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    What it means

    Literally “Columbus’s egg.” Refers to a solution that seems obvious in hindsight but required creative thinking to discover — a simple idea that nobody thought of first.

    Vocabulary

    • jajko — egg
    • Kolumb — Columbus

    Grammar note

    'Kolumba' is the genitive of 'Kolumb' — genitive of possession.

    Cultural context

    From the story of Columbus standing an egg on its end by cracking the bottom — a lateral-thinking solution. The phrase is used across European languages.

    Intermediate

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