has just lost a job.
jak nie urok, to przemarsz wojsk
Black humour in a line: if the evil eye does not get you, an army will trample your field. Urok is also charm, the same word as in urok miasta. Said when a second disaster arrives.

11 November 2026Rogal i kotylion

11 November: the day Poles pin on a white-and-red ribbon, hang a flag, queue in Poznań for a poppy-seed croissant and find the shops shut. The words of Independence Day, from the partitions to an anthem that is also an Easter cake.

  1. niepodległośćindependenceнезависимость
  2. zaborythe Partitions of Polandразделы Польши
  3. kotylionwhite-and-red ribbon pin; ball favourбело-красная ленточка; бальный бант
  4. biało-czerwonathe Polish flag (lit. the white-and-red)бело-красный флаг
  5. wywiesićto hang out (a flag); to put up (a notice)вывесить
  6. marszmarch; go on, off with youмарш; ступай
  7. mazurekmazurka; Easter cake; the anthemмазурка; пасхальный пирог
  8. wartaguard (duty); also a river and a firmкараул
  9. rogal świętomarcińskiSt Martin's croissant (Poznań poppy-seed pastry)рогалик святого Мартина
  10. zakaz handlutrading ban (shops closed)запрет торговли
Read the ten notes
niepodległość
The word of the day, and the verb is odzyskać, to regain: 11 November 1918 ended 123 years without a state. Literally non-subjection, from podlegać, to be subject to.
zabory
Poland was off the map from 1795 to 1918: zabór rosyjski, pruski, austriacki. Poles still ask which zabór a town belonged to, and it explains local habits.
kotylion
On 11 November lapels carry a white-and-red rosette. PWN's first sense is older: one of two matching favours pinned on ballroom couples, who then danced a kotylion.
biało-czerwona
The flag's nickname. White sits above red, so hang it the wrong way up and it reads as Indonesia's. Flaga is the formal word; biało-czerwona is what people say.
wywiesić
The verb for what a building does on the national days, 3 Maja and 11 listopada; 2 maja is Flag Day. Wywieszka is a notice taped to a door.
marsz
In Warsaw the Marsz Niepodległości, a huge annual march, closes streets and is politically contested. Also an order to a child: Marsz do łóżka!
mazurek
The anthem opens Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła: Poland has not yet perished. Mazurek is also a dance, which Chopin wrote, and a flat Easter cake, so you can sing it and eat it.
warta
At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw the changing of the guard is public theatre on 11 November. Warta is also the river of Poznań, a football club and a big insurer.
rogal świętomarciński
Baked for St Martin’s Day, 11 November: white poppy seed, nuts and almond, an EU-protected name since 2008, hundreds of tonnes sold in a day. Rogal is any crescent roll, named after róg, a horn.
zakaz handlu
11 November is on the list of public holidays when shops must close, like most Sundays (niedziela handlowa is the exception). Petrol stations and pharmacies are exempt.

12 November 2026Klata i zakwasy

A gym morning in Polish: the slang for the pecs and the lifting, the pass nobody uses, why one word covers hair conditioner and protein powder, and the pain that arrives two days later.

  1. siłkagymкачалка, спортзал
  2. karnetmembership pass; ticket bundleабонемент
  3. klatachest (muscles)грудь, грудные мышцы
  4. pakowaćto lift weights, to bulk up; to packкачаться; упаковывать
  5. napakowanymuscle-bound, jacked; crammed fullнакачанный; набитый
  6. odżywkahair conditioner; protein supplement; nutrientкондиционер для волос; спортпит
  7. pod chmurkąoutdoors, in the open airпод открытым небом
  8. wyciskgruelling workout; a beatingнагрузка; взбучка
  9. kontuzjasports injuryспортивная травма
  10. zakwasysore muscles after exercise; sourdough startersкрепатура; закваски
Read the ten notes
siłka
Siłownia is the sign on the door; siłka is what people say, and they go na siłkę. Siła is strength, so it is literally the strength room.
karnet
A prepaid bundle of entries: gym, pool, ski lift (karnet narciarski), a concert season. Gyms sell the most in January. A karnet balowy was a ball's dance card.
klata
Short for klatka piersiowa, the rib cage, and on the gym floor it means the pecs. Not klatka, which is the stairwell you already know.
pakować
PWN labels the gym sense colloquial: training to build mass. Pakować się also means to barge in, pakować się w kłopoty to blunder into trouble.
napakowany
Same verb, finished result. A suitcase or a presentation can be napakowany too (napakowany informacjami). Said of a man it is half praise, half joke about his sleeves.
odżywka
Say which one: odżywka do włosów is a bottle for the shower, odżywka białkowa a tub for the shaker. From odżywić, to nourish.
pod chmurką
Literally under a little cloud: out in the open, from free park gyms to a car left parked overnight or a New Year's Eve party. Chmurka is the diminutive of chmura.
wycisk
PWN glosses it as a severe beating, and a team that thrashes another gives it a wycisk. In training it means a merciless session: dać komuś wycisk.
kontuzja
RU контузия is a concussion from a blast; Polish kontuzja is any sports injury, a torn ligament or a pulled muscle. The injured player is kontuzjowany.
zakwasy
RU закваска is only a ferment; for the pain Russian says крепатура. Polish uses one word for the starter in your barszcz and the stairs you cannot descend. The name blames acid (kwas).

13 November 2026Setka i zagrycha

Vodka at a Polish table, from the first setka to the far end of the evening: who pours, what you chase it with, the one line that makes refusing impossible, and the words for those who stayed too long.

  1. setkashot of vodka (100 ml); a hundredсто грамм, сотка
  2. polaćto pour (a round of drinks); to pour overналить, разлить
  3. zagrychasomething to eat after a shot, chaser foodзакусь, закуска
  4. napić sięto have a drinkвыпить
  5. na rauszutipsy, merryнавеселе, под хмельком
  6. zakrapianyboozy, washed down with alcoholс возлияниями
  7. małpkaminiature bottle of vodka; little monkeyмерзавчик, шкалик
  8. zalać robakato drown one's sorrowsзалить горе
  9. pić do lustrato drink aloneпить в одиночку
  10. pijany w sztokblind drunkпьяный в стельку
Read the ten notes
setka
RU orders сто грамм by weight; Polish setka is a tenth of a litre, PWN says. The same word is a 100-zloty note and the 100-metre sprint.
polać
Nalać is any pouring into a glass; polać, colloquially, is filling the glasses round the table (PWN). Youth slang turned polewka, an old soup, into a laugh at someone's expense.
zagrycha
Built like RU закусь, on zagryzać, to bite after. The neutral word is zakąska; przekąska is a snack between meals, with no vodka implied.
napić się
The line that makes refusing impossible, a cousin of RU ты меня уважаешь? It takes the genitive: napić się wody, wódki. The exit that usually works: prowadzę, I'm driving.
na rauszu
From German Rausch (PWN): the light, cheerful stage, well before anyone needs a taxi. RU навеселе has the same mood; Polish just borrowed it from next door.
zakrapiany
From kropić, to sprinkle: the dinner was 'sprinkled'. Suto zakrapiana is the polite way to put it. A police report calls the same evening a libacja alkoholowa.
małpka
A little monkey, and the 100 ml bottle by the till (PWN: stugramowa buteleczka). The grown-up małpa is the @ sign: jan małpa gmail kropka com.
zalać robaka
Literally 'to flood the worm'. RU floods the grief itself, залить горе. Never a celebration: WSJP defines it as getting drunk to forget your problems.
pić do lustra
Literally 'to drink to the mirror', clinking with the only face left. Drinking in company is social; do lustra is the phrase articles on alcoholism reach for.
pijany w sztok
Sztok lives only in this phrase, from German Stock, a stump (PWN). RU drinks itself into an insole, в стельку; Polish into a tree stump; English simply goes blind.

14 November 2026Kanałowe

In the dentist's chair: the tooth that tears at you all night, the drill only dentists use, a cavity that sounds like a bankruptcy to Russian ears, and what the NFZ will fill for free.

  1. rwaćto throb (of pain); to pull out; to tearдёргать (о боли); рвать
  2. znieczulenieanaesthetic, anaesthesiaобезболивание, анестезия
  3. borowaćto drill (a tooth)сверлить (зуб)
  4. ubytekcavity (in a tooth); loss, decreaseдырка (в зубе); убыль
  5. plombafilling; seal; infill buildingпломба
  6. leczenie kanałoweroot canal treatmentлечение каналов
  7. ósemkawisdom tooth; figure eight; number 8зуб мудрости; восьмёрка
  8. aparatbraces; camera; deviceбрекеты; фотоаппарат
  9. szczękajawчелюсть
  10. zgryzbite (occlusion); worry, dilemmaприкус; головная боль
Read the ten notes
rwać
Rwie mnie ząb is pain in jerks, RU зуб дёргает. Then the dentist rwie the tooth, as RU рвёт зуб. Colloquially, PWN adds, rwać is also to chat someone up.
znieczulenie
Without it is bez znieczulenia, or in speech na żywca. Znieczulica, from the same root, is no drug: it is the callousness of people who walk past someone in trouble.
borować
Mostly the dentist's verb: PWN lists the decayed tooth before any other hole. To hang a shelf, Poles wiercą. RU сверлить does both jobs.
ubytek
RU убыток is a financial loss, which Polish calls strata. Ubytek is a drop or a gap — ubytek wagi, weight loss — and, at the dentist, the hole that decay leaves.
plomba
As RU пломба, the seal included. On the NFZ an adult gets a white one only in front teeth, glass ionomer further back. To an architect a plomba is a block squeezed into a gap.
leczenie kanałowe
Kanałowe for short. On the NFZ an adult gets it only for front teeth; a molar means paying. Kanał alone is also a sewer and, colloquially, a hopeless mess (PWN).
ósemka
Ząb mądrości exists, but people count: the eighth tooth from the front is the ósemka. The same word is the number 8 tram, a figure of eight and, in music, a quaver.
aparat
Braces are aparat na zęby, where RU says брекеты. In plain speech aparat alone is a camera. And colloquially (PWN) it is a person who amuses or shocks: ale z niego aparat!
szczęka
RU щека is a cheek, which Polish calls policzek. Szczęka is the jaw, sztuczna szczęka a set of dentures and, colloquially (PWN), a folding street stall.
zgryz
The orthodontist's word: wada zgryzu is a bad bite. Colloquially (PWN) a worry or a quandary. RU makes it a headache, головная боль; Polish keeps the pain in the teeth.

15 November 2026Dmuchać w balonik

Pulled over by the Polish traffic police: the lollipop that stops you, the balloon you blow into, the points that cost you your licence, and what the morning after a party is called on the roadside.

  1. drogówkatraffic policeДПС, гаишники
  2. lizaklollipop; police stop paddleледенец; жезл
  3. teren zabudowanybuilt-up area (for speed limits)населённый пункт
  4. prawkodriving licenceправа
  5. punkty karnepenalty pointsштрафные баллы
  6. na zderzakutailgating, right on someone's bumperвпритык, на хвосте
  7. na trzeciegothree abreast (overtaking into oncoming traffic)в три ряда
  8. dmuchać w balonikto take a breathalyser testдуть в трубку
  9. promilper mille (of alcohol in the blood)промилле
  10. wczorajszyyesterday's; still feeling last night's drinksвчерашний; с бодуна
Read the ten notes
drogówka
From droga, road; the official name is policja drogowa (PWN). Their handheld speed gun is, jokingly, a suszarka: a hairdryer.
lizak
A lollipop, and colloquially (PWN) the round disc on a handle that police and railwaymen wave. RU гаишник waves a striped жезл; the Polish one looks like sweets.
teren zabudowany
Not the green sign with the town's name: the zone starts at the white D-42 with a row of houses on it. Inside, 50 km/h, nights included since June 2021. The law says obszar zabudowany.
prawko
Prawo jazdy, 'the right of driving', where RU says права. Fifty over the limit in town and it goes on the spot for three months; since March 2026 on two-way roads outside towns too.
punkty karne
Twenty-four and the licence goes; twenty in your first year. They expire a year after you pay the mandat, not a year after the offence, and drivers keep getting that wrong.
na zderzaku
Zderzak is the bumper. On motorways and expressways the gap has had a number since 2021: at least half your speed in metres, so 60 m at 120 km/h.
na trzeciego
Not overtaking three cars: three vehicles side by side — the one being passed, the one passing and the one coming the other way, which must swerve onto the verge. Always illegal.
dmuchać w balonik
Balonik, a little balloon, is colloquial for the police breath tester (PWN); the official word is alkomat. RU blows into a tube, Polish blows up a balloon.
promil
RU промилле never declines; promil does: jeden promil, dwa promile, pół promila. From 0.2 driving is an offence; above 0.5 it is stan nietrzeźwości and a crime.
wczorajszy
Colloquially (PWN) someone who drank the day before and still feels it — and may still blow it. Morning checkpoints exist for exactly this driver.

16 November 2026Lektor czyta

An evening in front of Polish TV: the remote that is a pilot, the one calm voice reading every role, the episode Russian calls a серия, and a whole season watched in a single swing.

  1. pilotremote control; pilot; tour guideпульт; пилот; гид
  2. lektorvoice-over reader; university language teacherзакадровый голос; преподаватель языка
  3. odcinekepisode; stretch, sectionсерия; отрезок, участок
  4. czołówkaopening credits; front page; leading group; head torchзаставка; лидеры; налобный фонарь
  5. zwiastuntrailer; herald, harbingerтрейлер; предвестник
  6. ramówkaprogramme schedule (of a TV or radio station)сетка вещания
  7. tasiemiectapeworm; endless TV seriesленточный червь; бесконечный сериал
  8. kryminałcrime drama, detective story; prisonдетектив; тюрьма
  9. wciągnąćto get someone hooked; to drag in; to pull on (clothes)затянуть, увлечь
  10. za jednym zamachemin one go, in one sittingодним махом, за раз
Read the ten notes
pilot
RU пульт. The same pilot flies planes and leads coach tours (PWN): a pilot wycieczki counts heads at every stop. Pilot automatyczny is the autopilot.
lektor
RU лектор lectures. The Polish lektor reads a film's dialogue over the original in one steady voice, still the tradition on Polish TV; at university a lektor teaches languages.
odcinek
RU серия is one episode; Polish seria is a run or a batch, never a single episode. Odcinek is also a stretch of road, as in odcinkowy pomiar prędkości.
czołówka
From czoło, the forehead: whatever comes first. Opening credits, the front-page story, the leading group of a race — and the head torch strapped to your forehead (PWN).
zwiastun
From zwiastować, to announce, as at the Annunciation, Zwiastowanie. A trailer, a first sign of spring and, to a doctor, an early symptom (PWN).
ramówka
From rama, a frame: the fixed grid of what airs when (PWN). RU сетка вещания casts a net; Polish puts it in a frame. Every autumn a jesienna ramówka brings the new shows.
tasiemiec
A tapeworm and, jokingly (PWN), anything endless — above all a soap with thousands of episodes. Klan, on TVP1 since 1997, is the classic. RU мыльная опера washes; Polish wriggles.
kryminał
RU криминал is the underworld; Polish kryminał is a detective novel or film. Also prison, siedział w kryminale, and colloquially a botched job: ten remont to kryminał.
wciągnąć
As RU затянуть. The other senses fan out (PWN): wciągnąć kogoś w kłopoty, to drag someone into trouble, and wciągnąć buty, to pull your shoes on.
za jednym zamachem
RU одним махом, the same swing. Alone, though, zamach is an attempt on someone's life and zamach stanu a coup, so read headlines with care.

17 November 2026Alarm smogowy

Smog season in Kraków or Silesia: the air app turns red, the neighbour's chimney smokes something that was never coal, and the name of the old stove turns out to be related to Cinderella.

