• Listen

  What it means

  Literally “who would forbid the rich man.” Said when a wealthy or powerful person does something extravagant or gets away with something — “money talks,” “who’s going to stop him, he’s rich.”

  Vocabulary

  • bogaty — rich, wealthy
  • zabronić — to forbid, to prohibit

  Grammar note

  'Bogatemu' is the dative of 'bogaty' — dative of disadvantage (forbid to the rich man). A rhetorical question implying nobody can.

  Cultural context

  A resigned, slightly bitter observation about the privileges of wealth — very characteristic of Polish folk cynicism.

  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!