An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are the 25 most common Polish idioms, ranked by how often you will actually meet them, each with its literal translation, real meaning, the closest English idiom where one exists, and an example sentence with an English translation, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Polish idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, trzymać kciuki literally means "to hold thumbs" but is used to mean to wish someone luck before something important. This free page ranks the 25 most common Polish idioms by how often you meet them, each with its literal translation, meaning, the closest English idiom where one exists, and an example sentence with an English translation.
All 25 idioms, most common first.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of August 2026.
trzymać kciuki
Literally to hold thumbs
Means to wish someone luck before something important
English idiom to keep one's fingers crossed
Example Trzymaj za mnie kciuki, jutro mam egzamin.
Keep your fingers crossed for me, I have an exam tomorrow.
Note Poles squeeze their thumbs inside a fist instead of crossing fingers, and people really do make the gesture.
bułka z masłem
Literally a roll with butter
Means something very easy to do
English idiom a piece of cake
Example Ten egzamin to była bułka z masłem.
That exam was a piece of cake.
mieć czegoś po dziurki w nosie
Literally to have something up to the little holes in the nose
Means to have had far more than enough of something
English idiom to be fed up to the back teeth
Example Mam już tego wszystkiego po dziurki w nosie.
I am completely fed up with all of this.
Note Informal and blunt, fine with friends but too strong for a formal meeting.
leje jak z cebra
Literally it pours as from a tub
Means it is raining extremely heavily
English idiom to rain cats and dogs
Example Nie wychodź teraz, leje jak z cebra.
Don't go out now, it is pouring down.
iść jak po maśle
Literally to go like on butter
Means to go smoothly, without any obstacles
English idiom to go like clockwork
Example Rozmowa o pracę poszła jak po maśle.
The job interview went like clockwork.
trafić w sedno
Literally to hit the core
Means to say exactly the right thing, to name the essence of an issue
English idiom to hit the nail on the head
Example Twoja uwaga trafiła w sedno problemu.
Your remark hit the nail on the head.
zakochać się po uszy
Literally to fall in love up to the ears
Means to fall completely and helplessly in love
English idiom to fall head over heels
Example Zakochał się w niej po uszy już na pierwszej randce.
He fell head over heels for her on the very first date.
robić z igły widły
Literally to make a pitchfork out of a needle
Means to blow a small problem out of all proportion
English idiom to make a mountain out of a molehill
Example Uspokój się, robisz z igły widły.
Calm down, you are making a mountain out of a molehill.
szukać dziury w całym
Literally to look for a hole in something whole
Means to look for faults where there are none
English idiom to pick holes in everything
Example Zawsze musisz szukać dziury w całym, nawet gdy wszystko jest w porządku.
You always have to pick holes in everything, even when it is all fine.
łamać sobie głowę
Literally to break one's own head
Means to think hard about something puzzling
English idiom to rack one's brains
Example Łamię sobie głowę nad tym zadaniem od godziny.
I have been racking my brains over this problem for an hour.
mieć muchy w nosie
Literally to have flies in the nose
Means to be sulky and irritable for no clear reason
English idiom to be in a huff
Example Nie wiem, co się stało, ale ona ma dziś muchy w nosie.
I have no idea what happened, but she is in a huff today.
wystawić kogoś do wiatru
Literally to put someone out into the wind
Means to let someone down by not turning up or not keeping a promise
English idiom to stand someone up
Example Umówiliśmy się na kawę, ale wystawiła mnie do wiatru.
We arranged to meet for coffee, but she stood me up.
tani jak barszcz
Literally cheap as borscht
Means very cheap indeed
English idiom dirt cheap
Example Kupiłam te buty na wyprzedaży, były tanie jak barszcz.
I bought these shoes in the sale, they were dirt cheap.
Note Barszcz, the beetroot soup, used to be the cheapest thing on any Polish table, hence the comparison.
mieć węża w kieszeni
Literally to have a snake in one's pocket
Means to hate spending money, to be stingy
English idiom to be tight-fisted
Example On nigdy nie stawia drinków, ma węża w kieszeni.
He never buys a round, he is tight-fisted.
co ma piernik do wiatraka
Literally what does gingerbread have to do with a windmill
Means the two things being mentioned have nothing to do with each other
English idiom what has that got to do with the price of fish
Example Mówiliśmy o pracy, a on nagle zaczął o polityce, co ma piernik do wiatraka?
We were talking about work and he suddenly switched to politics, what has that got to do with the price of fish?
Note Almost always used as a rhetorical question, in a slightly exasperated tone.
musztarda po obiedzie
Literally mustard after dinner
Means help or news that arrives when it is no longer any use
English idiom too little, too late
Example Teraz przepraszasz? Musztarda po obiedzie.
