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  What it means

  Literally “in the flower of one’s age,” this idiom means to be in the prime of life — at the height of one’s youth, vitality, and capability. It is used admiringly to describe someone at their best, or with sadness when someone died young or was struck down while still flourishing.

  Vocabulary

  • kwiecie — flower, blossom (archaic locative of 'kwiat')
  • wieku — of age, of life (locative of 'wiek')

  Grammar note

  The archaic locative form 'kwiecie' is preserved as a frozen form in this fixed phrase; modern Polish would typically use 'kwiecie' or 'kwiatku' in other contexts. The preposition 'w' takes the locative for states and locations.

  Intermediate

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