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  What it means

  Literally “even in Paris they can’t make rice from oats.” Means you cannot make something from nothing; no matter how refined the setting, you cannot turn something into what it is not.

  Vocabulary

  • Paryż — Paris
  • owies — oats
  • ryż — rice

  Grammar note

  'Z owsa' uses the genitive after 'z' when making something from oats. 'Ryżu' is the genitive of 'ryż' for the result.

  Cultural context

  Paris stands for great sophistication and skill in Polish folk imagination; if even Paris cannot do it, it simply cannot be done.

  Intermediate

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