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  What it means

  “The woman talks about the awl, the old man about soap.” Each person sticks to their own concern, so they talk past one another instead of having a real conversation. It paints two people having separate conversations at the same time.

  English equivalent

  Talking at cross purposes.

  Vocabulary

  • baba — woman (folk/colloquial)
  • szydło — awl (a pointed tool for piercing leather)
  • dziad — old man, beggar (folk term)
  • mydło — soap

  Grammar note

  'O + locative': szydło → o szydle, mydło → o mydle. The verb 'mówi' (speaks) is understood but left out, as often happens in proverbs.

  Beginner

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