  1. przekroczyćto exceed; to crossпревысить; пересечь
  2. pył zawieszonyparticulate matter (PM10, PM2.5)взвешенные частицы
  3. wietrzyćto air (a room); to sense (a trick)проветривать; чуять
  4. kominchimney; snood (scarf)дымоход, труба; снуд
  5. kominiarzchimney sweepтрубочист
  6. palić byle czymto burn any old rubbish (in a stove)топить чем попало
  7. miałcoal dust, slackугольная пыль, штыб
  8. ekogroszekpea coal for automatic boilers, sold as 'eco'угольный орешек
  9. uchwała antysmogowaanti-smog resolution (regional rules on stoves)антисмоговое постановление
  10. kopciuchold smoky coal stove; cheap cigaretteчадящая печь
Read the ten notes
przekroczyć
RU превысить for limits, перейти for borders; Polish uses one verb for both: przekroczyć normę, prędkość, granicę. Smog news reads norma przekroczona o 300 procent.
pył zawieszony
The PM10 and PM2,5 on every air app; at 150 micrograms of PM10 per cubic metre the official alarm goes out. Zawieszony, suspended, is also a frozen laptop: komputer się zawiesił.
wietrzyć
The open-window ritual Poles drop on smog days. Like an animal sniffing the wind, the verb also senses trouble: wietrzyć podstęp, to smell a trick (WSJP).
komin
RU камин is a fireplace, which Polish calls kominek; komin is the chimney above it. In a clothes shop a komin is a tube scarf you pull up over your nose.
kominiarz
Still a working trade: a yearly chimney check is the owner's legal duty. Also Poland's top luck sign — in a 2008 poll 38 per cent named the kominiarz, ahead of the four-leaf clover.
palić byle czym
Palić w piecu is RU топить печь, and byle czym means bottles, old shoes, painted planks. Burning rubbish at home is an offence, and the straż miejska may come to inspect the stove.
miał
Finely crushed coal: the cheapest fuel and the smokiest. It also looks exactly like a past tense, so sąsiad miał miał means the neighbour had coal dust.
ekogroszek
Groszek, a little pea: coal sorted to 5 to 25 mm grains for automatic boilers. The eko is only a trade name, and attempts to drop it have been blocked by producers and miners' unions.
uchwała antysmogowa
Uchwała is a council's resolution, here the regional sejmik's, deciding which stoves may still burn. Kraków's banned coal and wood outright from 1 September 2019.
kopciuch
From kopcić, to give off sooty smoke. Cinderella is Kopciuszek, the little sooty one; RU Золушка is named after ash, зола. PWN adds a cheap cigarette.

18 November 2026Widełki i benefity

Job hunting in Poland, decoded: what an ad means by 'welcome' and 'available', why a staż is not your years of service, the salary range employers now have to name, and the polite sentence that means no.

  1. stanowiskoposition, post; standpoint; workstationдолжность; позиция
  2. ubiegać sięto apply for, to seekпретендовать, добиваться
  3. mile widzianywelcome, a plus (in a job ad)будет плюсом
  4. dyspozycyjnyavailable at any time, flexibleвсегда доступный
  5. odporność na stresability to work under pressureстрессоустойчивость
  6. stażinternship; length of serviceстажировка; стаж
  7. widełkisalary range; small fork; phone cradleвилка (зарплатная)
  8. podwyżkapay rise; price riseприбавка; подорожание
  9. owocowe czwartkifruit Thursdays (the token office perk)фруктовые четверги
  10. odezwać sięto get back to someone; to speak upсвязаться; отозваться
Read the ten notes
stanowisko
RU должность for jobs, позиция for opinions; Polish stanowisko covers both: stanowisko rządu is the government's stance. Also the spot where work happens: stanowisko kasowe, a till.
ubiegać się
The proper verb for applying. Aplikować is the anglicism everyone uses; to PWN it still means doing a legal traineeship or applying a cream.
mile widziany
'Kindly seen': the nice-to-have line of every ad, agreeing with its noun, mile widziane doświadczenie. Outside ads, nie jesteś tu mile widziany is a door closing.
dyspozycyjny
PWN: ready to work at any time and in any place the company needs. A dyspozycja is an order, so a dyspozycyjny worker is one who takes them.
odporność na stres
RU стрессоустойчивость in one word, Polish in three. In an ad it reads less like a requirement than a forecast. Odporność alone is immunity: odporność na grypę.
staż
RU стаж is staż pracy, the years served. On a job board staż alone is an internship, a graduate's first trial run (PWN); RU стажировка is the match.
widełki
RU says вилка, the full-size fork; Polish uses the little one. Since 24 December 2025 an employer must tell candidates the starting pay or its range, and may not ask what you earn now.
podwyżka
RU повышение is a raise or a promotion; Polish splits them: podwyżka is money, awans the new title. In the news podwyżki are prices going up: podwyżki cen prądu.
owocowe czwartki
A bowl of fruit in the office kitchen once a week: the perk that became a meme for cheap benefity, as corporate Polish calls perks. Some firms now offer nap rooms instead.
odezwać się
To get in touch, or simply to speak: nie odezwał się ani słowem. Odezwiemy się do wybranych kandydatów is the polite form of silence; if you had been selected, you would know.

19 November 2026Na pole czy na dwór

A friend from Kraków says wychodzimy na pole and you look round for a field. One country, several Polishes: Kraków's outdoors and berries, Poznań's potatoes and trams, Silesia's German-born bins and mines — and the rest of Poland's word for Warsaw.

  1. na dworzeoutside, outdoorsна улице
  2. na poluoutside (in Kraków and Małopolska)на улице (в Кракове)
  3. borówkablueberry; (in Kraków) bilberryголубика; черника
  4. pyraspud, potato (in Poznań); Poznań native (jocular)картошка (в Познани)
  5. bimbatram (in Poznań)трамвай (в Познани)
  6. sznekasweet yeast bun (in Poznań)сдобная булочка
  7. hasiokrubbish bin (in Silesia)мусорный бак
  8. grubacoal mine (in Silesia)шахта
  9. wihajsterthingamajig, gizmoштуковина
  10. warszawkathe Warsaw set, the capital's self-important eliteстоличная тусовка
Read the ten notes
na dworze
RU на улице is simply outdoors; Polish na ulicy is literally in the street. Outdoors is na dworze, going out is na dwór — the old word for a yard, not a manor.
na polu
Kraków goes na pole and stays na polu. In 1914 the linguist Kazimierz Nitsch reported the phrase dying out even in Kraków. It is still there.
borówka
In a shop, the big cultivated berry, borówka amerykańska. In Kraków, also the small wild one the rest of Poland calls jagoda. RU брусника is borówka brusznica.
pyra
Poznań for ziemniak, and jokingly for a Poznanian himself. The classic plate is pyry z gzikiem: potatoes with quark mashed with cream and onion.
bimba
Poznań's word for tramwaj. WSJP marks it regional and calls its origin unclear. Use it outside Wielkopolska and expect a puzzled look.
szneka
Poznań's drożdżówka, from German Schnecke, 'snail', for its spiral. Z glancem means with a sugar glaze, from Glanz, 'shine'.
hasiok
Upper Silesian for śmietnik, from German Asche, 'ash'. Silesian is full of such loans: a bread roll there is a żymła, from Semmel.
gruba
Silesian for kopalnia, from German Grube, 'pit'. Everywhere else gruba is just the feminine of gruby, 'fat', so mind your audience.
wihajster
From German Wie heisst er?, 'what's it called?'. Now colloquial for any gadget whose name escapes you — the question turned into the answer.
warszawka
Lowercase and ironic: the capital's media, business and political circles, as seen from the rest of Poland. Kraków's own small world is mocked as krakówek.

20 November 2026Dycha i koło

Haggling over a used car, splitting a bill, moaning about rent: Poles count money in slang. A dycha, a koło and a bańka, who has it, who pays through the nose — and what is left na waciki.

  1. dychatenner, ten złoty; ten of anythingдесятка, червонец
  2. kołogrand, a thousand (złoty)штука (тысяча)
  3. bańkaa million (złoty); bubble; cupping glassлям; пузырь; банка
  4. kokosybig money, a fortuneбольшие деньги
  5. nadzianyloaded, rolling in itпри деньгах, богатенький
  6. spłukanybroke, skintна мели, без гроша
  7. bulićto cough up, to fork outраскошеливаться, отстёгивать
  8. za darmochęfor free, for nothingна халяву
  9. zdzierstworip-off, daylight robberyобдираловка, грабёж
  10. na wacikipin money, peanutsна булавки
Read the ten notes
dycha
Ten of whatever the context says: a tenner at the till, ten thousand in talk of an MP's pay, and dwie dychy odsiadki is twenty years inside.
koło
A thousand, złoty or euro. Synonyms patyk and kafel. Mind the pun: koło trzech kół is 'about three grand', the first koło meaning 'around'. RU штука exactly.
bańka
A million in slang, a soap bubble in general, and grandma's cupping glass: stawiać bańki, RU ставить банки. In Kraków, also a Christmas bauble.
kokosy
Coconuts, but here only money: zbijać kokosy is to rake it in, and a kokosowy interes is a goldmine. RU says грести деньги лопатой.
nadziany
Literally 'stuffed', like a roast goose or a filled pączek. Shortened to dziany; WSJP also lists forsiasty, from forsa.
spłukany
Flushed out — spłukać is also what you do to a toilet. Spłukać się is to blow your last money. RU на мели strands you on a sandbank instead.
bulić
Paying when it hurts: you płacisz for bread but bulisz for the dentist. WSJP: colloquial, usually for a large sum.
za darmochę
Colloquial za darmo; WSJP also lists za darmoszkę. Its lazy cousin is the darmozjad, the 'free-eater' who lives off others. RU на халяву.
zdzierstwo
From zdzierać, to strip or tear off, and the one who does it is a zdzierca. RU обдираловка skins you with the same image.
na waciki
From Kiler (1997): handed three hundred dollars by her gangster husband, Rysia asks what she can buy with that — waciki? Cotton pads became the unit of trivial money.

21 November 2026Kaganiec i kuweta

A dog to walk, a cat to clean up after, a waiting room at the vet: the words of pet life in Poland, nearly all of which have a second job — and the phrase for when nobody at all turns up.

  1. smyczlead, leash; lanyardповодок; шнурок для бейджа
  2. kaganiecmuzzle; gag (on freedom)намордник
  3. kleszcztickклещ
  4. kuwetalitter tray; developing trayкошачий лоток
  5. drapakscratching post; wire scourerкогтеточка
  6. sierśćcoat, fur (of an animal)шерсть (животного)
  7. schroniskoanimal shelter; mountain hut; hostelприют; турбаза
  8. bezpańskistray, ownerlessбездомный, бесхозный
  9. kociaracat lady, cat loverкошатница
  10. pies z kulawą nogąnot a soul, nobody at allни одна собака
Read the ten notes
smycz
Feminine despite the consonant: ta smycz. Also the lanyard on your office pass — conferences hand out branded smycze by the hundred.
kaganiec
Also a gag: nałożyć kaganiec prasie. But Słowacki's kaganiec oświaty is a lamp of learning — the old iron fire-basket, not a muzzle.
kleszcz
RU клещ matches. The plural kleszcze is also tongs, pincers and obstetric forceps, and figuratively a grip you cannot escape.
kuweta
RU кювет is a roadside ditch; Polish kuweta is the cat's tray, filled with żwirek. Ditch is rów. Photographers and chemists have kuwety too.
drapak
Anything that scratches: a cat tree, a wire scourer, a balding Christmas tree. Dać drapaka means to bolt — what the cat does when the vet appears.
sierść
RU шерсть covers the dog and the jumper; Polish splits them — sierść on the animal, wełna on you. The clumps on the sofa are kłaki.
schronisko
One word, four refuges: the animal shelter, the hut on a mountain trail, the youth hostel and the night shelter for the homeless.
bezpański
Without a pan, a master. Not only animals: a bezpańska walizka at a station is the unattended suitcase. RU бесхозный is the twin.
kociara
The woman who feeds the courtyard cats or keeps six at home; the man is a kociarz. Fond or mocking by tone, exactly like RU кошатница.
pies z kulawą nogą
Literally 'a dog with a lame leg' — not even he came. Always with a negation. RU ни одна собака, minus the limp.

22 November 2026Nie da się

The clerk shakes her head: nie da się. The words of the institutional no — what you are entitled to, whose remit it is, the trip from Annasz to Kajfasz — and the phrase that sometimes opens the furtka.

  1. nie da sięit can't be done, no wayникак нельзя, не выйдет
  2. przysługiwaćto be due to, to be entitled toполагаться
  3. w gestiiwithin the remit ofв ведении
  4. petentmember of the public (at an office), applicantпосетитель, проситель
  5. pismoofficial letter; handwriting, script; periodicalофициальное письмо; почерк
  6. od Annasza do Kajfaszafrom pillar to postот Понтия к Пилату
  7. odesłać z kwitkiemto send away empty-handedотправить ни с чем
  8. furtkagarden gate; loopholeкалитка; лазейка
  9. mieć plecyto have friends in high placesиметь блат
  10. w drodze wyjątkuas an exceptionв порядке исключения
Read the ten notes
nie da się
Impersonal, so nobody is refusing — the universe is. Nie da się ukryć is a different idiom: 'there's no denying it'.
przysługiwać
Built backwards, like RU полагаться: the right przysługuje komuś. Same root as przysługa, a favour — which the clerk's version is not.
w gestii
From Latin gestio, 'management', kept alive by officials: to nie leży w mojej gestii is how a clerk says nie mój cyrk with a degree.
petent
Latin petens, 'one who asks', and it shows: PWN's language advisers note that offices now prefer klient, because petent sounds like a supplicant.
pismo
RU письмо to your mother is a list in Polish. Pismo is the formal letter, the handwriting and the magazine — and proszę złożyć pismo is the standard brush-off.
od Annasza do Kajfasza
Annas and Caiaphas, the two high priests Jesus was sent between in John 18. RU sends you between Pontius and Pilate — one man, split in two.
odesłać z kwitkiem
Literally 'with a little receipt': you leave holding a slip of paper and nothing else. Seen from your side, odejść z kwitkiem.
furtka
The garden gate and the legal loophole in one word; zostawić sobie furtkę is to keep a way out. The big gate for cars is brama; furtka is the one you walk through.
mieć plecy
Plecy, 'back', is the backing of someone powerful; RU says блат or волосатая рука. Not to be confused with być w plecy, to be out of pocket.
w drodze wyjątku
RU в порядке исключения matches. The words the whole morning was waiting for: the clerk keeps her rules, and you get your stamp.

23 November 2026Ciemność, widzę ciemność

Poles quote their old comedies the way the British quote Monty Python: in meetings, headlines and TV debates. Ten lines from Seksmisja, Miś, Sami swoi, Rejs, Vabank, Psy and Dzień świra — and what they mean now.

  1. ciemność widzęI see darkness — it looks hopeless; I can't make head or tail of itтьму вижу
  2. nie mamy pańskiego płaszczawe haven't got your coat (and what are you going to do about it?)нет у нас вашего пальто
  3. jak jest zima, to musi być zimnoit's winter, so it has to be coldзима — значит, холодно
  4. łubu dubuhail to the chief — sycophantic praiseподхалимаж
  5. Kopernik była kobietąCopernicus was a woman — history rewritten to fitКоперник была женщиной
  6. sąd sądemthe court's the court (but justice must be on our side)суд судом
  7. prawo inżyniera MamoniaMamoń's law: people like only what they already knowзакон инженера Мамоня
  8. ucho od śledziazilch, nothing at allшиш, фиг
  9. nie chce mi się z tobą gadaćI can't be bothered talking to youнеохота мне с тобой говорить
  10. mojszamore mine (a joke comparative)более моя
Read the ten notes
ciemność widzę
Maks in Seksmisja (1983), just woken from hibernation: Ciemność, widzę ciemność, ciemność widzę. Now said of any bleak outlook, or of anything you cannot follow.
nie mamy pańskiego płaszcza
Miś (1981): a cloakroom has lost a customer's coat, and its manager adds i co pan nam zrobi? The motto of every service that fails you and shrugs.
jak jest zima, to musi być zimno
The boiler-room stoker in Miś, on the phone to freezing tenants. Quoted whenever an institution explains its failure as a law of nature.
łubu dubu
Coach Jarząbek in Miś, recording himself on the chairman's tape recorder: niech żyje nam prezes naszego klubu. Now headline shorthand for flattering any party leader.
Kopernik była kobietą
Seksmisja, in an all-female future: Albert names Copernicus and a woman cries To kłamstwo! Kopernik była kobietą! The feminine była is the whole joke.
sąd sądem
Sami swoi (1967): Pawlak's mother hands her son grenades with this blessing for the feud with Kargul. It won the 2007 Złota Kaczka for best line.
prawo inżyniera Mamonia
Rejs (1970): engineer Mamoń, umysł ścisły, likes only melodie, które już raz słyszałem. The law behind every remake and cover band.
ucho od śledzia
A herring has no ears, so you get nothing. The title of Hanna Ożogowska's 1964 novel, made popular by Machulski's Vabank (1981). RU шиш.
nie chce mi się z tobą gadać
Franz Maurer, Bogusław Linda's cop in Psy (1992), to the woman who left him. Nie chce mi się is not 'I don't want' but 'I can't be bothered'.
mojsza
Dzień świra (2002), the parliament scene: moja racja jest mojsza niż twojsza. Possessives have no comparative, which is exactly the point about Polish debate.

24 November 2026Butelka z kaucją

Since October 2025 the empty bottle has a price again. The words of the queue at the machine, the crushed can it spits out, the bins at home — and the oldest litter of all.

