Jak się człowiek spieszy, to się diabeł cieszy
Listen
What it means
Literally “when a person hurries, the devil rejoices.” Means rushing leads to mistakes — haste makes waste. The devil is happy when you’re careless.
Vocabulary
- spieszyć się — to hurry, to rush
- diabeł — devil
- cieszyć się — to be glad, to rejoice
Grammar note
Two reflexive verbs: 'spieszy się' and 'cieszy się'. The 'jak … to' structure is a conditional: when … then.
Cultural context
A very common piece of Polish folk wisdom — the devil as the beneficiary of human impatience is a recurring motif.
Intermediate
Noticed a typo, a wrong translation, or anything that doesn't look right? We'd love to fix it — just let us know via the contact page. Thank you!
More Polish idioms
- Literally "one's whole life flew past before the eyes," this phrase describes the vivid, involuntary …
- Literally "for an example," na przykład is the standard Polish phrase for "for example" or "for …
- Literally "in the last/recent times," ostatnimi czasy is a common temporal phrase meaning "lately," …
- Literally "in the manner of Judas," this adverb describes acting in a treacherous, backstabbing way …