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  What it means

  Literally: “to lower the crossbar” — a reference to the bar used in high jump athletics, which can be raised or lowered to change the difficulty of the jump. Figuratively, “obniżać poprzeczkę” means to reduce standards, expectations, or requirements. It suggests that what was once demanded of people is no longer being insisted upon, often implying a regrettable decline in quality. Poles use it critically, for example: “Ta szkoła cały czas obniża poprzeczkę” (“This school keeps lowering the bar”).

  Vocabulary

  • obniżać — to lower, to reduce (imperfective)
  • poprzeczkę — the crossbar, the bar (accusative of poprzeczka)
  • poprzeczka — crossbar (in athletics); figuratively: standard, bar

  Grammar note

  The verb 'obniżać' is imperfective, indicating an ongoing or repeated action — standards being continually reduced. The perfective form 'obniżyć poprzeczkę' refers to a single act of lowering the bar. 'Poprzeczkę' is in the accusative case as the direct object of the verb.

  Cultural context

  The expression comes from track and field (high jump / pole vault) and entered everyday Polish as a metaphor for declining standards. It is used in education, business, and public life with a consistently critical or disapproving tone. The English equivalent 'to lower the bar' is structurally and semantically identical.

  Intermediate

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