Ripe & Sweet: 12 Tasty Polish Fruit Phrases
An apple a day keeps the doctor away! We bet you know that one. But have you ever ‘promised someone pears on a willow’ or shown someone a ‘fig with poppy seeds’? If you’d like to know what these and other intriguing Polish fruit idioms and phrases mean, you’ve come to the right place!
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Prunes in an orchard near Szydłów, photo: Łukasz Zarzycki / Forum
- Polish original: Pierwsze śliwki – robaczywki
- English equivalent: The first pancake is always spoiled
First up we have an idiom about the first plums of the season: sometimes they may be wormy, but the ones to follow have every chance of being ripe and delicious. This is a phrase Poles use to talk about a failed first attempt. You tried and didn’t succeed, but next time will be better. Apparently, this idiom comes from the fact that the first fruit to ripen on a tree often fall prey to insects.
The idiom in use:
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First prunes – wormy, claim the juniors (…) of MMKS Nowy Targ, after the first international ice hockey tournament of this season. In the Slovakian town of Spišská Nová Ves they finished in last place. They didn’t even score a single point.
Author
From the article ‘Bez Punktu’ in Gazeta Krakowska newspaper, 2001, trans. MK
- Polish original: W głowie jak po śliwkach
- English equivalent: Not the sharpest tool in the shed
This old-school phrase, which is rarely heard anymore, can be applied to people who aren’t particularly bright, or seem to be lacking in knowledge. In other words, if you want to say someone’s stupid you can describe them as having a head full of prunes…
The idiom in use:
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He’s a good person, this Borowski, but really, his head is full of prunes sometimes!
Author
From the short story ‘Pioruny Księcia Wojewody’ by Kajetan Kraszewski, 1884
To fall in like a plum into kompot
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Glasses filled with kompot, photo: Marek Lasyk / East News
- Polish original: Wpaść jak śliwka w kompot
- English equivalent: To be in a pickle
Before we discuss the meaning of this particular idiom a word of explanation might be needed. Kompot is a Polish sweetened drink made from boiled dried fruit, often served at Christmas Eve or at babcia’s house. Now that we’ve cleared that up, when you say that ‘someone fell in like a plum into kompot’, you mean they found themselves in a troubling situation, that’s hard to get out of. The plum fell into the kompot and now has no way of escaping its fate of being drunk and ending up in someone’s belly.
The idiom in use:
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The undercover policemen completely surprised the young criminal, who’ll probably never know why he fell like a plum into kompot.
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From the 19th March 2002 edition of the Dziennik Polski newspaper, National Corpus of Polish, trans. MK
Beat somebody to a sour apple
- Polish original: Stłuc kogoś na kwaśne jabłko
- English equivalent: To beat someone to a pulp
Sometimes getting into a troubling situation may mean that one is threatened with a physical confrontation. Sadly, a possible outcome of a fight can be that someone gets, as English speakers would put it, beaten to a pulp. In Polish, we specify the type of pulp. If you beat someone severely, you’ve beaten them to a sour apple.
The idiom in use:
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– If you won’t do as I say, we’ll come back here again and beat you to a sour apple – he was ranting on. – There’s plenty of us around, do you understand? There’s plenty of us and nobody will do a thing to help you.
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From ‘Plama na Suficie’ by Piotr Zaremba, 2004, trans. MK
To be a sour apple enthusiast
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Apples from Grójec, photo: Marcin Bruniecki / East News
- Polish original: Być amatorem kwaśnych jabłek
- English equivalent: Honestly? We couldn’t find one!
In the world of Polish idioms you can not only beat somebody to a sour apple but you can also ‘be a sour apple enthusiast’. Since commonly people rather enjoy ripe, crunchy and sweet apples more, someone who likes sour apples may be considered somewhat odd. The phrase is about someone with eccentric interests or tastes.
The idiom in use:
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He’s a real amateur of sour apples – what hasn’t he bred! There was various hideousness and now he’s turning to stick-bugs.
Author
From the ‘Dictionary of Polish Idioms’ by Lidia Drabik, Elżbieta Sobol & Anna Stankiewicz, 2006, trans. MK
To promise pears on a willow
- Polish original: Obiecywać gruszki na wierzbie
- English equivalent: Promise the moon
When you hear someone promise you pears on a willow – don’t count on them keeping their promise! Pears on a willow represent something desirable but impossible to obtain, not unlike what English-speakers would describe as ‘pie in the sky’.
The origin of the Polish idiom at hand is unclear, however there are certain Asian species of pear trees which have elongated, narrow leaves and could look quite similar to a willow… So maybe a pear on a willow is not that impossible?
The idiom in use:
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In three consecutive campaigns candidates for senators and members of Parliament tempted voters with stories of shortcuts to prosperity and promised pears on a willow.