You are apologising now? Too little, too late.
z deszczu pod rynnę
Literally from the rain under the gutter
Means out of a bad situation and straight into a worse one
English idiom out of the frying pan into the fire
Example Zmienił pracę i trafił z deszczu pod rynnę.
He changed jobs and went out of the frying pan into the fire.
rzucać grochem o ścianę
Literally to throw peas at a wall
Means to say something to someone with no effect whatsoever
English idiom to talk to a brick wall
Example Tłumaczenie mu czegokolwiek to jak rzucanie grochem o ścianę.
Explaining anything to him is like talking to a brick wall.
dzielić skórę na niedźwiedziu
Literally to divide the skin on the bear
Means to plan how to use something you have not got yet
English idiom to count one's chickens before they hatch
Example Nie dziel skóry na niedźwiedziu, jeszcze nie wygraliśmy.
Don't count your chickens before they hatch, we have not won yet.
wiercić komuś dziurę w brzuchu
Literally to drill a hole in someone's belly
Means to pester someone about the same thing over and over
Example Dzieci wiercą mi dziurę w brzuchu, żebyśmy pojechali nad morze.
The kids keep pestering me to go to the seaside.
mydlić komuś oczy
Literally to soap someone's eyes
Means to mislead someone with nice-sounding talk
English idiom to pull the wool over someone's eyes
Example Przestań mi mydlić oczy i powiedz prawdę.
Stop pulling the wool over my eyes and tell me the truth.
robić dobrą minę do złej gry
Literally to make a good face to a bad game
Means to hide disappointment and act as if everything is fine
English idiom to put on a brave face
Example Przegrał konkurs, ale robił dobrą minę do złej gry.
He lost the competition, but he put on a brave face.
nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy
Literally not my circus, not my monkeys
Means this is not my problem and not my responsibility
Example Nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy, niech oni to rozwiążą.
Not my circus, not my monkeys, let them sort it out.
Note Casual and slightly dismissive; the English version is usually credited to this Polish saying, so it may look familiar.
obiecywać gruszki na wierzbie
Literally to promise pears on a willow
Means to make promises that cannot possibly be kept
English idiom to promise the moon
Example Politycy znowu obiecują gruszki na wierzbie.
The politicians are promising the moon again.
nie w kij dmuchał
Literally not blown into a stick
Means quite impressive, not to be taken lightly
English idiom nothing to sneeze at
Example Zarabia dwadzieścia tysięcy miesięcznie, to nie w kij dmuchał.
He earns twenty thousand a month, which is nothing to sneeze at.
Note Colloquial and a little old school, common in speech but out of place in writing.
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is fixed by convention, not built from its words. That is why a word-for-word translation fails: Trzymać kciuki comes out as "to hold thumbs", which makes no sense until you know it means to wish someone luck before something important.
Learn a few at a time, not a whole list. Pick the ones you keep running into, say them out loud in a real sentence, and you will remember them far longer than by drilling flashcards.
The most reliable way to absorb idioms is to meet them in context, again and again, in things you actually read. Parallel text and audio let you catch an idiom in a real Polish sentence and check what it means without breaking your reading. That is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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The most common Polish idioms, ranked by everyday frequency, start with trzymać kciuki, bułka z masłem, mieć czegoś po dziurki w nosie, leje jak z cebra, iść jak po maśle. Each one means something you could not guess from the words alone, which is exactly why learners have to meet them in context. This page lists 25 of them with meanings and example sentences.
In Polish, "trzymać kciuki" translates literally as "to hold thumbs", but it actually means to wish someone luck before something important. The closest English idiom is "to keep one's fingers crossed". Example: Trzymaj za mnie kciuki, jutro mam egzamin. ("Keep your fingers crossed for me, I have an exam tomorrow.")
The Polish equivalent is "trzymać kciuki", literally "to hold thumbs". Example: Trzymaj za mnie kciuki, jutro mam egzamin. ("Keep your fingers crossed for me, I have an exam tomorrow.")
In Polish, an idiom is called związek frazeologiczny, and a proverb is przysłowie. In Polish a fixed figurative phrase is a związek frazeologiczny (in everyday speech people just say powiedzenie), while a przysłowie is a complete sentence that states a piece of folk wisdom.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Trzymać kciuki translates literally as "to hold thumbs", yet it means to wish someone luck before something important. Translate word for word and you get nonsense, so idioms have to be learned as whole units.
The fastest way is to meet them in context and reuse them, not to memorize a list. Learn a handful at a time, notice them while reading and listening, and try them in your own sentences. Reading real Polish with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.