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  What it means

  Literally “like a bur on a dog’s tail,” this idiom describes someone who clings to another person persistently and annoyingly, refusing to leave them alone. Just as a burdock bur catches on a dog’s tail and is nearly impossible to shake off, this person sticks close no matter what. It is used to describe overly clingy people — friends, suitors, or anyone who won’t take a hint.

  Vocabulary

  • rzep — bur / burdock seed-head (the sticky plant seed)
  • psi — dog's (adjective from pies, here in genitive: psiego)
  • ogon — tail
  • psiego ogona — of the dog's tail (genitive)

  Grammar note

  The phrase uses the genitive case throughout: 'psiego ogona' (of the dog's tail). The structure 'jak X Y-ego Z-a' sets up a simile in which the key nouns are in the genitive. 'Rzep' is nominative (subject of the comparison), while 'psiego ogona' describes what it clings to.

  Cultural context

  This is a vivid, rustic metaphor rooted in rural life, where burdock burs latching onto animal fur were a familiar nuisance. The idiom is informal and mildly humorous, used to complain about a person who won't leave you alone. A close English equivalent is 'sticks like glue' or 'like a shadow I can't shake.'

  Intermediate

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