Wieś tańczy i śpiewa
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What it means
Literally “the village dances and sings,” this phrase is used ironically to describe a situation where people act as if everything is fine while ignoring a real problem, or where someone is blissfully unaware of what is actually going on. It evokes an idyllic, carefree rural scene that stands in stark contrast to a difficult reality.
Vocabulary
- wieś — village, countryside
- tańczyć — to dance
- śpiewać — to sing
Grammar note
A present-tense sentence. The subject wieś (feminine singular) takes third-person singular verb forms: tańczy, śpiewa.
Cultural context
The phrase became widely known in Polish popular culture through film and cabaret as a sardonic commentary on forced cheerfulness or deliberate ignorance of problems.
Beginner
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