Kupować kota w worku
Listen
What it means
Literally “to buy a cat in a sack.” Means to buy or accept something without examining it first — to be deceived by not checking what you’re getting. “To buy a pig in a poke.”
Vocabulary
- kupować — to buy
- kot — cat
- worek — sack, bag
Grammar note
'Kota' is accusative of 'kot' — direct object. 'W worku' uses the locative of 'worek' after 'w' (in).
Cultural context
The old market trick of selling a cat instead of a piglet in a sack — the origin of both the Polish and English versions of this idiom.
Beginner
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 …