Ani widu, ani słychu
Listen
What it means
Literally “neither sight nor sound.” Means someone or something has completely vanished — no trace, no news, nothing. Used when a person disappears without a word.
Vocabulary
- wid — sight / vision (archaic)
- słych — sound / news (archaic)
- ani… ani… — neither… nor…
Grammar note
'Widu' and 'słychu' are genitive forms of the archaic nouns 'wid' and 'słych', required after 'ani' in this negated construction.
Cultural context
Both 'wid' and 'słych' are archaic words that survive only in this fixed phrase — a sign of how old the expression is. Still widely used and immediately understood.
Intermediate
Noticed a typo, a wrong translation, or anything that doesn't look right? We'd love to fix it — just let us know via the contact page. Thank you!
More Polish idioms
- Literally "one's whole life flew past before the eyes," this phrase describes the vivid, involuntary …
- Literally "for an example," na przykład is the standard Polish phrase for "for example" or "for …
- Literally "in the last/recent times," ostatnimi czasy is a common temporal phrase meaning "lately," …
- Literally "in the manner of Judas," this adverb describes acting in a treacherous, backstabbing way …