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  What it means

  Literally “what is one’s own is not foreign.” The proverb expresses the natural human tendency to trust, favour, and protect those who belong to one’s own group — family, community, or nation — over outsiders. It can be used to justify nepotism or simply to describe the warmth people feel toward familiar faces. In Poland it is commonly invoked in contexts of family loyalty, local pride, or national identity.

  English equivalent

  Blood is thicker than water.

  Vocabulary

  • swój — one's own, a member of one's group (reflexive possessive pronoun)
  • obcy — stranger, foreigner, outsider (used here as a noun)
  • co — what, that which (relative pronoun)

  Grammar note

  Swój is a reflexive possessive pronoun that refers back to the subject. Here it functions as a noun: 'one who is one's own.' Obcy is a substantivised adjective meaning 'an outsider.' The 'co … to …' construction is a classic nominal proverb template with no finite verb, asserting equivalence between the two parts.

  Cultural context

  The sentiment behind this proverb is widespread in Polish society, where family and local ties remain strong. It is neutral in register and used across generations. In modern political discourse it can take on a sharper edge when 'obcy' is defined along ethnic lines, but in everyday speech it simply acknowledges natural human loyalty to one's group.

  Beginner

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