• Listen

  What it means

  Literally “to rest on someone’s shoulders.” Means that a responsibility or burden falls on a particular person — they must carry it.

  Vocabulary

  • spocząć — to rest / to come to rest (perfective)
  • barki — shoulders
  • na barkach — on the shoulders (locative)

  Grammar note

  'Na barkach' uses the locative plural of 'barki'. The phrase typically appears with a genitive of the person: 'spocząć na barkach kogoś' (to rest on someone's shoulders).

  Cultural context

  The shoulders as a metaphor for bearing responsibility is ancient and cross-cultural. In Polish the phrase is used in formal and journalistic registers as well as everyday speech.

  Intermediate

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