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  What it means

  Literally “to go around with a hat,” this idiom refers to begging or soliciting donations — the image comes from street beggars who would hold out their hat to collect coins from passersby. In figurative use, it means to go around asking people for money or favors in a humble, supplicant manner. It can be used both literally (of actual begging) and more broadly of anyone who repeatedly asks others for help or financial support.

  Vocabulary

  • chodzić — to go around, to walk (imperfective)
  • kapelusz — hat
  • z — with (+ instrumental)
  • kapeluszem — hat (instrumental of kapelusz)

  Grammar note

  The preposition 'z' governing the instrumental case is the key structure here: 'z kapeluszem' means 'with a hat.' The instrumental expresses accompaniment or the tool/manner of an action in Polish.

  Cultural context

  The phrase has an old-fashioned, slightly literary flavor rooted in the image of 19th-century beggars. Today it is used with a touch of irony or pity. A rough English equivalent is 'to go hat in hand' or simply 'to go begging.'

  Beginner

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