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  What it means

  Literally: “He who digs pits under someone else falls into them himself.” This proverb describes the concept of a scheme or trap backfiring on the person who set it. When you try to undermine, harm, or outwit another person, the consequences often rebound on you. It is used after someone’s plan has gone wrong in an ironic, karma-like way, or as a warning against scheming.

  English equivalent

  Don't dig a pit for others — you may fall into it yourself. / Hoist with one's own petard.

  Vocabulary

  • kto — he who, whoever (relative pronoun)
  • pod kim — under someone (preposition pod + instrumental)
  • dołki — little pits, holes (diminutive accusative plural of dół)
  • kopie — digs (third-person singular present of kopać)
  • sam — himself, alone (emphatic pronoun)
  • wpada — falls in (third-person singular present of wpaść)

  Grammar note

  The construction 'pod kim kopie' uses 'pod' with the instrumental case to mean 'under someone', implying digging beneath them — a literal trap metaphor. 'Dołki' is the diminutive accusative plural of 'dół' (pit/hole), the diminutive softening the image without reducing its meaning. 'Sam w nie wpada' uses 'sam' for emphasis (he himself falls) and 'nie' as a pronoun replacing 'dołki' (into them).

  Cultural context

  This proverb appears across many Slavic languages in similar forms and is deeply embedded in Polish moral folklore. It carries a sense of poetic justice and is often said with a knowing tone when someone's scheme backfires publicly. Comparable to the English 'karma' concept, it reflects a worldview that dishonest intentions tend to be self-defeating.

  Intermediate

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