Jaki Bartek, taki wrzesień, jaki Marcin, taka zima
Listen
What it means
As Saint Bartholomew’s Day goes, so goes September; as Saint Martin’s Day goes, so goes winter. A folk weather proverb linking two feast days to the seasons that follow them.
Vocabulary
- Bartek — Saint Bartholomew's Day (24 August)
- wrzesień — September
- Marcin — Saint Martin's Day (11 November)
- zima — winter
Grammar note
Two parallel 'jaki… taki…' correlatives joined in one proverb. 'Wrzesień' is masculine, 'zima' is feminine — adjective forms differ accordingly.
Cultural context
Saint Bartholomew (24 August) and Saint Martin (11 November) are both important markers in the Polish folk calendar for predicting autumn and winter weather.
Beginner
Noticed a typo, a wrong translation, or anything that doesn't look right? We'd love to fix it — just let us know via the contact page. Thank you!
More Polish proverbs
- "A stepmother, even if made of sugar, is always bitter." No matter how kind a stepmother tries to …
- "For a wise head, two words are enough." A clever person needs only a brief hint to understand; …
- "A Pole is wise after the damage is done." Poles (or people in general) tend to learn from mistakes …
- "The wise will accept advice; the fool will scorn it." Intelligent people are open to counsel, while …