  1. system kaucyjnydeposit return schemeзалоговая система
  2. butelkomatbottle return machineфандомат
  3. zgnieśćto crush, to squashсмять, раздавить
  4. nakrętkascrew cap; nut (on a bolt)крышка; гайка
  5. zwrotnyreturnable; manoeuvrable; reflexiveвозвратный; манёвренный
  6. zbiórkacollection (of money or items); assembly, musterсбор
  7. segregowaćto sort (rubbish, papers)сортировать
  8. zmieszanymixed; embarrassed, flusteredсмешанный; смущённый
  9. PSZOKhousehold waste recycling centreпункт приёма отходов
  10. petfag end, cigarette buttбычок, окурок
Read the ten notes
system kaucyjny
Live since 1 October 2025: 50 gr on plastic bottles up to 3 l and cans up to 1 l, 1 zł on reusable glass up to 1.5 l. No receipt needed to get it back.
butelkomat
Officially automat kaucyjny; even gov.pl writes tzw. butelkomat. Shops over 200 square metres must take returns; smaller ones may choose to.
zgnieść
The old recycling habit, fatal now: a crushed bottle or can loses its readable barcode and deposit mark, and the machine refuses it. Imperfective gnieść.
nakrętka
RU накрутка is a markup; Polish nakrętka is the cap you screw on, and the nut on a bolt. Since July 2024, EU rules keep caps tethered to the bottle.
zwrotny
Returnable glass, a nimble car, a reflexive verb, and informacja zwrotna, which is office Polish for feedback. RU возвратный covers the bottle and the grammar, not the parking.
zbiórka
Collecting anything — money, clothes, batteries — and the assembly point: zbiórka o ósmej przy autokarze! RU сборка assembles machines, not people.
segregować
RU сегрегация suggests apartheid; Polish segregacja is mostly rubbish and paperwork. A segregator is the office ring binder.
zmieszany
On a bin, odpady zmieszane is general waste. On a face, zmieszany is flustered — RU смущённый, not смешанный.
PSZOK
Punkt Selektywnego Zbierania Odpadów Komunalnych, which every gmina must run. Furniture, paint, tyres, rubble, old electronics — whatever the bins at home refuse.
pet
Lowercase pet is a fag end; uppercase PET is the plastic of every deposit bottle. Only one of the two pays 50 groszy back.

25 November 2026Hulajnoga na chodniku

Getting around a Polish city in the words Poles actually use: the scooter blocking the pavement, the red box for cyclists at the lights, the colloquial indicator and the taxi fare that is not a course.

  1. hulajnogakick scooter, e-scooterсамокат
  2. zebrapedestrian crossing; zebraпешеходный переход (зебра)
  3. śluza rowerowabike box, cyclists' waiting area at the lightsвелозона перед светофором
  4. wysepkatraffic island, refugeостровок безопасности
  5. buspasbus laneвыделенная полоса для автобусов
  6. migaczindicator, turn signalповоротник
  7. kursride, fare (taxi); course; exchange rateпоездка; курс
  8. zastawiaćto block; to set (a table); to pawnзагораживать; накрывать; закладывать
  9. odholowaćto tow awayэвакуировать (автомобиль)
  10. pirat drogowyroad hog, reckless driverлихач
Read the ten notes
hulajnoga
RU самокат is the same object. On the pavement it is allowed only where the road limit is above 30 km/h and there is no cycle lane, and then at walking pace, giving way to pedestrians.
zebra
RU also says зебра, so the word is free. The catch is the rule: a pedestrian merely entering the crossing has priority over cars, not only one already on it. Official name: przejście dla pieszych.
śluza rowerowa
The red patch of road before the stop line where cyclists wait ahead of the cars; it has been in Polish traffic law since 2011. Śluza is also a canal lock or an airlock: same idea of letting things through in batches.
wysepka
Diminutive of wyspa, but on a road it is the concrete refuge in the middle of a wide crossing where you wait for the second half. RU has the full term островок безопасности; Poles shorten it to wysepka.
buspas
Written as one word, from bus plus pas. The official term is pas ruchu dla autobusów. City news says it daily: wjechał na buspas, and the fine that follows is not small.
migacz
Official kierunkowskaz, but everybody says migacz, from migać, to blink. The same verb gives migać się od roboty, to dodge work, which is what many drivers do with it.
kurs
RU курс is a course or a rate, and Polish has both. The extra sense is a single taxi ride: ile za kurs? A bus makes a kurs too, hence kursować, to run on a route.
zastawiać
Three jobs: zastawiać wyjście (block it), zastawić stół (load a table with food) and zastawić zegarek (pawn it; zastaw is the pledge). Scooters dumped across a pavement do the first.
odholować
From hol, a tow rope: holować, odholować, holownik (a tug). If your car vanishes from a bus lane, the Straż Miejska or the police can tell you which tow yard has it.
pirat drogowy
The police and press word for a reckless driver, with no relation to the pirate who copies films. Cyclists and scooter riders slaloming between pedestrians collect the label too.

26 November 2026Lajki i hejt

Internet Polish: loans that grew Polish endings, a post that sounds like Lent, and one verb that scrolls your phone and changes a nappy.

  1. lajklike (online)лайк
  2. hejtonline hate, abuseхейт
  3. wpispost, entryзапись, пост
  4. wrzucićto post, upload; to throw inвыложить; закинуть
  5. udostępnićto share (a post); to make availableподелиться (постом); предоставить
  6. obserwowaćto follow (an account); to watchподписаться; наблюдать
  7. rolkareel (short video); roll; roller skateрилс; рулон; ролик
  8. oznaczyćto tag (someone in a post); to mark, labelотметить (на фото); пометить
  9. zbanowaćto ban, block from a platformзабанить
  10. przewijaćto scroll; to rewind; to change a nappyлистать; перематывать; пеленать
Read the ten notes
lajk
A loan with Polish endings: lajka, lajków; dać lajka takes an animate-style accusative. The proper word is polubienie, which nobody types.
hejt
RU хейт is the same loan. In Polish it means a pile-on aimed at a person, not mere dislike: a blunt bad review is krytyka. Also hejter and hejtować.
wpis
Post is also Lent, the fast (Wielki Post), so wpis is the safer word, and the one used for blogs and forums. Elsewhere it is an entry in a register, like wpis do księgi wieczystej.
wrzucić
Literally to toss in. Wrzucić na grupę or na story means to post it. Same verb: wrzucić na luz, to ease off and relax, and wrzucić bieg, to put it in gear.
udostępnić
Never dzielić się for a post: that is for food and feelings. Udostępnić also covers what a landlord does with a flat or an app does with your location: udostępnij lokalizację.
obserwować
RU says подписан, Polish says you watch the person, and followers are obserwujący. Śledzić means to tail or track, which on a profile sounds like stalking.
rolka
The Instagram reel is a rolka, but so is rolka papieru, a loo roll, and rolki are inline skates. Only context tells you which, so check before you ask someone to film one.
oznaczyć
RU отметить is the tagging verb; oznaczyć is also what is done to goods, a parcel or a route (oznaczenie, a label). Oznaczyć wartość is to determine a value, a lab-report sense.
zbanować
RU забанить is the same loan with a Russian prefix. Polish also says dostać bana for being banned, and the plain zablokować for accounts and people alike.
przewijać
One verb for scrolling, rewinding a tape and changing a baby (przewijak is the changing table). Przewijać się is also to keep turning up somewhere. Mind the object.

27 November 2026Cena z 30 dni

Black Friday, 27 November: the words on the banners, the fine print behind them and the Polish rule that makes shops show the lowest price of the previous 30 days next to every announced discount.

  1. okazjabargain; occasion; chanceвыгода; случай
  2. rabatdiscount, rebateскидка
  3. windowaćto jack up (prices)взвинчивать
  4. za frikofor free, for nothingзадаром, на халяву
  5. prógthreshold; doorstepпорог
  6. do wyczerpania zapasówwhile stocks lastпока не закончатся запасы
  7. wprowadzać w błądto misleadвводить в заблуждение
  8. nabrać się nato fall forкупиться на, попасться на
  9. rękojmiastatutory warranty, seller's liability for defectsответственность продавца за недостатки
  10. najniższa cena z 30 dnilowest price in the previous 30 daysсамая низкая цена за 30 дней
Read the ten notes
okazja
RU оказия is a rare literary word. Polish okazja is everyday: a bargain (to była okazja), an occasion (z okazji urodzin), a chance, and the shouting banner OKAZJA! over a shelf.
rabat
Rabat is the shop and invoice word (kod rabatowy), zniżka the everyday one, and ulga the legal reduced fare. RU скидка covers all three.
windować
To push a price up artificially. The classic trick is raising it a few weeks before the sale so the discount looks deep, which is exactly what the 30-day rule was written against.
za friko
Friko is a respelling of the English free, and it sits one notch below za darmo in register. Shops write the formal gratis or darmowa dostawa; friends say za friko.
próg
RU порог matches. Spend it on the shop trick: próg darmowej dostawy makes you add a useless item. Also próg podatkowy, a tax band, and the doorstep you trip over.
do wyczerpania zapasów
The fine print that lets a sale end without a date. Wyczerpać is to drain; the same verb makes a person wyczerpany, completely worn out.
wprowadzać w błąd
Matches RU вводить в заблуждение almost word for word. It is the charge in UOKiK decisions (praktyka wprowadzająca w błąd) when a discount was never one.
nabrać się na
Nabrać alone is to scoop up (nabrać wody) or to fool someone. Add się na and you are the one fooled. RU купиться на is the closest feel.
rękojmia
The Civil Code word for the seller’s liability, still printed on receipts and in old advice. Since 2023 a consumer complains under niezgodność towaru z umową instead; rękojmia now governs sales between businesses or private people.
najniższa cena z 30 dni
The omnibus rule, in force since 1 January 2023: beside any announced price cut the shop must show the lowest price of the 30 days before it. It exists to kill invented before prices.

28 November 2026Wkład własny

Reading a mortgage offer in Polish: the down payment, the number the bank gives you, the court register of the flat and the Swiss-franc borrowers who sued the banks.

  1. wkład własnydown payment, own contributionпервоначальный взнос
  2. zdolność kredytowaborrowing capacity, creditworthinessкредитоспособность
  3. zaciągnąć kredytto take out a loanвзять кредит
  4. rynek wtórnyresale market (second-hand flats)вторичный рынок, вторичка
  5. księga wieczystaland and mortgage registerпоземельная книга
  6. akt notarialnynotarial deedнотариальный акт
  7. nadpłacaćto overpay (a loan) on purposeдосрочно гасить, переплачивать
  8. RRSOAPR, annual percentage rate of chargeгодовая процентная ставка (ГПС)
  9. WIBORWIBOR (reference rate for zloty loans)ставка WIBOR
  10. frankowiczSwiss-franc borrower (suing the bank)заёмщик с кредитом во франках
Read the ten notes
wkład własny
Wkład alone is a contribution, a refill or a newspaper insert. Banks usually want 10 to 20 per cent of the price in your own money; at the lower end an extra insurance often applies.
zdolność kredytowa
The figure a bank computes from income, contract type and costs, and the first thing flat-hunters ask: czy mam zdolność? Contract type matters, so an employment contract and B2B can count differently.
zaciągnąć kredyt
The formal collocation for loans, where wziąć kredyt is how people say it. Zaciągnąć is literally to pull: the same verb draws curtains (zaciągnąć zasłony) and drags on a cigarette.
rynek wtórny
Matches RU вторичка. Its twin is rynek pierwotny, new flats straight from a deweloper, which are sold in stan deweloperski. Listing sites filter by exactly this.
księga wieczysta
A court register for one property: owner, mortgages, easements. Numbers look like WA1M/00012345/6 and can be searched online; people say KW. Wieczysta means perpetual, like użytkowanie wieczyste.
akt notarialny
A flat purchase needs one by law, and the notary typically reads it out in full. Akt alone is also an act of a play, a nude painting and a legal act, and akt urodzenia is a birth certificate.
nadpłacać
Here it is good news: nadpłata is voluntary extra repayment that shortens the loan or lowers the instalment, depending on the contract. RU переплачивать implies being fleeced.
RRSO
Said letter by letter, er-er-es-o, and printed on every loan offer: the whole yearly cost with fees and insurance. Short for rzeczywista roczna stopa oprocentowania, hence feminine.
WIBOR
The Warsaw interbank rate: a variable mortgage costs WIBOR plus the bank’s margin, so one headline number moves every instalment. New loans switch to POLSTR from 2027; old contracts keep WIBOR until it is wound down.
frankowicz
A person with a mortgage in francs from the 2000s, whose instalment jumped after the franc surged in 2015. Many sued over unfair terms, so the word now means both the loan and the lawsuit.

29 November 2026Lanie wosku

The eve of 29 November: what happens when wax meets a key, the Polish words for fortune, fairy and prophecy, and the old fear of ending up a stara panna.

  1. lać woskto pour wax (Andrzejki fortune-telling)лить воск
  2. kluczkey; spanner; flock formation; criterionключ; журавлиный клин
  3. wróżbaomen, divination, forecastпредсказание, гадание
  4. wróżkafairy; woman fortune-tellerфея; гадалка
  5. wróżyć z fusówto read coffee grounds; to guess idlyгадать на кофейной гуще
  6. przepowiedniaprophecyпророчество
  7. sprawdzić sięto come true; to prove itselfоправдаться; зарекомендовать себя
  8. przesądsuperstition; prejudiceсуеверие; предрассудок
  9. wyjść za mążto get married (of a woman)выйти замуж
  10. stara pannaspinsterстарая дева
Read the ten notes
lać wosk
On Andrzejki the wax goes through a key into cold water and the shadow of the shape on the wall is the forecast. Lanie also means a beating: dostać lanie.
klucz
RU ключ also means a spring and a wrench. Polish adds klucz żurawi (a V of cranes) and the criterion: według jakiego klucza? means by what rule, as in a selection key.
wróżba
The result, not the act: the act is wróżenie. You grade one as dobra wróżba or zła wróżba, good or bad omen.
wróżka
In fairy tales a wróżka is a fairy (dobra wróżka); in ads and on phone lines it is a woman who tells your future. The male is wróżbita.
wróżyć z fusów
Fusy are the grounds left in a glass of kawa po turecku. The idiom means speculating with no evidence, and RU has the identical image.
przepowiednia
The grand, quotable kind, as with Nostradamus or an old weather saying. Wróżba is the small domestic one, a wax heart on a November evening.
sprawdzić się
Sprawdzić alone is to check (RU проверить). With się it is passing the test: a prediction, a new tool or a new colleague sprawdza się. Nie sprawdziło się means it flopped.
przesąd
RU has two words, суеверие and предрассудок, and Polish przesąd does both jobs. Zabobon is the harsher word, and przesądzić is to settle a matter in advance.
wyjść za mąż
Said only of a woman, as in RU. The man is ożenić się z + instr., the couple pobrać się. Two words, za mąż; never zamąż.
stara panna
The fear behind the fun: Andrzejki traditionally told girls whether they would marry. Now an insult, with stary kawaler as its male twin.

30 November 2026Komórka i zasięg

Phone life in Polish: no bars in the cellar, a SIM sold like a sweet in a kiosk, a battery that dies as a verb, and the number that still works when nothing else does.

  1. zasięgsignal coverage; range; reachсвязь, покрытие; охват
  2. doładowaćto top up (credit); to rechargeпополнить; подзарядить
  3. starterprepaid SIM starter packстартовый пакет (SIM)
  4. esemestext messageсмс
  5. wyciszyćto mute, silence; to calmотключить звук; успокоить
  6. na głośnikuon speakerна громкой связи
  7. zawiesić sięto freeze (of a device); to zone outзависнуть
  8. paśćto die (of a device); to fallсдохнуть (о технике); упасть
  9. szkło hartowanetempered-glass screen protectorзащитное стекло
  10. numer alarmowyemergency numberэкстренный номер
Read the ten notes
zasięg
Where RU says связь, Polish says zasięg: nie ma zasięgu means no bars. The same noun is a gun's range, a post's reach and a wifi's range.
doładować
Prepaid credit is doładować konto; a dead battery is more often naładować. Doładować means to add a bit more, which is why it suits credit and a half-flat power bank.
starter
Not a first course (that is przystawka). A starter is the SIM pack sold at kiosks and supermarkets. In a workshop it is also the starter motor.
esemes
SMS read as a word, with Polish endings: esemesa, esemesy. The accusative can be esemes or esemesa. Plain wiadomość is the neutral option.
wyciszyć
Silent mode is wyciszony. The verb also quietens a loud room or an emotion: wyciszyć się is to calm down, a staple of wellness posts.
na głośniku
RU says на громкой связи, Polish names the object: głośnik is the speaker. Also włącz głośnomówiący, the formal button label.
zawiesić się
Same two jobs as RU зависнуть: a frozen app and a person staring blankly (zawiesiłem się). Zawiesić itself hangs a curtain or suspends a licence; hanging up a call is rozłączyć.
paść
Padł mi telefon is how a battery or device gives up; padam ze zmęczenia is a person. Beware the other paść, imperfective, to graze: paść krowy.
szkło hartowane
Literally tempered glass, and what a phone shop means by szkło. The soft film is folia; ask for szkło on your model at the counter.
numer alarmowy
112 works with no SIM and from any network in range, which is the point of the whole pack. The national ones still live: 997 police, 998 fire, 999 ambulance.

