• Listen

  What it means

  Literally “to rest on one’s laurels.” Means to stop making an effort after achieving success, relying on past accomplishments instead of continuing to work hard.

  Vocabulary

  • spocząć — to rest (perfective)
  • laury — laurels (symbol of victory and honour)
  • na laurach — on one's laurels (locative)

  Grammar note

  The perfective 'spocząć' marks the moment of settling into complacency. Compare with the imperfective variant 'spoczywać na laurach' which describes the ongoing state.

  Cultural context

  In ancient Greece and Rome, victors were crowned with laurel wreaths. 'Resting on laurels' — sitting on that crown rather than striving further — became a universal idiom of complacency.

  Intermediate

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