Talk:Polish proverbs

An explanation for the "wyrwac sie jak filip z konopi" proverb.

And yes - correctly, in that proverb, it should be "filip", not "Filip". While "Filip" in Polish is a male name (="Philip"), a "filip" in hunters jargon means ...a hare. And hares often hid in hemp and, when scared, suddenly hopped out of their hide - that's what the proverb is literally about: "To burst/hop out like a hare from hemp". The proverb is used however in a slightly different context - to describe the action of a person who out of sudden said (or volunteered to do) something silly, without much thinking and consideration. Just like a hare suddenly bursts from its hide.

Szlachcic na zagrodzie równy wojewodzie
Meaning: A rich person (the nobleman with a farmstead) is as powerful and influential as a state official (the voivode, an approximate equivalent of a sherriff in the medieval England).
"Szlachcic na zagrodzie" means the poor nobility and the proverb's real meaning is that wealth doesn't matter. It used to be popular in Poland in early days of the nobles' democracy and primarly referred only to the nobility, that's why word nobleman is used here.

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Gdzie drwa rąbią, tam wióry lecą Word-for-word translation: Where wood is being chopped, shavings fly English equivalent: Where there's smoke, there's fire

well, the original means "Where is action, there might be some victims, sacrifices or results" ; wheres the English equivalent is quite revese - "where are visible results, there must be cause". I cannot think of any better equivalen, thou.