1 December 2026Zima zaskoczyła drogowców

First snow in Poland, in the words of the road crew: the yearly headline, the drift, the gritting lorry and the pavement that turns into a slide.

  1. drogowiecroad maintenance workerдорожник
  2. odśnieżaćto clear snowчистить от снега
  3. sypaćto snow heavily; to pour, scatterвалить (о снеге); сыпать
  4. zaspasnowdriftсугроб
  5. posypaćto grit, sprinkleпосыпать
  6. piaskarkagritting lorry (sand and salt spreader)пескоразбрасыватель
  7. ślizgawkaicy slippery surface; ice rinkгололедица; каток
  8. sopelicicleсосулька
  9. szronhoar frost, rimeиней
  10. zima zaskoczyła drogowcówwinter caught the road crews outзима застала дорожников врасплох
Read the ten notes
drogowiec
Comes up every winter in one stock headline (see the last card). Drogowiec works on the road itself, while drogówka is the traffic police.
odśnieżać
By law the owner clears the pavement in front of a property, so in blocks the wspólnota hires someone, and if you slip, they answer. Works for car roofs too.
sypać
Sypie is the weather-report impersonal: it is coming down in earnest. The base meaning is to pour sand or sugar, hence sypnąć śniegiem when a heavy fall arrives.
zaspa
Careful with zaspać and zaspany (overslept, sleepy), same first letters. Zaspa is the drift wind builds across a road or against a wall.
posypać
The verb for gritting and also for dusting a cake with sugar. Gritting salt is not posolić, which is only for food.
piaskarka
A truck that spreads sand and salt, from piasek. The same word is a sandblasting machine in a workshop, so only the season tells you which a headline means.
ślizgawka
Gołoledź is the weather term. Ślizgawka is what a trodden, packed icy pavement is, and in dictionaries also a skating rink for fun.
sopel
Masculine, unlike RU сосулька. Falling icicles are a recurring winter news item, so wspólnoty tape off pavements under roof edges until they are knocked down.
szron
Matches RU иней. A hard frost is mróz, a light first one przymrozek, and the white fur on a windscreen is what the skrobaczka scrapes.
zima zaskoczyła drogowców
The perennial headline of first snow: Poland has a winter every year, yet roads seem unprepared. Zaskoczyć also means to pleasantly surprise.

2 December 2026Zimówki

The November queue at the tyre shop, in the words of the mechanic: winter tyres, tread, a battery that gives up at minus ten, and the scraper that always sits in the other car.

  1. zimówkiwinter tyresзимняя резина
  2. wulkanizacjatyre shop, tyre fittingшиномонтаж
  3. wielosezonówkiall-season tyresвсесезонная резина
  4. bieżniktyre treadпротектор
  5. skrobaczkaice scraperскребок для льда
  6. spryskiwaczwindscreen washer; washer fluidомыватель
  7. akumulatorcar batteryаккумулятор
  8. siadaćto go flat (of a battery); to sit downсадиться (об аккумуляторе)
  9. odpalićto start (an engine); to lightзавести (двигатель); поджечь
  10. kable rozruchowejump leadsпровода для прикуривания
Read the ten notes
zimówki
Poland has no law forcing winter tyres, only a tread minimum, so the date is personal and the shop queue comes with the first snow. Their summer twins are letniówki.
wulkanizacja
The sign over a tyre-fitting garage, the man being wulkanizator: the chemistry word survived. RU says шиномонтаж, Polish keeps the old vulcanisation.
wielosezonówki
Also całoroczne. Those that carry the three-peak snowflake mark count as real winter tyres. Skipping the November queue is their whole sales pitch.
bieżnik
The legal minimum is 1.6 mm for every tyre; mechanics suggest replacing winter tyres at around 4 mm. Same word on shoe soles.
skrobaczka
From skrobać, to scrape: a carrot, a pot or ice. Skrobać list is also to scribble a letter. Every car owns one and it is always in the other car.
spryskiwacz
The washer jets and, by extension, płyn do spryskiwaczy. Buy the winter one, rated for minus 20, because the summer one freezes. Also a garden sprayer.
akumulator
Matches RU аккумулятор. The catch is bateria: AA cells and a bathroom mixer tap, never what is in the car. Call the car part akumulator or colloquially aku.
siadać
Sit down, and also what a battery or phone does when drained, as in RU. Poles use the past: siadł mi akumulator, the cue for a neighbour with cables.
odpalić
A car, a cigarette and a firework are all odpalić: it is a fire verb. RU uses завести for cars, but Polish says odpala, nie odpala, to the mechanic.
kable rozruchowe
Everyone says just kable, and odpalić na kablach is the whole procedure. RU прикурить is the image of lighting a cigarette from another, which Polish does not use here.

3 December 2026Grzaniec na jarmarku

A December market stall by stall: the hot wine whose vowel vanishes, the clove that is also a flower, the gingerbread that is a loaf, and a street snack the whole country calls a baguette.

  1. jarmarkfair, marketярмарка
  2. kramstall, booth; messлавка; бардак
  3. rękodziełohandmade crafts, handicraftрукоделие, хендмейд
  4. grzaniecmulled wine; hot spiced beerглинтвейн
  5. goździkclove; carnationгвоздика
  6. korzennyspiced, of spicesпряный
  7. piernikgingerbread; gingerbread cakeпряник
  8. kasztanchestnut; conkerкаштан
  9. zapiekankacasserole; baked half-baguetteзапеканка; багет с грибами
  10. przemarznąćto get chilled to the boneпродрогнуть, замёрзнуть
Read the ten notes
jarmark
Same word as RU ярмарка, but the Polish one keeps a sneer: jarmarczny describes goods that are cheap and tacky, as if made to be sold at a fair.
kram
A wooden stall at a fair. Colloquially it is also a heap of scattered things or a tangled situation. Stragan is the stall without the mess.
rękodzieło
The label on stalls for anything not made in a factory. Singular and uncountable. RU рукоделие leans towards knitting at home rather than selling pottery.
grzaniec
Fleeting e: grzaniec, but grzańca, grzańcu, and the n softens. From grzać, to heat. The beer version is grzane piwo.
goździk
RU гвоздика is both spice and flower too. In the PRL a red goździk was the standard gift for women on Dzień Kobiet.
korzenny
From korzeń, root, by an old route: korzenie once meant spices. So przyprawy korzenne are cloves and cinnamon, and gingerbread is ciasto korzenne.
piernik
A dense spiced loaf, baked weeks ahead so it softens before Christmas. The cut-out biscuits are pierniczki. Toruń is the city known for it.
kasztan
RU каштан is both too. The edible ones come from kasztan jadalny; the street conkers children build figures from are kasztanowiec. A kasztan is also a chestnut horse.
zapiekanka
RU запеканка is a casserole, and so it is in Polish. On the street it is a half baguette with mushrooms, cheese and ketchup, served from a window.
przemarznąć
Zmarznąć is merely to get cold; prze- takes it right through you. Przemarznięty also describes ground and crops damaged by frost.

4 December 2026Rozłożyło mnie

The first week of a proper cold: an illness that happens to you with no subject, aching bones, a voice that sat down, and the folk cure of tea, blankets and soup.

  1. rozłożyćto lay flat; to floor (of an illness)свалить (о болезни)
  2. łamać w kościachto ache all overломить кости
  3. przechodzić na nogachto tough an illness out at workпереносить на ногах
  4. zatkaćto block; to leave speechlessзаткнуть; ошарашить
  5. chrypkahoarseness, croaky voiceхрипота
  6. zbijać gorączkęto bring a fever downсбивать температуру
  7. leżeć plackiemto lie flat outлежать пластом
  8. wypocić sięto sweat it outпропотеть, отпотеть
  9. kurować sięto nurse oneself back to healthлечиться, отлёживаться
  10. rosółchicken soup, clear brothкуриный бульон
Read the ten notes
rozłożyć
Rozłożyło mnie, impersonal: no subject, the illness is only implied. The everyday sense is to unfold a table or spread out a map.
łamać w kościach
Same image as RU ломит кости. Poles say it of the first hours of flu, and of old injuries before the rain.
przechodzić na nogach
The picture is the same as RU переносить на ногах. The verb is the trap: przechodzić chorobę is to go through an illness, and on your feet means no L4.
zatkać
Zatkało has two lives: a blocked nose, and zatkało mnie, struck speechless by news. RU заткнуться is a rude 'shut up' and nothing like it.
chrypka
Looks like a diminutive but is the normal word: mieć chrypkę. The idiom for the same thing is głos mi siadł, 'my voice sat down'.
zbijać gorączkę
Same image as RU сбивать температуру. Gorączka also means frenzy: gorączka złota is the gold rush, gorączka świąteczna the pre-Christmas rush.
leżeć plackiem
RU лежать пластом uses a layer; Polish uses a flat cake, placek. Paść plackiem is to drop flat, from a fall or from exhaustion.
wypocić się
The folk cure: raspberry tea, two blankets, wypocić chorobę. Without się, wypocić coś is colloquial for writing something laboriously and badly.
kurować się
From Latin cura. It sounds caring, the home version of getting better, and kuruj się is what a grandmother says rather than a doctor.
rosół
RU рассол is brine, the pickle liquid, one vowel away. Rosół is the clear Sunday soup with noodles, and the first cure for everything.

5 December 2026Wigilia firmowa

The company Christmas party in Poland: an opłatek meeting in early December, a boss who is also a politician, a whip-round for a present, and the colleague who always wriggles out of it.

  1. integracjateam-building event; integrationтимбилдинг; интеграция
  2. spotkanie opłatkowepre-Christmas gathering at work or in a clubпредрождественская встреча
  3. prezescompany president, chairmanпредседатель, глава компании
  4. tajemniczy MikołajSecret SantaТайный Санта
  5. zrzucić sięto chip inскинуться
  6. po godzinachafter hours; off the clockпосле работы; сверхурочно
  7. pogaduchychit-chat, natterболтовня, посиделки
  8. wygłupiać sięto goof around, to play the foolдурачиться
  9. wymigać sięto wriggle out ofотвертеться, увильнуть
  10. wstawionytipsyподвыпивший, навеселе
Read the ten notes
integracja
On a job board, impreza integracyjna means a company party with colleagues. RU интеграция is political or technical and never a night out.
spotkanie opłatkowe
The wafer is shared with wishes, as at Wigilia, but in offices, parishes and ministries this happens in early or mid December, weeks before the real one.
prezes
Heads a company or a club. Capitalised and without a name, Prezes is a politician: Kaczyński. Masculine even for a woman: pani prezes.
tajemniczy Mikołaj
Secret Santa with a Polish saint: the names are drawn before 6 December, and in offices and schools the game is often called just mikołajki.
zrzucić się
RU скинуться is the same image. Zrzucić alone is to throw off. The noun zrzutka is a whip-round, and also the name of a crowdfunding site.
po godzinach
Two moods: pracować po godzinach is unpaid overtime, spotkać się po godzinach is the social version. Only the context tells you which.
pogaduchy
Plural only and always cosy: tea, cake, no agenda. Related to gadać, but it names the occasion, not the talking.
wygłupiać się
Cheerful rather than mortifying: wygłupy are horseplay. The mortifying one is zbłaźnić się. Same root as głupi, RU глупый.
wymigać się
Migać się od is the ongoing dodge of a duty, wymigać się od the successful one. Od takes the genitive.
wstawiony
Same verb as wstawić się, to stand up for someone, but the adjective means tipsy: past the second glass, short of the floor.

6 December 2026Rózga czy prezent

6 December, and the question of who actually brings the gifts depends on the region: Mikołaj, Gwiazdor, a little angel, or the grandfather the Soviets brought. With the twig for the naughty.

  1. mikołajkiSt Nicholas Day; secret-gift gameдень святого Николая
  2. rózgabirch rod, switchрозга
  3. nabroićto get up to mischiefнабедокурить, нашалить
  4. podrzucićto drop off; to slip in; to toss upподбросить
  5. GwiazdorGwiazdor (regional gift-bringer); starГвяздор (рождественский дед)
  6. aniołeklittle angel; regional gift-bringerангелочек
  7. dzieciątkobaby, infant; the Christ Childмладенец; Младенец Иисус
  8. Dziadek MrózGrandfather FrostДед Мороз
  9. obdarowaćto shower with giftsодарить
  10. upomineksmall gift, keepsakeнебольшой подарок, сувенир
Read the ten notes
mikołajki
6 December, gifts found overnight in shoes or under the pillow. Mikołajki is also a town in Masuria, and in offices and classes the name of the draw-a-name gift game.
rózga
RU розга is the same punishment. The Polish Christmas twist: the rod is left instead of sweets, and today it is often a spray-gilded joke gift for adults.
nabroić
Broić is the imperfective: dzieci broją. Mild and indulgent, said of children and puppies. Hardly ever of adults.
podrzucić
Like RU подбросить: podrzucisz mnie? is a lift, podrzucić dziecko babci is leaving it with grandma. Gifts are podrzucone, not simply given.
Gwiazdor
Comes on Christmas Eve in Wielkopolska, Kujawy and Kashubia, traditionally quizzing children and carrying a rod. Lowercase gwiazdor is a star, a celebrity.
aniołek
In popular gift maps the Christmas Eve bringer in southern Poland (Małopolska, Podkarpacie), though sources disagree. Everywhere else, a sweet child.
dzieciątko
Dzieciątko Jezus is the bringer in some Catholic homes, Silesia in the popular maps. Lowercase it is a baby, said tenderly or ironically.
Dziadek Mróz
The same Дед Мороз: a secular New Year gift-giver spread through the Eastern Bloc, with his granddaughter Śnieżynka. Poland went back to Mikołaj after 1989; the name now mostly marks a PRL memory.
obdarować
The thing given goes in the instrumental. Heavier than dać prezent: it implies generosity. Obdarzyć is its cousin for abstractions: obdarzyć zaufaniem.
upominek
A small present from an institution, host or boss: the mug, the chocolates. Upomnienie, one syllable away, is a reprimand or a payment reminder.

7 December 2026Mycie okien

The Polish pre-Christmas cleaning frenzy: net curtains, streaks on the glass, the carpet-beating rack in the courtyard, and a verb that vacuums, dusts and rescues forgotten skills.

  1. generalne porządkideep clean, spring cleanгенеральная уборка
  2. firankanet curtain, sheer curtainтюль, тюлевая занавеска
  3. smugastreak; trail, bandразводы; полоса
  4. szorowaćto scrubдраить, тереть
  5. odkurzaćto vacuum; to dust; to dig outпылесосить; вытирать пыль
  6. trzepakcarpet-beating rackстойка для выбивания ковров
  7. gratyjunk, old stuffхлам, барахло
  8. zakamareknook, hidden cornerзакоулок, укромный уголок
  9. wypucowaćto polish, to spruce upнадраить
  10. na błyskspotless, till it shinesдо блеска
Read the ten notes
generalne porządki
Word for word RU генеральная уборка. What differs is the date: in Poland it falls before Christmas, not in spring, and the windows come last.
firanka
The sheer layer next to the glass, as opposed to the heavy zasłona. RU штора covers both, тюль is the firanka. Washing them is the ritual.
smuga
What stays on a window after cleaning, hence vinegar and old newspaper. Smuga cienia, 'the shadow line', is Conrad's novel in Polish.
szorować
Implies elbow grease and a brush: myć is washing, szorować is washing until it hurts. RU драить is the closest. Szorstki, rough, is the same root.
odkurzać
One verb for what RU splits into пылесосить and вытирать пыль. It also means to dig out something forgotten: odkurzyć angielski, odkurzyć stary rower.
trzepak
The steel frame in the courtyard of a block, built to beat rugs on, and every child’s first climbing frame. Trzepać is to beat the dust out, and trzepać językiem to talk nonsense.
graty
Plural for the pile in the cellar, singular grat for one wreck of a car or appliance. Zabieraj swoje graty is also how you throw someone out.
zakamarek
Mostly plural: the corners nobody sees until the cleaning frenzy. Also in the mind: zakamarki pamięci, the recesses of memory.
wypucować
Pucować is the colloquial scrub-and-shine; wypucować finishes the job. For floors, shoes, cars, and a flat before guests.
na błysk
Where RU says до блеска, 'to a shine', Polish says na błysk, 'onto a flash'. It pairs with umyć, wyczyścić and wypucować.

