IdiomAnimals
Polish
Polishstrzyc uszami
Meaning: To prick up one's ears; to listen intently.
Literally: To shear with one's ears
Example: “Gdy padło słowo „lody”, dzieci zaczęły strzyc uszami.” — When the word "ice cream" came up, the children pricked up their ears.
English equivalent: To prick up one's ears
Equivalents in other languages
French: Faire dresser l’oreille Literally: To make the ear stand up
English: prick up one's ears
Origin: Strzyc means to shear or clip, and a horse that keeps turning its ears this way and that looks as if it were snipping with them like shears. Strzyc uszami is pricking up one's ears and listening intently. No particular story lies behind it.
More Polish idioms
- zamiatać pod dywan To conceal or hide a problem rather than address it directly.
- cud miód Something delicious, wonderful, or excellent.
- wąchać kwiatki od spodu To be dead; to push up daisies.
- stracić głowę To act without rational thought; to abandon self-control and sound judgment.
- włożyć kij w szprychy To obstruct or sabotage someone's plans or efforts.
- wziąć z sufitu To invent something without basis; to make something up or fabricate it.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- Ząb, zupa zębowa; dąb, zupa dębowa. Drills the nasal vowels ą and ę, which only differ from plain a and e by the nasal hum.
- W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie i Szczebrzeszyn z tego słynie. The opening of a poem by Julian Tuwim, now Poland's most-quoted tongue twister — the cons…
- Stół z powyłamywanymi nogami. Six words, almost no vowels — a single noun phrase that non-Polish speakers find impossib…
Keep exploring