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  What it means

  Literally “Even the hem of the skirt bothers a bad ballerina,” this proverb-like idiom means that a person who lacks skill will always find something external to blame for their failure. A truly incompetent dancer would complain even about the tiny hem of her tutu rather than acknowledging her own shortcomings. Poles use this to call out blame-shifting in a colourful way — when someone attributes poor results to trivial obstacles rather than to their own incompetence. It is the Polish equivalent of “a bad workman blames his tools.”

  Vocabulary

  • złej — bad, poor (genitive singular feminine of zły)
  • baletnicy — ballerina (genitive singular of baletnica)
  • przeszkadza — bothers, gets in the way (3rd person singular of przeszkadzać)
  • nawet — even
  • rąbek — hem, small edge (diminutive of rąb)
  • spódnicy — skirt (genitive singular of spódnica)

  Grammar note

  The phrase złej baletnicy is a genitive construction — 'of the bad ballerina' — used here as the dative of the person bothered: przeszkadzać komuś (to bother someone) governs the dative, and genitive here carries that function in the fixed proverb form. Rąbek u spódnicy uses the preposition u + genitive to mean 'at/on the skirt.' The whole sentence is a proverb in the present tense, expressing a timeless truth.

  Cultural context

  This is a formal-leaning but widely known expression, often quoted with mild irony or humour when someone is making excuses. The English twin 'a bad workman blames his tools' is a perfect translation equivalent. The ballet setting adds a layer of elegance that makes the complaint seem even more ridiculous — if you can't dance, the hem is the least of your problems.

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