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  What it means

  Literally, “When the mother’s spirit is gone, the children’s fluff scatters.” When a mother dies, or loses her strength and authority, the family may fall apart. The children drift away and lose their shared home life. The saying points to the mother’s traditional role in holding a family together. It is used to honour mothers and mourn a family after the death of its elder woman.

  English equivalent

  The death of the mother is the death of the family.

  Vocabulary

  • duch — spirit, soul; also: when the spirit departs (euphemism for death)
  • puch — fluff, down (like feathers); figuratively: something light that scatters in the wind
  • dzieci — children (genitive plural of dziecko)
  • matka — mother

  Grammar note

  'Jak' means 'when' or 'if', not 'like'. 'Z matki duch' and 'z dzieci puch' use the genitive after 'z' in the sense of 'from'. The spirit leaves the mother and the fluff scatters from the children. The duch/puch rhyme helps the saying stick in the mind.

  Cultural context

  In traditional Polish family life, the mother, often called 'matka Polka', was seen as the centre of home and family values. The proverb appears at funerals, in writing, and in talks about family ties. Its tone is respectful and mournful, not critical.

  Intermediate

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