POLISH ANIMAL IDIOMS, OR WHAT’S YOUR HOBBYHORSE (konik)

IDIOMS AND KNOWING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
It’s no secret that  a language is not only vocabulary, conjugations (which are very important, as a seemingly small mistake in a verb form may change the meaning of an utterance, so if you re not sure how to conjugate a Polish verb, check it out here), or declensions. Idioms and proverbs are part of a language as well. The more of them we are familiar with, the better our command of the language is. Obviously, that is also the case of the Polish language.
Like any other language, Polish has its idioms, which sound ridiculous or weird when translated literally, but as soon as you learn what they really mean, they are very useful in everyday conversations.

WILCZY APETYT, OR HOW AND WHEN TO USE POLISH IDIOMS
Animal idioms make up a large part of idiomatic vocabulary of the Polish language, which proves the creativity of this language.
When Polish people want to say that someone is in very good health, they say: jest zdrów jak ryba(he’s as fit as a fiddle; literally: as healthy as a fish) or ma końskie zdrowie (he has the constitution of a horse).
The horse appears as well when we want to communicate that we are extremely hungry. In such a case we say that someone mógłby zjeść konia z kopytami. i.e. eat a lot (they’re so hungry they could eat a horse, literally: a horse with hooves, so the whole horse). Such a person ia also głodny jak wilk (as hungry as a bear; literally: as a wolf). And if we know someone who has a hearty appetite, we can say that he or she has wilczy apetyt (a ravenous, wolfish appetite).

IDIOMATIC AND DYPLOMATIC EXPRESSIONS TO DESCRIBE PEOPLE’S WEAKNESSES
Animals help us to describe our behaviour and personal qualities, too. If someone suddenly starts to behave oddly and unreasonably, fool around or even become aggressive, we say that he or she dostał małpiego rozumu (literally: got monkey brains).
Someone not too clever has ptasi móżdżek (has a bird brain).
A tight-fisted person ma węża w kieszeni (literally: has a snake in his or her pocket)
Someone shrewd and cunning may be called szczwany lis (sly/cunning as a fox; literally: a cunning fox)
And if you see someone crying over someone else’s misfortunes and you know that their tears are not sincere, you say that he or she płacze krokodylimi łzami (weeps crocodile tears).
Someone who is told that słoń nadepnął mu/jej na ucho (an elephant stepped on his/her ear) does not need to be taken to hospital, they are absolutely fine except for the fact that they are tone-deaf.
And when a message we get is illegible because of someone’s awful handwriting, we can honestly say that the author bazgrze jak kura pazurem (scribbles like a chicken with a claw).

                                                    Check out our FB profile for more Polish idioms

So, if learning Polish is your konik (hobbyhorse), you should definitely enrol on ne of our courses (more on the courses Po Polsku offers on our website), and you will learn lots of interesting idioms, proverbs, as well as everyday words :)

PROVERBS, OR A LESSON IN OPTIMISM FROM POLAND

POLISH PROVERBS
Proverbs are generally believed to be the wisdom of nations. Therefore, when they appear in lessons of Polish as a foreign language students learn much more than just their meanings. Not only do proverbs allow us to learn the language, its conjugations and declensions, but also the customs, culture and even... about the vagaries of the weather :)

POLISH PROVERBS ABOUT THE WEATHER 
Polish proverbs are no exception. We already mentioned one of them in our post of 26th February (W marcu jak w garncu literally: March is like a pot; similar to the English proverb: March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb). Another common proverb is Kwiecień plecień, co przeplata: trochę zimy, trochę lata (April the weaver, because interweaves a little bit of winter with a little bit of summer). It perfectly describes the changeable April weater, with beautiful summer sun on one day and snow on the following day.
There is one more popular saying referring to the climate: Idzie luty, szykuj buty (February is coming, get your shoes ready). It reminds us that the second month of the year is cold and severe (if you want to learn about the etymology of the names of the months in Polish, check out our post of 9th Sempember), so you should prepare the proper clothes and shoes so as not to catch a cold or fall ill.

                                      Proverbs allow (not only foreigners) to get to know Polish customs

WISDOM OF POLISH PROVERBS
Naturally, there are lots of proverbs that do not refer to the weather at all. Many foreigners must have heard their Polish colleagues say when in trouble: Co cię nie zabije, to cię wzmocni (What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger). These words give you hope that even the most serious problems may teach you a valuable lesson and broaden your experience. The proverb Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło (Every cloud has a silver lining) has a similar meaning.
It is worth mentioning that there are many optimistic proverbs in Polish. Take Dla chcącego nie ma nic trudnego (Where there is a will there’s a way), for instance, which tells us that everyone who is motivated, ambitious and eager to work will definitely reach their goals.
Kuj żelazo póki gorące (Strike while the iron is hot) encourages us to act and take advantage of the situation. So, if you would like to learn more secrets of the Polish language, then strike while the iron is hot and enroll in a language course (more on courses here) or check out our FB profile.

POLISH PRZEDWIOŚNIE (EARLY SPRING), OR SIX SEASONS OF THE YEAR

SIX POLISH SEASONS?

How many seasons are there? Everyone will immediately answer: „Four“. True, but in Poland, which lies in the temperate climate zone, there are in fact ... six seasons! The conventional ones are wiosna, lato, jesień and zima (spring, summer, autumn and winter), but there are two more: przedzimie and przedwiośnie (early winter and early spring). As their names indicate, they occur between the seasons: przedzimie between autumn and winter (that’s the time of listopad – November – with its gloomy and gray weather), while przedwiośnie between winter and spring. A student learning Polish in a course will definitely hear about the two additional seasons from their teacher. And while living in Poland everyone (not only the foreigners) will get to experience them personally.

PRZEDWIOŚNIE, OR THE TIME BEFORE WIOSNA (SPRING)

What is przedwiośnie characterized by? First of all, the temperature is higher than in winter with a clear upward trend. It’s not as warm as spring, but there is no winter frost anymore. Daily temperature ranges between 0 and 5C. If there is precipitation, it’s usually either rain or mixed snow and rain and the weather conditions are described as odwilż, which means warming combined with snow melting, or plucha, ugly rainy weather (if you’d like to learn more new Polish words, check out our FB profile). Przedwiośnie is chilly, rainy, with overnight frost, clouds, but at the same time with the sun appearing from behind the clouds, and first flowers coming out (called przebiśniegi, snowdrops). It’s the time when nature comes to life. It’s the season, which announces the arrival of warm, sunny and green spring.

                                            Przebiśnieg (snowdrop) is a symbol of Polish przedwiośnie

POLISH PROVERB SAYS...

There is a well-known Polish proverb which perfectly describes the changeable weather of przedwiośnie: W marcu jak w garncu (literally: March is like a pot; similar to the English proverb: March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb). It says that at the time of przedwiośnie all weather phenomena, the ones typical of winter and those characteristic of spring, mix and stir as if cooked in a pot :)
 Therefore, if you look out of the window during your Polish class and see rain, do not get upset by the early spring weather. That is a prelude to spring.