8 December 2026Pogotowie i SOR

The emergency side only: who answers 999, what the ambulance is really called, why triage colours decide your five hours, and the form you sign when you walk out.

  1. pogotowieambulance service; standby, call-outскорая помощь; аварийная служба
  2. karetkaambulanceмашина скорой помощи
  3. dyspozytordispatcherдиспетчер
  4. ratownikparamedic; lifeguard; rescuerспасатель; фельдшер скорой
  5. SORemergency department, A&Eприёмное отделение скорой
  6. triażtriageсортировка (триаж)
  7. przytomnyconscious; alert, clear-headedв сознании; сообразительный
  8. zawałheart attackинфаркт
  9. na obserwacjęfor observation (kept in hospital)на наблюдение
  10. na własne żądanieat one's own request (discharge)под свою ответственность
Read the ten notes
pogotowie
The service itself, 999 (112 works too). It also names plumbers and gas repairers, pogotowie gazowe, and w pogotowiu is on standby.
karetka
The vehicle, as opposed to the service, pogotowie. PWN gives a second sense, a small hired horse carriage, which explains the form: a kareta was a coach.
dyspozytor
Same as RU диспетчер. The person who answers 999 or 112 asks questions in a fixed order and may talk you through resuscitation. Stay on the line until they say so.
ratownik
RU спасатель is only a rescuer. Ratownik medyczny is the paramedic in the ambulance, not a doctor; ratownik TOPR is mountain rescue, and ratownik at the pool.
SOR
Szpitalny oddział ratunkowy, spoken as a word: na SOR-ze. It is for emergencies; with a cough at night you want nocna opieka instead.
triaż
A nurse sorts arrivals by urgency into colours, red at the top. You are not served in order of arrival, so green means a long wait.
przytomny
The dispatcher's first question: czy jest przytomny? Nieprzytomny is unconscious. Figuratively sharp: przytomna odpowiedź, przytomność umysłu, presence of mind.
zawał
Dostać zawału is also the joke for any shock. A stroke is udar, not zawał, and udar słoneczny is sunstroke.
na obserwację
Said when they keep you after the SOR: zostaje pan na obserwację, usually for a night. RU says под наблюдением; Polish uses na + acc., as if you were going there for that.
na własne żądanie
The phrase on the discharge form when you leave against medical advice. Żądanie is a demand, not a request, and you sign that you were warned.

9 December 2026Choinka i bombki

Dressing the Christmas tree in Polish: a bomb that is a bauble, lights that are also a glass of wine, a spider on the ceiling, and the needles in the carpet until spring.

  1. ubierać choinkęto decorate the Christmas treeнаряжать ёлку
  2. bombkabaubleёлочный шар
  3. stłuczkafender-bender; broken glassмелкое ДТП; осколки
  4. lampkasmall lamp; string light; glass of wineлампа; гирлянда; бокал
  5. pająkspider; hanging straw mobileпаук; соломенная люстра
  6. szpictree-topper; sharp tip; spitz dogверхушка ёлки; шпиц
  7. igliwiepine needles (collective)хвоя
  8. przepalić sięto burn out (bulb, fuse)перегореть
  9. stroiktable centrepiece; bridal headpiece; reedрождественская композиция; язычок
  10. jemiołamistletoeомела
Read the ten notes
ubierać choinkę
Literally 'to dress the tree', the same picture as RU наряжать ёлку. Traditionally done on 24 December itself, though many families now start in early December.
bombka
A diminutive of bomba, so literally a little bomb, as gentle as it gets. RU says ёлочный шар, a ball; Polish says bomb, and bombki do shatter.
stłuczka
A smashed bauble and a scrape in a car park share the word: stłuczka is shards of glass, and a minor collision with no one hurt.
lampka
Plural lampki are the tree lights, RU гирлянда. In the singular lampka wina is a glass of wine, and lampka nocna a bedside lamp.
pająk
Also a folk Christmas decoration: a mobile of straw, paper or beads hung from the ceiling, its shape giving the name. Handmade ones turn up at every jarmark.
szpic
PWN lists the ornament for the very top of the tree and the sharp end of anything. Szpic is also the fluffy dog. RU шпиц is the dog.
igliwie
A collective noun: igliwie is all the needles, igła one of them or a sewing needle. Same as RU хвоя; it keeps turning up in the carpet until spring.
przepalić się
Same picture as RU перегореть, with prze- as 'through'. For bulbs and fuses; for a person you say wypalić się, as in burnout.
stroik
A table decoration of twigs, flowers and candles; the Advent version is the seasonal rush. The same word is a bride's flowered headpiece and an oboe's reed.
jemioła
RU омела. Hung above the door for luck; the kissing underneath it is a Western import that Polish films adopted. The waxwing, jemiołuszka, is named after the berries it eats.

10 December 2026Na wynos i dowóz

The last screen of a food-delivery order: the free-delivery threshold, the note field, the surcharge that appears at the end and the courier who is not allowed through the door.

  1. skoczyć poto pop out forсбегать за
  2. na miejscueat in; on the spot; on siteна месте
  3. dostawcadelivery driver; supplier, providerдоставщик; поставщик
  4. pod drzwito your doorдо двери
  5. reklamówkaplastic carrier bag; advertпакет; рекламный ролик
  6. uwagaremark, note; demerit; attentionзамечание; внимание
  7. dowózdelivery (to your door); transport to a placeдоставка
  8. sztućcecutleryстоловые приборы
  9. doliczyćto add on (to a bill)приплюсовать, добавить в счёт
  10. przy odbiorzeon collection; cash on deliveryпри получении
Read the ten notes
skoczyć po
Skoczyć is to jump, but with po + accusative it is a quick errand: RU сбегать за. Skoczyć na piwo and skoczyć do sklepu are the same easy mood.
na miejscu
The question after the order, mirror of na wynos. Also 'on the spot', zmarł na miejscu, and 'on site': serwis na miejscu.
dostawca
The rider of a food app, and the company that supplies you with electricity or internet: dostawca prądu. RU splits it into доставщик and поставщик.
pod drzwi
Pod drzwi, accusative, is where something is going; pod drzwiami, instrumental, is where it waits. The courier's note zostawiłem pod drzwiami is the second.
reklamówka
PWN lists an ad or promo first and the plastic bag second. Siatka is the other everyday name for the bag; a torba is a sturdier one.
uwaga
The free-text box on an order form: uwagi do zamówienia. At school a uwaga in the dzienniczek is a written demerit, and shouted, Uwaga! is 'watch out'.
dowóz
Three words for one errand: dowóz is the restaurant’s (pizza z dowozem), dostawa the shop’s, doręczenie the law’s and the post office’s. Dowóz dzieci do szkoły is the school run.
sztućce
Plural only: nobody asks for one sztuciec. The checkbox on every delivery order, and the drawer that holds nóż, widelec and łyżka. RU needs two words for it.
doliczyć
What the app does on its last screen: count something on top. Doliczyć do dziesięciu is to count up to ten; the added fee is doliczona.
przy odbiorze
The cash-on-delivery label, płatność przy odbiorze. Odbiór is both picking up and receiving, so the phrase covers the courier's hand and your own trip.

11 December 2026Ceper na Krupówkach

A December weekend in Zakopane as the locals see you: a ceper stuck on the zakopianka, a slope that is not a drain, a wind blamed for every headache, and a bill that ends up in the news.

  1. ceperlowlander, outsider (a highlander's word for tourists)чужак с равнин, турист
  2. zakopiankathe Kraków-Zakopane roadтрасса Краков-Закопане
  3. stokslope, ski slopeсклон
  4. wyciągski lift; bank statement; extractподъёмник; выписка; экстракт
  5. orczykT-bar lift, drag liftбугельный подъёмник
  6. toprowiecTatra mountain rescuerспасатель ТОПР
  7. halnyfoehn, the warm gusty wind of the Tatrasфён (тёплый ветер с Татр)
  8. bryndzasoft sheep's cheese; hard times, povertyмягкий овечий сыр; нищета
  9. mieć pod górkęto have a hard time of it, to struggleприходится тяжко
  10. paragon grozyshockingly expensive receiptчек-ужастик
Read the ten notes
ceper
Podhale's mildly scornful word for anyone not from the mountains. PWN traces it through Slovak dialect to a Hungarian word for a juggler. Two plurals: ci ceprzy, or the dismissive te cepry.
zakopianka
The 102 km from Kraków to Zakopane, DK7 then DK47, jammed so often that roadside boards have shown travel times since 2011. Capitalised, Zakopianka is a woman from Zakopane.
stok
RU сток is a drain or runoff; in Polish that is odpływ or ściek. Stok is the hillside, and na stoku is where the skiing, and the falling over, happens.
wyciąg
From wyciągnąć, to pull out or up. On the slope it hauls skiers; from the bank it is a statement, wyciąg z konta, RU выписка; in the kitchen it is the extractor RU calls вытяжка.
orczyk
The bar you wedge behind your thighs to be dragged uphill. Off the slope, an orczyk is also the swingletree of a horse cart and the rudder bar under a pilot's feet.
toprowiec
A member of TOPR, the Tatra rescue service; GOPR covers the other ranges. On the Polish side the state pays for the rescue. Over the ridge in Slovakia, the rescued pay for their own.
halny
Wiatr halny, or just halny: a warm, violent wind off the mountains, commonest in October and November. Locals blame it for headaches and sleepless nights.
bryndza
RU брынза is a brined, crumbly cheese; Podhale bryndza is soft and spreadable, from sheep's milk. Colloquially it is also poverty: bryndza w portfelu is an empty wallet.
mieć pod górkę
Uphill means trouble, while RU идти в гору is to prosper. The good news is mieć z górki, downhill from here. Ktoś miał do szkoły pod górkę jokes about a hard childhood.
paragon grozy
Groza is horror, as in film grozy. A photo of a tourist-trap bill, posted online and then reprinted by news sites; Zakopane is a regular supplier.

12 December 2026Słowo roku

Each December PWN announces its youth word of the year. Ten words from the last five finals, minus the English loans like sigma and slay, ending with the 2025 winner, which means both mischief and daring.

  1. szacunrespect, propsреспект, уважуха
  2. essayes!, nice!; ease, chillйес!, кайф
  3. odklejkalosing touch with reality, a moment of madnessнеадекват, отрыв от реальности
  4. oporowoflat out, to the maxдо упора, по полной
  5. naurabye, see yaпока
  6. twoja starayour mum (as a comeback)твоя мамка
  7. odciszyć sięto unmute yourselfвключить микрофон
  8. czemówhy?! (in mock outrage)почему?! (шутл.)
  9. okpaokay, bye (ending a chat)ок, пока
  10. szponcićto get up to something, to mess about; to pull off something wildмутить, чудить
Read the ten notes
szacun
Szacunek with its tail cut off. Szacun za coś is the formula, and on its own, Szacun!, it is applause. A 2025 finalist that parents can say without embarrassing anyone.
essa
The 2022 winner: the shout after a win, a pass or a payday. As a noun it means ease: na essie is chilled, mieć essę is to have it easy.
odklejka
From odkleić się, to come unstuck: whatever held you to the ground has let go. The 2022 jury prize. Mieć or zaliczyć odklejkę; the person can be an odklejka too.
oporowo
Third in 2023. A youth remake of do oporu or w opór, 'to the stop', which is RU до упора almost word for word. The jury traced the fad to a farming meme, oporowo całodobowo.
naura
Na razie squeezed into one word; second in 2021. Na razie means 'for now' and doubles as goodbye, just like RU пока. Naura is what is left when a teenager says it at speed.
twoja stara
Third in 2021, and older than its voters. Stara is crude for mother or wife; stary is father, husband or boss, and as a form of address a mate: stary, słuchaj.
odciszyć się
A lockdown word the 2021 jury singled out. Wyciszyć is to mute; od- undoes things, as in odkręcić and odblokować, so odciszyć się is the plea of every video call.
czemó
Czemu, why, misspelled on purpose: an ó where the u belongs, said closer to czemo, for extra surprise. Third in 2024. It mocks the u-or-ó rule, so write it only once you know the rule.
okpa
OK plus pa, bye, welded into one word: the reply that closes a conversation before it starts. A 2025 finalist, also spelled okejpa or okipa; PWN prints it in capitals, OKPA.
szponcić
The 2025 winner, two-faced. With a smirk: fooling about, or something not quite legal. With admiration: something daring, or flirting. Old city and prison slang used it for scheming; szpont is the noun.

13 December 2026Gazetka i kasa samoobsługowa

A Saturday shop planned from the leaflet: a deal that ends when the stock does, a shelf price that beats the till, a bag that is also an advert, and a self-checkout that accuses you of smuggling your own shopping.

  1. gazetkashop leaflet; wall displayрекламная листовка магазина
  2. promkaspecial offer, dealакция, скидка
  3. zrywkathin roll bag (for loose produce)фасовочный пакет
  4. sztukaart; item, piece; playискусство; штука; пьеса
  5. cenówkashelf price labelценник
  6. metkatag, label; spreadable smoked sausageбирка; мягкая копчёная колбаса
  7. wagascales; weight; importance; Libraвесы; вес; важность; Весы
  8. siatkashopping bag; net; grid, meshпакет, сумка; сетка
  9. nabićto ring up (on a till); to load, to fillпробить (на кассе); зарядить
  10. strefa pakowaniabagging areaзона упаковки
Read the ten notes
gazetka
Not a little newspaper but the weekly shop leaflet, gazetka promocyjna, that many plan their shopping by. A gazetka ścienna is a school wall display; PWN adds an underground paper.
promka
Promocja cut down to two syllables. RU акция is the trap: Polish akcja is a campaign, a film's plot or a share on the stock market. A discount in a shop is promocja.
zrywka
Torn off a roll by the fruit, from zrywać, to tear off. Still free, while the reklamówka at the till has carried a fee since 2018. In forestry a zrywka is dragging felled trunks out of the wood.
sztuka
Art, but also RU штука: one item, sold za sztukę. Druga sztuka gratis is buy one, get one free. In the theatre a sztuka is a play, and niezła z niej sztuka means she is quite a character.
cenówka
The trade word for the label on the shelf; metka is the tag on the item itself. When shelf and till disagree, the law is on your side: the 2014 price act lets you demand the cheaper one.
metka
Two separate words in PWN. One is the tag on clothes, with size and price. The other is a raw smoked sausage soft enough to spread: metka cebulowa on a kajzerka.
waga
RU весы is plural; a Polish waga is one object, and the fruit aisle has one with sticky labels. Also weight, waga ciała; importance, sprawa wielkiej wagi; and the zodiac sign Libra, Waga.
siatka
Any shopping bag, cloth or plastic, where RU сетка is only the string one. Also a net: siatka na komary, siatka bramki, and the volleyball net that named the game, siatkówka. A timetable is drawn on a siatka too.
nabić
To ring up at the till, as RU пробить. Also to load a gun, fill a pipe, raise a bump, nabić sobie guza, and best of all to con someone: nabić kogoś w butelkę, to ram them into a bottle.
strefa pakowania
The scale under your bags at the kasa samoobsługowa. Put down your own tote or lift a carton too soon, and the screen tells you to wait for help, poczekaj na pomoc, while the queue watches.

14 December 2026Urlop między świętami

Bargaining for the dead week between Christmas and New Year: what the Kodeks pracy owes you, the overtime you can trade for days, the Saturday holiday that buys a weekday, and the autoreply that means 'not reading this'.

