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  What it means

  Literally “like ants” (using the archaic/colloquial genitive plural form), this idiom describes an enormous, almost uncountable number of people or things swarming in a place. The image is of an ant colony — countless, busy, and moving in all directions. Poles use it to describe crowded streets, packed events, or any situation where people are densely packed together.

  Vocabulary

  • jak — like / as
  • mrówków — of ants (colloquial genitive plural of mrówka)
  • mrówka — ant

  Grammar note

  The word 'mrówków' is a colloquial genitive plural of 'mrówka.' Standard Polish would use 'mrówek,' but the '-ów' ending is a common folk/colloquial variant that gave rise to this fixed phrase. After 'jak' in comparative constructions, the genitive is not required grammatically, so 'mrówków' here is simply a frozen, idiomatic form.

  Cultural context

  This is an informal, vivid expression used in everyday speech to convey an overwhelming crowd. It is similar in feel to English 'like ants' or 'swarming with people.' The colloquial genitive form 'mrówków' is part of what makes the phrase feel distinctly folk-Polish and slightly humorous.

  Intermediate

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