Home › Idioms

nie dać żyć

Meaning: To make someone's life so difficult and burdensome that they cannot function normally.

Language: Polish

Literally: to not give life

Category: Daily Life

Origin: The phrase pictures life itself being withheld or denied, rendering someone unable to operate or exist freely.

More idioms — Daily Life

  • zamiatać pod dywan — To conceal or hide a problem rather than address it directly.
  • włożyć kij w szprychy — To obstruct or sabotage someone's plans or efforts.
  • grać na zwłokę — To stall or delay deliberately in order to buy time until one is ready.
  • wziąć na ambit — To challenge someone to prove their courage or honor; to call someone's bravery into ques…
  • wziąć na bajer — To deceive someone or con them into believing something false.
  • книга за семью печатями — Something utterly mysterious and incomprehensible; a complete enigma.

More Polish idioms

  • strzyc uszami — To prick up one's ears; to listen intently.
  • cud miód — Something delicious, wonderful, or excellent.
  • wąchać kwiatki od spodu — To be dead; to push up daisies.
  • rany koguta — A mild exclamation expressing surprise, frustration, or emphasis.
  • stracić nerwy — To lose one's emotional control and become agitated or frantic.
  • stracić głowę — To act without rational thought; to abandon self-control and sound judgment.

← Back to Idioms

Loading the full interactive collection…