  1. wziąć wolneto take time offвзять отгул
  2. urlop na żądanieleave on demand, same-day leaveотпуск по требованию
  3. odebrać nadgodzinyto take time off in lieu of overtimeвзять отгул за переработку
  4. dzień wolny za sobotęday off in lieu of a holiday falling on a Saturdayвыходной за праздник в субботу
  5. zaległy urlopunused leave carried overнеиспользованный отпуск
  6. zwolnić sięto get time off (for a few hours); to quitотпроситься; уволиться
  7. zastępstwocover (for an absent colleague); substitute lessonзамена, замещение
  8. obijać sięto slack off, to loaf aboutбить баклуши, сачковать
  9. na pół gwizdkaat half steam, half-heartedlyвполсилы
  10. z ograniczonym dostępem do pocztywith limited access to email (out-of-office formula)с ограниченным доступом к почте
Read the ten notes
wziąć wolne
Wolne is a noun here: mieć wolne, dostać wolne. Since 2025 Wigilia is a public holiday, so in 2026 four days of leave, 28 to 31 December, buy eleven days off in a row.
urlop na żądanie
Four days a year out of your normal leave, claimed on the morning itself without giving a reason, before your shift starts. The employer may refuse only in exceptional cases.
odebrać nadgodziny
Odebrać is to collect, like a parcel or a child from school. Ask in writing and you get hour for hour; if the boss sends you off unasked, it is an hour and a half for every overtime hour.
dzień wolny za sobotę
When a public holiday falls on a Saturday, employees are owed another day off in the same settlement period, on a date the employer picks. In 2026 that is 26 December. On B2B, nothing.
zaległy urlop
Leave not taken by 31 December does not vanish: the employer must grant it by 30 September of the next year. Zaległy means overdue, like a bill, and zaległość is a backlog.
zwolnić się
Two jobs. Zwolnić się wcześniej is to leave early with permission; zwolnić się z pracy is to quit. Being fired is zostać zwolnionym, and jestem na zwolnieniu means off sick.
zastępstwo
Doing someone's job while they are away; at school, the lesson another teacher fills. Whoever is left holding everything may call themselves a zapchajdziura: a stopgap, literally plug-the-hole.
obijać się
Obijać is to bash, dent or upholster a sofa; obijać się, colloquially, is to drift about dodging work. RU бить баклуши makes the same joke with a different blow.
na pół gwizdka
Literally 'at half whistle': doing a job with only part of the effort it needs. RU вполсилы. The opposite is na pełnych obrotach, at full revs.
z ograniczonym dostępem do poczty
The standard autoreply line of late December. Poczta here is email, not the post office, and ograniczony, 'limited', is the polite word for none.

15 December 2026Wywiadówka

Parents' evening at a Polish school: the register is an app, the pupil's notebook is a different word, a one is a fail, and the stripe on the certificate is the only thing grandparents ask about.

  1. wywiadówkaparent-teacher meeting, parents' eveningродительское собрание
  2. trójka klasowaclass parents' committee (three elected parents)родительский комитет класса
  3. dziennikclass register; daily paper; diaryклассный журнал; газета; дневник
  4. wychowawcaform teacher, class tutor; educatorклассный руководитель; воспитатель
  5. pałafail mark, a oneкол, единица
  6. kartkówkashort written quiz, often unannouncedлетучка, самостоятельная
  7. polakPolish (the school subject), Polish classурок польского
  8. usprawiedliwienieabsence note; justificationобъяснительная; оправдание
  9. korkiprivate tutoringрепетиторство
  10. świadectwo z paskiemend-of-year certificate with distinctionтабель с отличием
Read the ten notes
wywiadówka
The school calls it zebranie z rodzicami; everyone else says wywiadówka. Same root as wywiad, which is both an interview and the intelligence service, and the evening can feel like either.
trójka klasowa
Officially rada oddziałowa: parents elected by secret ballot for a school year. They collect for trips and presents; contributions to the rada rodziców are voluntary, whatever the reminder says.
dziennik
RU дневник, the pupil's record book, is Polish dzienniczek. Dziennik is the class register, now an app parents refresh at night, as well as a daily paper or the TV news.
wychowawca
The teacher responsible for one class: runs the wywiadówka, writes the uwagi, phones home. RU классный руководитель in one word; the feminine is wychowawczyni, and godzina wychowawcza is the weekly form period.
pała
Polish marks run from 1 to 6, so a one fails and a szóstka is top; RU пятёрка is only bardzo dobry here. Pała, a club, is slang for the one, and so is lufa, a gun barrel.
kartkówka
A quiz on a single kartka, a sheet of paper: short, often unannounced, covering the last few lessons. The big announced test is a sprawdzian or a klasówka.
polak
Lowercase, it is the school subject: mamy polaka, babka od polaka. Capitalised, it is a Pole. Pupils' slang treats maths the same way: matma.
usprawiedliwienie
PWN's first sense is the written explanation of an absence: the note a parent sends after a missed day, now typed into the e-dziennik. RU оправдание is only its second sense, justification.
korki
Short for korepetycje, and spelled exactly like korki, traffic jams, and korki, studded football boots. Wikisłownik: first Warsaw slang, already known under the partitions.
świadectwo z paskiem
Earned with an average of at least 4.75 and conduct of bardzo dobre or better; the certificate then carries a stripe, colloquially czerwony pasek. A school-year cousin of RU красный диплом.

16 December 2026Szopka i jasełka

The school nativity play from both sides of the curtain: the manger, the rehearsal, the costume that is not a suit, the stage fright, and how far szopka stretches, from a crib to any public farce.

  1. jasełkanativity playрождественское представление
  2. żłobeknursery (for under-threes); manger; drunk tank (slang)ясли; вытрезвитель (разг.)
  3. próbarehearsal; attempt; test, sampleрепетиция; попытка; проба
  4. przebraniecostume, fancy dress; disguiseмаскарадный костюм
  5. tremastage frightмандраж (перед выступлением)
  6. bić brawoto applaud, to clapаплодировать, хлопать
  7. kostiumwoman’s suit; swimsuit; stage costumeженский костюм; купальник; сценический костюм
  8. kukiełkarod puppetтеатральная кукла, марионетка
  9. szopka krakowskaKraków nativity sceneкраковский вертеп
  10. szopkanativity scene; satirical show; farceвертеп; балаган, цирк
Read the ten notes
jasełka
Plural only, from Old Polish jasło, a manger. Schools and parishes stage them in December, and the casting is fought harder than any election: Maryja, Józef, then a long tail of sheep.
żłobek
The manger in every szopka and the nursery for under-threes, exactly like RU ясли. PWN adds a colloquial third sense: the sobering-up station, another place to sleep under supervision.
próba
Like RU проба it tests and samples, but on stage próba is the rehearsal RU calls репетиция, and próba generalna is the dress rehearsal. Polish repetycja is revising a lesson.
przebranie
What a child wears to be an angel or a sheep, from przebrać się, to dress up. Przebrać alone sorts or picks through, przebrać ziemniaki, and przebrać miarkę is to go too far.
trema
Nerves before any public appearance, at six or at sixty. RU трема is only the two dots over a letter; the fright is мандраж. Polish tremo, one letter off, is a tall pier mirror.
bić brawo
RU браво is only a shout. Polish brawo is also the applause itself: bić brawo, gromkie brawa. Brawo ty is its sarcastic cousin, for applause nobody earned.
kostium
RU костюм is a man’s suit, which Polish calls garnitur. Kostium is a woman’s suit, a swimsuit, kostium kąpielowy, or a stage costume. Men swim in kąpielówki, and the genitive is kostiumu, not kostium.
kukiełka
RU кукла is a doll, Polish lalka. Kukiełka is the theatre puppet on a stick; kukła is a dummy, an effigy or a spineless person. Tuwim and Słonimski wrote szopki for politicians' kukiełki.
szopka krakowska
Glittering towers copying Kraków's churches, the Nativity tucked inside. On the first Thursday of December their makers carry them to the Mickiewicz statue on the Rynek. UNESCO-listed since 2018.
szopka
PWN's senses run from a small shed to the crib, the nativity play, a satire on politicians and, colloquially, any farce put on for show: cała ta szopka z wyborami. Szopka na głowie is messy hair.

17 December 2026Pożyczyć, wypożyczyć, oddać

A flat for five, one drill and a fridge with no borders. Polish lends and borrows with one verb, rents from a counter with another, needs the landlord's blessing to sublet, and has a phrase for the jacket you will never see again.

  1. pożyczyćto lend; to borrowодолжить; занять
  2. wypożyczyćto rent (from a rental shop); to check out (from a library)взять напрокат; взять в библиотеке
  3. użyczyćto lend for free use; to lend (one's voice, support)предоставить безвозмездно
  4. podnająćto sublet; to rent as a subtenantсдать или снять в субаренду
  5. zwrócićto return, to pay back; to turn; to throw upвернуть; повернуть; стошнить
  6. wisiećto owe (money); to hangбыть должным; висеть
  7. dołożyć sięto chip in (towards)добавить свою долю, скинуться
  8. sępićto scrounge, to cadgeстрелять (сигареты), клянчить
  9. podbieraćto help yourself to someone’s things on the slyтаскать (у кого-то)
  10. na wieczne nieoddaniefor keeps (borrowed, never to come back)навсегда, без возврата
Read the ten notes
pożyczyć
One verb, both directions: pożyczyć komuś lends, pożyczyć od kogoś borrows. The trap is RU занять: Polish zająć never borrows; it occupies a seat, the bathroom or your evening.
wypożyczyć
Borrowing with a counter in between: a library, a ski or car hire, any wypożyczalnia. Between friends it is pożyczyć, and a flat is never wypożyczone: it is wynajęte.
użyczyć
Lending for free use: the civil code's umowa użyczenia covers a car or a flat handed over without rent; charge for it and it becomes najem. Actors użyczają głosu, lend their voices, to cartoons.
podnająć
Both directions again: you podnajmujesz a room to someone or from someone. Subletting a rented flat needs the landlord's consent under the civil code; without it the lease can be ended.
zwrócić
Oddać is the flatmates' verb; zwrócić belongs to banks and shops: zwrócić pieniądze, zwrócić towar. It is also what a stomach does after a party: zwrócił całą kolację.
wisieć
To hang, and colloquially to owe: the debt hangs on you, and the creditor goes in the dative. Wisi mi to, crude, means I couldn't care less, which is how the debtor tends to feel.
dołożyć się
Adding your share to what someone else is paying. Without się, dołożyć adds more of anything, dołożyć pieniędzy, and the colloquial dołożyć komuś is to let someone have it, with fists or words.
sępić
From sęp, the vulture. RU стреляет a cigarette; Polish circles over it like a carrion bird. PWN: to ask for something, usually pushily.
podbierać
RU подбирать picks things up off the floor; Polish podbierać takes them from under someone’s nose: milk from the fridge, coins from a jar. Podebrać komuś dziewczynę is to steal a girlfriend.
na wieczne nieoddanie
Literally 'for eternal non-return', a mock-legal noun built from oddać. WSJP pairs it with dać, pożyczyć and wziąć: a loan everyone in the flat understood except the owner.

18 December 2026Podsumowanie roku

Summing up the year the Polish way: the year in a pill, gone like a whip-crack, nothing special, hard on everyone, and, as Kochanowski noticed in 1575, wise only after the damage.

  1. w pigułcein a nutshellвкратце, в двух словах
  2. jak z bicza strzeliłin a flash, before you know itкак один миг
  3. przełomturn (of a period); breakthroughрубеж; прорыв, перелом
  4. zaliczyćto tick off, to clock up; to pass; to count asзасчитать; отметиться; сдать
  5. szału nie manothing special, nothing to write home aboutничего особенного
  6. dać się we znakito take its toll, to give someone a hard timeдать о себе знать
  7. bilansbalance sheet, tally; child's health check-upбаланс, итог; плановый осмотр
  8. wyjść na prostąto get back on track, to get out of troubleвыкарабкаться, наладить дела
  9. rachunek sumieniaexamination of conscience; soul-searchingиспытание совести
  10. mądry Polak po szkodziewise after the eventзадним умом крепок
Read the ten notes
w pigułce
Literally 'in a pill': the whole thing compressed into one dose. Przedstawić, streścić or ująć w pigułce, and hence the round-up title rok w pigułce.
jak z bicza strzelił
Literally 'as if cracked from a whip'. Almost always about time running out: rok minął, wakacje zleciały. Variants swap the whip, z bata strzelił, or the crack, z bicza trzasnął.
przełom
Na przełomie roku, grudnia i stycznia, wieków: at the turn of. Also a breakthrough, and the turning point of an illness, as RU перелом; but a broken leg is złamanie. Przełom never breaks a bone.
zaliczyć
To count something in: an exam passed, a concert seen, a country ticked off, even a fall, zaliczyć glebę. Mind the object: zaliczyć a person is crude slang for sleeping with them.
szału nie ma
Szał is frenzy, so literally 'there is no frenzy'. The standard verdict on a film, a salary or a whole year: nothing dazzling, just average, as WSJP puts it.
dać się we znaki
Said of winter, prices, neighbours or a toddler: something that made itself painfully felt. RU дать о себе знать is close but milder. The victim goes in the dative: dał mi się we znaki.
bilans
The accountant's balance sheet and anyone's summing-up. At the paediatrician it is the routine check-up at set ages, bilans dwulatka, bilans sześciolatka: free, recommended, not compulsory.
wyjść na prostą
Prosta is a straight stretch of road; coming out onto it means the bends, debts or a crisis, are behind you. RU выйти на финишную прямую is about nearly finishing, a different promise.
rachunek sumienia
From church: the self-examination before confession, with printed question lists for children and adults. Outside church, any honest look back at your year. Rachunek alone is the restaurant bill.
mądry Polak po szkodzie
The proverb Poles aim at themselves. Kochanowski, after the Tatar raid of 1575, warned the Pole would earn a new one: i przed szkodą, i po szkodzie głupi, foolish before the damage and after.

19 December 2026Kolędnicy

Carol singers at the door and carols on the radio: a horned beast with a clacking jaw, a bishop's crozier hidden in a song's name, and the old Polish everyone sings without quite understanding.

  1. kolędnikcarol singer (going door to door)колядовщик
  2. turońturoń, the horned beast of the carol troupeряженый зверь с рогами
  3. pastorałkafolk Christmas song, pastoral carolрождественская песня, пастораль
  4. żłóbmanger, trough; (colloquial) the public troughясли (кормушка); кормушка (о должности)
  5. ubogipoor, needy; low in (something)бедный, неимущий
  6. lichyshabby, flimsy, measlyплохонький, жалкий
  7. czym prędzejas quickly as possible, at onceкак можно скорее
  8. wszem i wobecto all and sundry, to everyoneвсем и каждому, во всеуслышание
  9. truchlećto quake with fear, to freeze in terrorтрепетать, цепенеть от страха
  10. herod-bababattle-axe, domineering womanмегера, бой-баба
Read the ten notes
kolędnik
The same custom as Belarusian калядоўшчыкі. The Polish troupe brings a star on a pole, a turoń, Herod, Death and a devil, and sings for cake or coins.
turoń
A horned wooden head with a clacking jaw, carried by a carol singer under a blanket. Like the Belarusian goat, it drops dead mid-show and is revived — here with vodka poured into its jaw.
pastorałka
A folk Christmas song, lighter and merrier than a solemn kolęda, often about the shepherds. Drop the -ka and you get pastorał, a bishop's crozier.
żłób
The manger of the carol W żłobie leży, and the public trough: dorwać się do żłobu is to land a cushy state job. Żłobek is a day nursery — RU ясли keeps manger and nursery in one word.
ubogi
As in the carol Ach, ubogi żłobie: plain, neutral poverty. RU убогий has slid to wretched and pitiful; Polish ubogi has not, and ubogi w is simply 'low in'.
lichy
Mizerna, cicha, stajenka licha: the stable is shabby, not dashing like RU лихой. The noun is a twin, though — licho, as in do licha, is RU лихо, the evil best left asleep.
czym prędzej
Straight from the carol Wśród nocnej ciszy: czym prędzej się wybierajcie. Still everyday Polish, with co prędzej as its twin, where RU would say поскорее.
wszem i wobec
Wszem is a fossil, the old dative of wszystek, kept here and in Cicha noc: pokój niesie ludziom wszem. The joke version adds i każdemu z osobna.
truchleć
Bóg się rodzi, moc truchleje — God is born, and power quakes with fear. Karpiński's 1792 carol is all paradox, so everyone sings the verb and few could define it.
herod-baba
Herod, the tyrant king, is the villain of the carollers' nativity play, which some regions simply call herody. A herod-baba has his temper — or, said jokingly, is just a big, strong woman.

20 December 2026Pod choinkę

Gift logistics before the 24th: the whip-round, the voucher, the chocolates bought just to be done with it, the ritual lines at unwrapping — and what the law says about the jumper you will never wear.