Author
From ‘Szkicownik z CBOS-u: Rysunki Socjologiczne z Tamtych Lat’ by Stanisław Kwiatkowski, 2004, trans. MK
Neither out of the pear, nor out of the parsley
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Pears, photo: Liane Matrish / East News
- Polish original: Ni z gruszki ni z pietruszki
- English equivalent: Out of the blue
A pear is also mentioned in this curious Polish idiom which pretty much means ‘out of the blue’. When Poles say that something happened ‘neither out of the pear, nor out of the parsley’ they mean that something happened suddenly, unexpectedly or without a clear reason. Nothing says surprise in Polish like a combination of pear and parsley!
The idiom in use:
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Neither out of the pear, nor out of the parsley, Edward and I began to argue with one another…
Author
From ‘Przepychanka’ by Jan Himilsbach, 1974, trans. MK
Don’t fall asleep over pears in the ashes
- Polish original: Nie zasypiać gruszek w popiele
- English equivalent: Don’t drop the ball / miss the boat
This is another pear-based phrase. In the old days, people in Poland would put pears in warm ashes (from a bonfire or stove) to bake or dry the fruit. Occasionally, the person tending to the pears would get a bit too comfortable near the warm fire and fall asleep – and the pears would burn. Hence, this idiom.
‘Don’t fall asleep over pears in the ashes’ means that you shouldn’t neglect important things that need to be done, you seize opportunities and do everything not to miss out on a chance at success. You carefully watch over your pears, so that they come out just right!
The idiom in use:
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So you see, Szarlej, I don’t fall asleep over pears in ashes, I take care of the company. And I can also tell you, that I’ve made very interesting contacts, which may prove highly beneficial for our business.
Author
From ‘The Tower of Fools’ by Andrzej Sapkowski, 2002, trans. MK
To think about blue almonds
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Almonds, photo: Agnieszka Kukieła
- Polish original: Myśleć o niebieskich migdałach
- English equivalent: Have one's head in the clouds
We know that technically an almond isn’t a fruit, but it is a seed found in the fruit of the almond tree, so we figure…
This idiom is sort of the opposite of the last one. Poles say that someone is ‘thinking about blue almonds’ when someone is thinking about petty things, simply idling or just daydreaming.
The idiom in use:
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Research shows that during intense intellectual work, after about fifty minutes, a more or less 10-minute break is needed. Fortunately, our brain itself tells us when it’s time for a break. It’s that moment when you lose your focus and start thinking about blue almonds.
Author
From ‘Czwarty Wymiar’, a 2008 article by the monthly Praca i Zdrowie, trans. MK
- Polish original: Zbijać kokosy
- English equivalent: Clean up on something
Although the coconut’s name would suggest that it is, in fact, a nut, it’s actually a drupe (a type of fruit that usually contains a single seed). But let’s not let biology get in the way of a good list!
In Polish the word ‘coconuts’ is often used to describe large profits or earnings. Therefore, the Polish idiom ‘to make coconuts’ is another way of saying that big money is being made.
The idiom in use:
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Due to high oil prices European refineries are on the verge of profitability, some are even generating losses. (…) Middle Eastern countries are happy because they can once again make coconuts off oil and can afford costly investments...
Author
From the 1994 article ‘Ceny Szybują’ in the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper, trans. MK
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A fig, photo: Agnieszka Kukieła / East News
- Polish original: Figa z makiem
- English equivalent: Sweet Fanny Adams
Plenty of people hope to make coconuts, but in life you don’t always get what you want. Unmet expectations are what our next idiom is about. Sometimes all you get is a fig with some poppy seeds… In other words, zilch, nada, nothing!
Apparently, this phrase comes from a gesture which was already known in ancient Rome. You make it by clenching your hand into a fist and placing your thumb between your index and middle fingers. Making this gesture you’re letting someone know they’re not getting what they wanted – you’re showing them a figa z makiem.
The idiom in use:
Text
After the will was opened it turned out that Alfred got a fig with poppy seeds, whereas the baroness inherited everything. But it was supposed go fifty-fifty.
Author
From the 2003 book ‘Tajemnica Czwartego Apokryfu’ by Mirosław P. Jabłoński & Andrzej Mol, trans. MK
To lead somebody into the raspberries
- Polish original: Wpuścić kogoś w maliny
- English equivalent: To lead somebody up the garden path
The last idiom on our list is about raspberries (or raspberry bushes to be more precise). While English speakers ‘lead somebody up the garden path’ when they deceive someone, Polish speakers are more specific and ‘lead them into the raspberries’.
The idiom in use:
Text
Some of the assignments were unclear on purpose, to force the candidates’ brain cells to think. They were traps. You were the only one who didn’t let himself be led into the raspberries and exposed the cleverly placed traps.
Author
From ‘W Mundurku i Mundurze Przez Świat’ by Władysław Górski, 1998, trans. MK
Well, that’s more than enough of focussing our brain cells on Polish fruit idioms. It’s high time to think about blue almonds!
Written by Marek Kępa, Feb 21
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