IdiomDaily LifePolish

wziąć na ambit

Meaning: To take something on as a matter of personal pride; to be set on succeeding because one's pride is at stake.

Literally: To take onto one’s pride

Example: “Wziął na ambit, że przebiegnie maraton przed czterdziestką.” — He made it a point of pride to run a marathon before forty.

Origin: The phrase turns on “ambit”, a colloquial word for personal pride or honor rather than ordinary ambition; to take something na ambit is to make it a matter of that pride. The word’s own derivation is uncertain.

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