  1. gwiazdkaChristmas present, Christmas; little star; asteriskподарок на Рождество; звёздочка
  2. zrzutkawhip-round, collectionскладчина
  3. bonvoucher, gift cardподарочный сертификат
  4. bombonierkabox of chocolatesкоробка конфет
  5. na odczepnegojust to get rid of someone, as a tokenчтобы отвязаться, для галочки
  6. kokardabow (tied ribbon)бант
  7. nie trzeba byłoyou shouldn't have!ну зачем, не стоило!
  8. drobiazgtrifle, little thing; (as a reply) it's nothingмелочь, пустяк
  9. sprawić sobieto treat yourself to, to get yourselfсправить себе, купить себе
  10. nietrafionymisjudged, off the mark (of a gift, an idea)неудачный, мимо
Read the ten notes
gwiazdka
Na gwiazdkę means 'for Christmas', and a gwiazdka can be the present itself. It is also the asterisk that leads to the small print, and chcieć gwiazdki z nieba is to ask for the moon.
zrzutka
From zrzucić się, to chip in: the same picture as RU скинуться. The everyday word for a składka, whether for Grandma's present or a colleague's leaving gift.
bon
RU says подарочный сертификат, but a Polish certyfikat is a document, not something you spend. Shops also say karta podarunkowa, and a bon is what you get when they refuse a cash refund.
bombonierka
The safe present for someone you hardly know: the neighbour who took in your parcels, the class teacher. RU бонбоньерка survives mostly in old novels.
na odczepnego
From odczepić się, to unhook yourself — the same picture as RU отвязаться. A prezent na odczepnego is bought to end an obligation, not to please, and it shows.
kokarda
RU бант. RU кокарда is the badge on a uniform cap; a Polish kokarda is any ribbon tied in two loops, on a present or a little girl's plait.
nie trzeba było
Said on receiving any present, however welcome. Drop the nie and it becomes a reproach: trzeba było mówić — you should have said so.
drobiazg
The giver's half of the ritual: to tylko drobiazg. In speech it is also a swarm of small children — cały ten drobiazg — and drobiazgowy means meticulous, often to a fault.
sprawić sobie
Sprawić mostly means 'to cause': sprawić radość, sprawić kłopot. With sobie it is buying, as in RU справить себе шубу — and the present you choose yourself never misses.
nietrafiony
The January headline: co zrobić z nietrafionym prezentem. A shop need not take back a sound item bought in person — that is its own goodwill. Online, the law gives you 14 days.

21 December 2026Zdrówko!

Raising a glass at a Polish holiday table: the homely toast, a verb that sounds like getting drunk but means one cup, a clink that also means crazy, and the one way of drinking that worries everybody.

  1. zdrówkocheers! (homely)будем! (тост)
  2. kieliszeksmall stemmed glass (for vodka or wine); a shotрюмка; бокал
  3. wznieść toastto propose a toast, to raise a glassподнять тост
  4. obymay it be so; here's hopingдай бог, лишь бы
  5. stuknąć sięto clink (glasses); to bump into each otherчокнуться
  6. przepijaćto drink to someone, to raise your glass to someoneпить за кого-либо
  7. kropelkaa tiny dropкапелька
  8. gospodarzhost; farmer; caretaker (of a building)хозяин; крестьянин
  9. wodzirejmaster of ceremonies (at a wedding, a ball); ringleaderтамада, массовик-затейник
  10. sto latmany happy returns (the song and the wish); agesмногая лета; сто лет
Read the ten notes
zdrówko
The diminutive of zdrowie, and the homelier toast: na zdrowie suits any company, zdrówko sounds like family. On cards, dużo zdrówka is what older relatives wish you.
kieliszek
The diminutive of kielich, a chalice: vodka and wine go in a kieliszek, water and tea in a szklanka, RU стакан. Counting drinks counts glasses: po trzecim kieliszku, after the third.
wznieść toast
Wznieść, to raise up, as you would a building. Spelling splits what RU тост merges: a toast is the speech and the drink, a tost is toasted bread.
oby
The wishing particle, and it takes person endings: obyś, obyśmy. Obyśmy zdrowi byli does what RU будем здоровы does with a plain future; Oby! alone is 'here's hoping'.
stuknąć się
The same double life as RU чокнуться: stuknięty means nuts. Stuknąć alone also counts birthdays: stuknęła mu czterdziestka, he has just turned forty.
przepijać
Przepijać do kogoś: catching someone's eye across the table and drinking to them. Without do it is RU пропивать: przepić pensję, to drink away your pay.
kropelka
The host's unit of measure: jeszcze kropelkę? never means a drop. With a capital K, Kropelka is a brand of superglue, so the word lives in toolboxes too.
gospodarz
Zdrowie gospodarzy! is the toast that thanks the hosts. A gospodarz is also a farmer, a block's caretaker, and on the sports pages the home side: gospodarze wygrali.
wodzirej
The nearest RU word is тамада, but a wodzirej runs the dancing and the games, not the toasts. Wodzić rej is to lead the pack, at a party or in a league table.
sto lat
The song at every birthday, name day and wedding, and the wish on its own. Said to someone who walks in as you mention them, where RU says долго жить будешь. And sto lat się nie widzieliśmy is RU сто лет не виделись.

22 December 2026Dwanaście potraw

The twelve meatless dishes of Wigilia: one a Belarusian knows under another name, a dumpling that is also the eye of a needle, a herring that holds up a tent, and a fish called Greek for no clear reason.

  1. postnymeatless, Lentenпостный
  2. kutiakutia (wheat, poppy seed and honey)кутья
  3. kompot z suszudried-fruit compoteузвар, компот из сухофруктов
  4. uszkolittle ear; small dumpling (for barszcz); eye of a needle; handle (of a cup)ушко; пельмешек (к борщу)
  5. śledźherring; tent peg; very narrow tieселёдка; колышек (палатки)
  6. galaretaaspic, savoury jellyзаливное, холодец
  7. ośćfishboneрыбья кость
  8. półmisekserving dish, platterблюдо (посуда)
  9. skosztowaćto taste, to sampleпопробовать, отведать
  10. ryba po greckufried fish under a carrot and tomato sauceрыба под маринадом
Read the ten notes
postny
Same as RU постный: no meat, fish allowed — hence carp and herring. Church law has not required a meatless Wigilia for decades; the bishops only encourage it, and tradition does the rest.
kutia
Belarusian куцця names the evening as well as the dish. In Poland it is only the dish — wheat, poppy, honey — eaten in the east and in Kresy families; elsewhere the poppy goes into noodles.
kompot z suszu
Belarusian узвар, which also stood beside the куцця. Smoked plums give the Polish one its taste. Susz is the dried fruit; susza, one letter longer, is a drought.
uszko
A little ear, and also the eye of a needle and the handle of a cup. In barszcz it is a thumbnail-sized mushroom dumpling folded into the shape of an ear.
śledź
The same word holds down your tent: śledzie are tent pegs. It is also a very narrow tie, and śledzik is the party on the last night of carnival.
galareta
Savoury: karp w galarecie, or nóżki w galarecie, RU холодец. The diminutive galaretka is the sweet one, fruit jelly for dessert, so mixing them up makes for a very odd pudding.
ość
RU ость is only the bristle on an ear of barley, which Polish ość covers too. At the table it is the fishbone — and carp, the Wigilia fish, is full of them.
półmisek
RU блюдо is both the platter and the food on it. Polish splits them: the dish you eat is a potrawa or danie, the dish you carry in is a półmisek.
skosztować
The custom: taste all twelve, or that dish will be missing next year. Kosztować also means 'to cost', so ile to kosztuje? and skosztuj! share a verb.
ryba po grecku
Fried fish under stewed carrot, onion and tomato, eaten cold: the Soviet table knew it as рыба под маринадом. Nobody knows why Greek; old cookbooks had a cousin called ryba po żydowsku.

23 December 2026Sianko pod obrusem

The small rituals of Wigilia, most of which a Belarusian grew up with at куцця: hay under the tablecloth, a spare place, a straw that tells your year, a carp scale for money, and the mass at midnight.

  1. wieczerzasupper (solemn)вечеря
  2. siankoa little hay (under the Wigilia tablecloth)сенцо
  3. źdźbłoblade (of grass), straw; a tiny bitтравинка, соломинка
  4. nakrycieplace setting; coveringприбор (место за столом)
  5. zbłąkanylost, strayзаблудившийся, заблудший
  6. łuskascale (of a fish); husk; cartridge caseчешуйка; шелуха; гильза
  7. na szczęściefortunately; for luckк счастью; на счастье
  8. pasterkaChristmas midnight mass; shepherdessполуночная месса; пастушка
  9. gody(dated) the Christmas season; wedding feast, anniversary; mating seasonсвятки (стар.); свадьба; брачный период
  10. jaka Wigilia, taki cały rokas Christmas Eve goes, so goes the yearкак встретишь, так и проведёшь
Read the ten notes
wieczerza
Belarusian вячэра is any evening meal. In Polish the word survives in wieczerza wigilijna and Ostatnia Wieczerza, the Last Supper; an ordinary supper is kolacja.
sianko
Hay for the manger, exactly as under a Belarusian абрус. Plain siano is also slang for cash, and for a mop of unwashed hair.
źdźbło
After supper everyone pulls one from under the tablecloth: green promises a good year, yellow a poor harvest. And a famous mouthful: five consonant letters before the first vowel.
nakrycie
The spare place is for an unexpected guest, a custom that spread in the 19th century. Nakrycie głowy, a head covering, is the formal word for a hat.
zbłąkany
The guest the spare plate waits for is always a zbłąkany wędrowiec. A zbłąkana kula is a stray bullet; a zbłąkana owieczka, like RU заблудшая овца, is a lost sheep.
łuska
A carp scale tucked into the wallet keeps money coming all year — half-believed in many homes. Łuska is also a seed husk and, at a shooting range, the spent cartridge case.
na szczęście
RU splits к счастью, fortunately, from на счастье, for luck. Polish uses na szczęście for both — the carp scale in your wallet is na szczęście too.
pasterka
Named after the shepherds who reached Bethlehem by night. The same word is a shepherdess, and was once a straw hat with a wide brim.
gody
Capitalised, Gody is the old name for the season from Christmas to Epiphany. Lowercase: a wedding feast, an anniversary — złote gody is fifty years — and the animals' mating season.
jaka Wigilia, taki cały rok
Hence the rules: peace at home from the morning, a taste of every dish, an early start. RU pins the same idea on New Year: как Новый год встретишь, так его и проведёшь.

24 December 2026Wesołych Świąt

24 December, a day off by law since 2025: what to wish, how to answer, and the Russian reflexes that turn Polish greetings into congratulations.

  1. Wesołych ŚwiątMerry Christmas; Happy EasterС Рождеством!
  2. wzajemniesame to you; mutuallyи вам того же; взаимно
  3. składać życzeniato offer good wishes, to wish someone wellпоздравлять (с праздником)
  4. pozdrowićto greet; to give someone's regardsпередать привет
  5. pomyślnośćprosperity, good fortuneблагополучие
  6. pogodnycheerful, serene; fair (weather)безмятежный; ясный (о погоде)
  7. darzyćto hold (someone) in (respect, trust), to feel (for someone)питать (чувства)
  8. spędzićto spend (time); to drive off; to round up (animals)провести (время)
  9. odświętniein one's best clothes, festivelyнарядно, по-праздничному
  10. obchodzićto celebrate; to concern; to walk roundпраздновать; касаться; обходить
Read the ten notes
Wesołych Świąt
A genitive hanging on an unspoken życzę, like RU всего хорошего — never a calque of с Рождеством. It covers Easter too: Wesołych Świąt in April surprises nobody.
wzajemnie
The reply to any wish, from Wesołych Świąt to Smacznego, where RU says и вам того же. Nawzajem does the same job, and both also mean 'each other'.
składać życzenia
RU поздравляю с праздником, but never gratuluję: Polish congratulates on a success — a promotion, a baby — while holidays get życzenia.
pozdrowić
A false friend: RU поздравить congratulates, Polish pozdrowić only says hello. Pozdrawiam at the end of an email is 'best wishes', not 'congratulations'.
pomyślność
The third of the trio that ends every card: zdrowia, szczęścia, pomyślności. The adverb turns up on payment screens: płatność zakończona pomyślnie, payment successful.
pogodny
RU погодный belongs to forecasts. Polish pogodny is fine weather and a sunny temper: pogodny dzień, pogodny człowiek, pogodnych świąt.
darzyć
RU дарить gives presents; Polish darzyć gives feelings: darzyć kogoś zaufaniem, sympatią. A present is podarować, and darzyć się, oddly, means to go well.
spędzić
RU проводить время, but Polish przeprowadzić runs surveys and house moves; time is spędzony. The same verb chases flies off a cake and rounds up cattle.
odświętnie
Not od święta, 'once in a blue moon': odświętnie is in your Sunday best. The adjective odświętny describes clothes kept for holidays.
obchodzić
Obchodzić święta is to celebrate; co cię to obchodzi? is 'none of your business'. Since 2025 Wigilia itself is a public day off, so everyone obchodzi it at home.

25 December 2026Resztki

25 December, the morning after: a fridge packed to the door, yesterday's pierogi fried for breakfast, heartburn, the sofa and the film that is on every single year.

  1. resztkaremnant, leftover; (plural) leftoversостаток; (мн.) остатки еды
  2. pękać w szwachto be full to burstingломиться, быть битком набитым
  3. odsmażyćto fry up (leftovers)разогреть на сковороде
  4. na zimnocold (of food); coolly, without emotionв холодном виде; на холодную голову
  5. wyżerkafeast, blow-outобжираловка
  6. zapchać sięto stuff yourself; to get cloggedнабить живот; засориться
  7. przejeść sięto overeat; to get sick of (something)переесть; приесться
  8. zgagaheartburn; (colloquial) a nag; sour aftertasteизжога; зануда
  9. leniuchowaćto laze about, to loafбездельничать, лентяйничать
  10. powtórkarerun, repeat; revision (before an exam)повтор; повторение
Read the ten notes
resztka
RU остатки would mislead: Polish ostatki are the last days of carnival, before Lent. Leftovers are resztki, and a resztka of fabric is the end of a roll, sold off cheap.
pękać w szwach
Not RU трещать по швам: nothing is falling apart, there is just too much inside. Even the calque trzeszczy w szwach means packed — fridges, trains, hotels.
odsmażyć
Reheating by frying, with a verb of its own. Wigilia pierogi come back odsmażane for days, and plenty of people think they are better the second time.
na zimno
Danie na zimno is served cold by design, no reheating needed. The same phrase is cool judgement: ocenić coś na zimno, once the emotions have settled.
wyżerka
A big, tasty spread, or the chance of one. Built on żreć, how animals eat — RU жрать — so it is jokey: fine about your own table, cheeky about your host's.
zapchać się
The same verb blocks a pipe: zlew się zapchał, the sink is clogged, and a stuffy nose is zapchany. On the 25th the sink and the guests are often in the same state.
przejeść się
RU переесть for the stomach, приесться for the boredom; Polish does both: przejadły mi się pierogi. Without się, przejeść is to spend your money on food.
zgaga
RU изжога. In speech it is also a person: the quarrelsome relative who sours every meal. And the zgaga left after a row is the bad taste that will not go away.
leniuchować
RU лениться is a complaint, 'can't be bothered'; leniuchować is idleness enjoyed, the official programme of the 25th. The person doing it is a leniuch.
powtórka
Polsat shows Kevin sam w domu almost every Christmas, and when it once tried to drop it, viewers revolted. At school, powtórka is revision before a test.

26 December 2026Szczepan

26 December, the second day: visiting the other side of the family, the in-law words that Russian splits eight ways, and two phrases for the moment the uncle brings up politics.

  1. drugi dzień świątBoxing Day, 26 Decemberвторой день Рождества
  2. wpaśćto drop in; to fall in; to get caughtзаскочить; попасться
  3. teściowamother-in-lawтёща; свекровь
  4. szwagierbrother-in-lawзять; шурин; деверь; свояк
  5. pociotekdistant relativeдальний родственник
  6. wujek Dobra Radaknow-it-all who hands out unasked adviceнепрошеный советчик
  7. przytykdig, jibeшпилька, колкость
  8. drażliwytouchy, sensitive (topic); irritable (person)щекотливый; раздражительный
  9. cisza jak makiem zasiałdead silence; you could hear a pin dropмёртвая тишина
  10. dać sobie sianato give it a rest, to drop itоставить в покое, забить
Read the ten notes
drugi dzień świąt
Also the feast of św. Szczepan, and a public holiday. The day for the other side of the family; in some parishes the priest still gets showered with blessed oats, for St Stephen's stoning.
wpaść
RU впасть only falls into states. Polish wpaść drops round for coffee, gets caught red-handed, falls for someone — and, of a couple, finds a baby on the way unplanned.
teściowa
Both RU тёща and свекровь: Polish does not care whose mother she is. The same goes for teść, тесть and свёкор; together they are teściowie.
szwagier
One word for four RU ones: your sister's husband (зять), your wife's or husband's brother (шурин, деверь), even your wife's sister's husband (свояк).
pociotek
A relative so distant nobody can say how. RU needs a whole saying, седьмая вода на киселе; Polish does it in one word, and pociotka is the female version.
wujek Dobra Rada
Every family table has one: knows what you should earn, whom to marry and how to park. Spelt every which way, capitals or quotes, because nobody checks first.
przytyk
A pointed remark dressed as small talk: a kiedy ślub?, a dzieci?, przytyłeś? At family tables they arrive in courses, like the food.
drażliwy
Of a topic, RU щекотливый; of a person, раздражительный. Politics, money and babcia's flat are the classic drażliwe tematy of the second day.
cisza jak makiem zasiał
Silence 'as if sown with poppy seed'. English drops a pin, RU waits for a fly — слышно, как муха пролетит. Also cisza jak makiem posiał.
dać sobie siana
Literally 'to give yourself some hay': to stop doing something, or stop caring about it. Daj sobie siana is the polite-enough way to end the row.

