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robić dobrą minę do złej gry

Meaning: To grin and bear it; to pretend a bad situation is acceptable.

Language: Polish

Literally: to make a good face at a bad game

Category: The Absurd

Origin: Origin uncertain; the phrase pictures a player wearing a composed expression despite losing or facing poor odds.

More idioms — The Absurd

  • wziąć z sufitu — To invent something without basis; to make something up or fabricate it.
  • в долгах как в шелках — To be deeply and hopelessly in debt.
  • ездить в Тулу со своим самоваром — To do something entirely pointless or unnecessary, bringing what is already abundant in t…
  • сражаться с ветряными мельницами — To struggle against imaginary or futile enemies; to waste effort on impossible causes.
  • полтора землекопа — An absurdly small group; a nonsensical quantity that defies rational measure.
  • на честном слове и на одном крыле — Succeeding or surviving by the barest margin, through luck or desperation rather than sol…

More Polish idioms

  • zmieszać z błotem — To harshly criticize or verbally attack someone; to tear them apart.
  • rozłożyć ręce — To give up; to throw up one's hands in admission of defeat or inability to act.
  • bez owijania w bawełnę — Bluntly and directly, without softening or sugarcoating one's words.
  • nie dać żyć — To make someone's life so difficult and burdensome that they cannot function normally.
  • strzyc uszami — To prick up one's ears; to listen intently.
  • zamiatać pod dywan — To conceal or hide a problem rather than address it directly.

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