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  What it means

  Literally “to play for delay,” this idiom means to stall, to buy time deliberately, or to drag something out without any intention of resolving it quickly. Figuratively it describes a tactic — in negotiations, sport, or personal conflicts — where one party deliberately slows things down to gain advantage or avoid a decision. A politician who keeps scheduling new committees instead of voting is “grający na zwłokę.” It’s equivalent to the English “playing for time.”

  Vocabulary

  • grać — to play (also: to act, to perform)
  • zwłoka — delay, procrastination, stalling
  • na zwłokę — for delay (accusative, expressing purpose)

  Grammar note

  The preposition 'na' here takes the accusative case to express purpose or aim: 'grać na zwłokę' means to play with the aim of delay. Compare 'grać na czas' (to play for time), which works identically. This 'na + accusative = purpose' construction is productive in Polish: 'iść na spacer' (to go for a walk), 'czekać na odpowiedź' (to wait for an answer).

  Cultural context

  The phrase appears frequently in sports commentary (e.g., a team holding a lead and wasting time), political reporting, and business negotiations. It carries a slightly negative connotation — implying bad faith or avoidance — and is used at all registers from journalistic writing to everyday speech.

  Intermediate

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