27 December 2026Ksiądz po kolędzie

Between 27 December and Candlemas the priest calls at every flat in the parish: the notice, the altar boys at the door, the awkward questions and the envelope — plus the church words that walked out into everyday Polish.

  1. wizyta duszpasterskapastoral visit, the priest's Christmas house callпастырский визит (коляда)
  2. ministrantaltar boy, altar serverслужка, алтарник
  3. kancelariaoffice (of a parish, notary, etc.); law firmканцелярия; адвокатская контора
  4. bać się jak diabeł święconej wodyto fear like the plague, to avoid at all costsбояться как чёрт ладана
  5. spowiadać sięto go to confession; to confide, to account for oneselfисповедоваться; отчитываться
  6. żyć na kocią łapęto live together unmarried, to cohabitжить в гражданском браке (разг.)
  7. kopertaenvelope; reserved parking bayконверт; выделенное парковочное место
  8. co łaskawhatever you see fit, pay what you likeсколько не жалко
  9. ofiaradonation, offering; victim; (slang) loserпожертвование; жертва; неудачник
  10. Bóg zapłaćthank you (literally 'may God repay you')спаси Господь, спасибо
Read the ten notes
wizyta duszpasterska
The notice-board name for the kolęda. Duszpasterz, the soul-shepherd, is RU пастырь. Visits may start on 27 December and run to 2 February, staircase by staircase.
ministrant
They walk ahead of the priest, knock and announce him. Altar service is unpaid all year except at the kolęda, when flats tip them, often ten or twenty złoty; some parishes now pool it.
kancelaria
Kancelaria parafialna is the parish office, with short opening hours. Elsewhere a kancelaria is a law firm or a notary's. Pens and paper, RU канцелярия in a shop, are artykuły biurowe.
bać się jak diabeł święconej wody
RU swaps the water for incense, как чёрт ладана; Belarusian keeps the water, as Polish does. Apt for the kolęda, when the priest sprinkles holy water round the flat.
spowiadać się
The priest may ask when you last did it in church. Outside church it is telling someone your private business, and nie muszę ci się spowiadać is 'I don't have to explain myself to you'.
żyć na kocią łapę
Literally 'on a cat's paw'. RU гражданский брак often means exactly this, but a Polish ślub cywilny is a real registry-office wedding: translate one into the other and you marry them off.
koperta
On the road a koperta is a painted reserved bay, and the blue one is for disabled drivers. Stanąć na niebieskiej kopercie without a card costs 800 zł.
co łaska
The giver sets the sum, in theory. The fine print is a running joke: Polityka once quoted a fee as co łaska, ale nie mniej niż 10 tys. zł — whatever you like, minimum ten grand.
ofiara
RU жертва covers victim and sacrifice; Polish adds the donation, so a parish thanks you for your ofiary. In the schoolyard, ty ofiaro! means 'you hopeless loser'.
Bóg zapłać
Sounds like an invoice, works as a receipt: 'may God repay you', since the speaker will not. RU спасибо hides спаси Бог inside; Polish keeps God in plain view.

28 December 2026Ferie

Two weeks of winter break and a child at home: where to send them, what they say on day three, and what to do if snow ever falls. It ends downhill, which in Polish is good news.

  1. ferieschool holidays, esp. the winter breakканикулы (зимние)
  2. półkolonieday camp (children sleep at home)дневной городской лагерь
  3. zimowiskowinter camp; winter quartersзимний лагерь; зимовье
  4. turnussession, stay (at a camp, sanatorium, etc.)смена, заезд
  5. nudzić sięto be boredскучать
  6. łyżwyice skatesконьки
  7. śnieżkasnowballснежок
  8. bałwansnowman; (insult) blockhead; big waveснеговик; болван
  9. kuligsleigh ride (a convoy of horse-drawn sleighs)катание на санях
  10. z górkiplain sailing, easy from here onдальше как по маслу
Read the ten notes
ferie
RU каникулы splits in two: summer is wakacje, winter is ferie. Two weeks, staggered by województwo — this winter in three waves from 18 January to 28 February — so the mountains never empty.
półkolonie
Half a kolonie: games by day, home to sleep. Kolonie proper, the camp away from home, sounds to a Russian ear like a sentence served — RU колония.
zimowisko
The ferie version of kolonie, often run by the scouts, harcerze. The same word is where animals see out the winter, RU зимовье — which, for a chalet full of teenagers, is fair.
turnus
RU смена or заезд: a fixed stay with a fixed group, from kids' camps to sanatoria. Colloquially it is the group itself: cały turnus złapał grypę, the whole intake caught flu.
nudzić się
Day three of ferie. RU скучать splits: boredom is nudzić się, missing someone is tęsknić. Without się, nudzić is to nag or drone on, close to RU нудить.
łyżwy
RU лыжи are skis, but Polish łyżwy are skates; skis are narty. Mix them up at a rental desk and you leave with the wrong sport.
śnieżka
RU снежок is masculine; śnieżka is feminine, and a snowball fight is bitwa na śnieżki. Capitalised, Śnieżka is the highest peak of the Karkonosze, and Królewna Śnieżka is Snow White.
bałwan
RU болван is the fool; Polish puts the snowman first and keeps the fool for insults — ty bałwanie! At sea, bałwany are big foaming waves. You lepić a bałwan, as you lepić pierogi.
kulig
A convoy of horse-drawn sleighs, often towing sledges, ending at a bonfire. The DIY kulig, sledges behind a car or tractor, is banned on public roads, and police say so every winter.
z górki
Literally 'downhill', and good news: once the hard part is over, ktoś ma z górki. English downhill can mean decline; the Polish one only means the sledge is finally moving.

29 December 2026Remanent

A locked shop door in early January with one word on it. The stocktake, the PRL shop that still stands behind it, and the phrase for taking someone with the whole inventory.

  1. remanentstocktaking; stock-take of anything, reviewпереучёт, инвентаризация
  2. czynnyopen (of a shop, office); active, workingоткрытый; действующий
  3. zapleczeback room, storeroom; backing, support baseподсобка; тыл, база
  4. na staniein stock, on the booksв наличии, на балансе
  5. ekspedientkashop assistant (behind a counter)продавщица
  6. spod ladyunder the counter, on the quietиз-под полы
  7. rzucićto throw; to dump (someone), to quit; to put scarce goods on saleбросить; выбросить (в продажу)
  8. braklack, shortage; defectнехватка, отсутствие; брак
  9. mankoshortfall (in a till or stock)недостача
  10. z dobrodziejstwem inwentarzawith everything that comes with it, warts and allсо всеми потрохами
Read the ten notes
remanent
The RU переучёт sign. Accountants say inwentaryzacja; the door says remanent. Figuratively it is taking stock of anything: zrobić remanent w szafie, or of a whole year.
czynny
Door signs say czynne, not otwarte, and the bad news is nieczynne. Czynny wulkan is RU действующий вулкан, and in grammar strona czynna is the active voice.
zaplecze
The shop's back room, where the thing you want always might be. By extension, whatever something runs on: zaplecze kuchenne, or a party's zaplecze polityczne, its people and money.
na stanie
Ledger officialese, marked urzędowe in WSJP: what a firm, an army unit or a shop holds is na stanie. Speakers borrow it for jokes about their own life: mam na stanie pięć krawatów.
ekspedientka
RU экспедитор is a freight forwarder, in Polish a spedytor. An ekspedientka stands behind a counter and weighs your ham; the self-service chains mostly hire kasjerki.
spod lady
Lada is the counter. In PRL scarce goods went spod lady to friends of the ekspedientka. RU sells из-под полы, from under a coat-flap; Polish does it from under the counter.
rzucić
PRL shop talk, as in Soviet queues: rzucili, like RU выбросили, meant a delivery had just hit the shelves. The same verb dumps partners, rzuciła go, and habits, rzucić palenie.
brak
First a lack: brak czasu, brak towaru — out of stock, not faulty. PWN also gives a defect, as RU брак does, but never a marriage: that is małżeństwo.
manko
From Italian via German; RU недостача. Not just bad luck: under the Labour Code a cashier answers in full for money entrusted to her, so she may have to repay the manko.
z dobrodziejstwem inwentarza
Inwentarz is a firm's assets or a farm's livestock. In law, accepting an inheritance z dobrodziejstwem inwentarza caps your liability for its debts; in life it means taking the lot.

30 December 2026Petardy i pies

Dusk on 30 December, the first bangs, and the dog already under the bath. What goes off, what it sounds like and what the dog makes of it — ending with the fireworks Poles use for 'nothing special'.

  1. petardabanger, firecracker; (colloquial) a cracker, a bombshellпетарда
  2. rakietarocket; (tennis) racketракета; ракетка
  3. strzelićto fire, to go off; to score (a goal); to snap (a photo); to blunderвыстрелить; забить; щёлкнуть
  4. zimne ogniesparklersбенгальские огни
  5. hukbang, boom; (colloquial) heaps, loadsгрохот; уйма
  6. tchórzcoward; polecatтрус; хорёк
  7. skomlećto whimper; to whine, to begскулить
  8. schować sięto hide; (colloquial) to be no matchспрятаться; и рядом не стоял
  9. zaginąćto go missing, to disappearпропасть (без вести)
  10. fajerwerkfirework; (figurative) something dazzlingфейерверк
Read the ten notes
petarda
Same as RU петарда. In football a petarda is a thunderbolt of a shot, and na pełnej petardzie means flat out — the printable variant of a much ruder phrase.
rakieta
RU keeps ракета and ракетка apart; Polish uses rakieta for both, so the thing that whistles over the block at midnight and the thing at Wimbledon share a name.
strzelić
One bang, many targets: strzelić z petardy, strzelić gola, strzelić fotkę, and strzelić gafę, to drop a brick. RU выстрелить only shoots; the goal, the photo and the blunder are Polish extras.
zimne ognie
'Cold fires', though they burn fingers well enough. RU names them after Bengal, Polish after their supposed chill. They used to hang on Christmas trees, too.
huk
The bang itself, RU грохот. A second, unrelated huk means a great amount: huk roboty, huk pieniędzy. Z hukiem is 'with a bang': wylecieć z pracy z hukiem, to be fired spectacularly.
tchórz
Also a polecat, the weasel cousin that sprays foul musk when cornered — and the pet ferret, fretka, is its domesticated form. The verb is tchórzyć, to chicken out.
skomleć
RU скулить does both jobs too: a dog at the door and a person pleading. Skomleć o podwyżkę is begging for a raise, without dignity. Its louder cousin is skowyczeć, to yelp.
schować się
Hiding takes the accusative, pod wannę; once there it is pod wanną. And może się schować means 'can't hold a candle': przy naszym sylwestrze Hollywood może się schować.
zaginąć
The lamppost-poster verb. Keys you lose are zgubione; whoever vanishes on their own zaginął. The law on found property covers runaway pets: the znalazca may claim a tenth of the value.
fajerwerk
Same German root as RU фейерверк. Figuratively it is anything dazzling, so bez fajerwerków is the polite verdict on a match, a film or a pay rise: fine, nothing to write home about.

31 December 2026Do siego roku

New Year's Eve in Polish carries a pope's name and a greeting nobody can parse. The dress, the party in the square or the fire station, the TV hits, the nap you need first — and what siego actually means.

  1. sylwesterNew Year's Eve; New Year's Eve partyновогодняя ночь, встреча Нового года
  2. kreacja(evening) outfit, gown; memorable stage roleнаряд; яркая роль
  3. cekinsequinпайетка
  4. szampańskichampagne; bubbly, high-spiritedшампанский; искромётный
  5. remizafire station (and its hall); depotпожарное депо; депо
  6. odliczaniecountdown; deductionобратный отсчёт; вычет
  7. przebójhit (song, film)хит, шлягер
  8. do białego ranauntil dawn, all night longдо самого утра
  9. przespać sięto have a nap; to sleep on (something); to sleep with (someone)поспать; переспать (с чем-то, с кем-то)
  10. do siego rokuHappy New Year (the traditional greeting)с Новым годом
Read the ten notes
sylwester
From St Sylvester, whose day is 31 December; lowercase for the night and the party. Like kac it takes -a in the accusative: idziemy na sylwestra. Nowy Rok is the day after.
kreacja
Not creativity: a kreacja is a dress someone clearly planned, and December magazines are full of kreacje na sylwestra. An actor's kreacja is a role played memorably.
cekin
From Italian zecchino, the Venetian gold coin — RU цехин. Russian kept the coin and borrowed пайетка from French for the sparkle; Polish sewed the coin itself onto the dress.
szampański
Off the label it means high spirits: szampańska zabawa is a great party. RU шампанское is an adjective doing a noun's job; Polish has the noun, szampan, and keeps the adjective for the mood.
remiza
In a village the volunteer fire brigade's hall, the OSP's, doubles as the ballroom: weddings, dances, sylwester w remizie. In a city a remiza can also be a tram or bus depot.
odliczanie
Odliczać counts down to midnight and also counts off money: odliczyć od podatku is to deduct from tax, and odliczona kwota is the exact change. One verb for the square at midnight and the tax form in April.
przebój
From przebić się, to break through. Polsat's New Year concert is Sylwestrowa Moc Przebojów. Iść przebojem is to force your way, and a przebojowa dziewczyna is a go-getter.
do białego rana
'Till the white morning', mostly said of dancing, drinking or talking. RU до утра or до рассвета; the Polish dawn is pale, and by then so are you.
przespać się
Before midnight, a nap: przespać się przed imprezą. With z tym it means sleeping on a decision; with z kimś it means sleeping with someone. Choose your z carefully.
do siego roku
Siego is an old form of tego: 'to this year', as in may we live to see it. Nobody uses siego anywhere else, and dosiego, run together, is the classic misspelling.

1 January 2027Od poniedziałku

The first of January and the first page of a new life, starting Monday. The resolution, the temptation, the relapse and the excuse, from the January surge to the February straw fire.

  1. postanowienieresolution, decision; (court) orderрешение; постановление (суда)
  2. dietadiet; daily allowance, per diemдиета; суточные
  3. podjadaćto snack, to nibble between meals; to pinch foodперекусывать, таскать еду
  4. pokusatemptationискушение, соблазн
  5. nałógaddiction, compulsive habitзависимость, пагубная привычка
  6. odwykrehab, detoxлечение от зависимости
  7. wymówkaexcuse; reproachотговорка; упрёк
  8. zrywburst, spurt; uprisingрывок; восстание
  9. do trzech razy sztukathird time luckyбог троицу любит
  10. słomiany zapałshort-lived enthusiasm, a flash in the panбыстро угасший энтузиазм
Read the ten notes
postanowienie
RU постановление is a decree, and Polish courts issue them too: postanowienie sądu. In January it is personal — postanowienie noworoczne — and its shelf life is shorter than a court's.
dieta
Also money: a dieta is the daily allowance for a business trip, and diety poselskie are MPs' allowances. Headlines about posłowie raising their diety are not about food.
podjadać
Eating a little and often, the quiet killer of every dieta. RU подъедать means eating something up; Polish podjadać nibbles — or pinches from someone else's plate.
pokusa
RU покушение is an attempt on someone's life; a Polish pokusa only attempts your diet. You ulec pokusie, give in, or oprzeć się pokusie, resist.
nałóg
RU налог is a tax; a Polish nałóg is an addiction, and tax is podatek. A nałogowy palacz is a chain smoker, not a heavy taxpayer.
odwyk
Short for leczenie odwykowe, from odwykać, to lose a habit. Clinics use the long form; everyone else jokes about odwyk od telefonu, od kawy, od szefa.
wymówka
Two jobs: the excuse you give, and the reproach you get — robić komuś wymówki is to nag someone about something. RU выговор is the stiffer, official cousin.
zryw
A sudden burst of effort — and, in history books, an armed rising. The powstanie styczniowe of 1863 is the zryw styczniowy, so every January gym surge has a grand and doomed ancestor.
do trzech razy sztuka
RU brings God in, бог троицу любит; Polish just counts. The same line can be a warning: twice you got away with it, a third time you will not.
słomiany zapał
Straw flares up and is ash in seconds: enthusiasm that dies as fast as it caught. RU says запал прошёл; Polish names the fuel, and January is the month it burns.

1510 words exist in total. Each batch's notes are one tap away above — folded rather than hidden, because the note is what makes a morning worth opening and it is also where any mistake would be.