• Listen

  What it means

  Literally: “a fairy tale from a thousand and one nights,” a direct reference to the famous Arabic story collection known in English as One Thousand and One Nights. Figuratively, Poles use this phrase to describe something so extraordinary, fantastical, or implausibly beautiful that it resembles a fairy tale. It can apply to an enchanting place, an unbelievable stroke of luck, or a story that sounds too good to be true. Depending on tone it can express wonder and admiration, or polite skepticism — implying that something seems made-up.

  Vocabulary

  • baśń — fairy tale, fable (feminine noun)
  • tysiąca — of a thousand (genitive of 'tysiąc')
  • jednej — one (genitive feminine of 'jedna')
  • nocy — of the night (genitive of 'noc')

  Grammar note

  The phrase uses the genitive case after the preposition 'z' (from/of): 'z tysiąca i jednej nocy'. 'Tysiąca' is the genitive singular of 'tysiąc' (thousand), and 'jednej nocy' is the genitive of 'jedna noc' (one night). The full noun phrase functions as a postmodifier of 'baśń', and can also appear adverbially as 'jak z tysiąca i jednej nocy' (as if from a thousand and one nights).

  Cultural context

  The expression alludes to the Arabic story collection popularized in Europe from the 18th century. In Polish usage it evokes exoticism, mystery, and wonder. Register is neutral, and it appears in both speech and writing. A common shortened variant is 'jak z tysiąca i jednej nocy' used as an adverbial comparison.

  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!