• Listen

  What it means

  Literally “to show someone where pepper grows,” this idiom means to send someone away decisively and rudely — to tell them to get lost, to drive them off. Historically, pepper was an exotic spice from distant lands (the Far East), so “showing someone where pepper grows” meant effectively banishing them to the ends of the earth. Today it is used when someone forcefully dismisses or chases away a person who is unwanted or has overstepped.

  Vocabulary

  • pokazać — to show (perfective)
  • gdzie — where
  • pieprz — pepper
  • rośnie — grows (third person singular of rosnąć)
  • rosnąć — to grow

  Grammar note

  The verb pokazać is perfective, presenting the act of dismissal as a single decisive event. The embedded clause gdzie pieprz rośnie functions as an indirect object complement of pokazać (to show [someone] [where pepper grows]). The person being sent away appears in the dative case: pokazać komuś (to show someone).

  Cultural context

  This is a neutral-to-informal expression that can be used humorously or genuinely, depending on context. It is commonly used in everyday speech to describe standing up for oneself or ejecting a nuisance. The English equivalents include 'to send someone packing,' 'to tell someone where to go,' or 'to show someone the door.'

  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!