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  What it means

  Literally “in the blink of an eye,” this idiom is identical to the English version. It describes something that happens incredibly fast, almost instantaneously. You might use it to describe a car zooming past, a computer crashing, or how quickly a vacation seems to end.

  Vocabulary

  • mgnienie — blink / twinkle
  • oko — eye
  • szybko — fast / quickly

  Grammar note

  'Oka' is the genitive singular of 'oko.' 'Mgnieniu' is the locative case of the verbal noun 'mgnienie' (the act of blinking), triggered by the preposition 'w.'

  Cultural context

  This phrase is found in many languages and has a slightly poetic or literary feel in Polish, though it is used frequently in everyday speech to emphasize speed.

  Beginner

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