Nie przesadza się starych drzew
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What it means
“You don’t transplant old trees.” Old people (or deeply rooted habits and institutions) cannot easily be uprooted and moved. Change is hard for those long established in their ways.
English equivalent
You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Vocabulary
- przesadzać — to transplant, to repot
- stary — old
- drzewo — tree
Grammar note
'Przesadza się' is an impersonal reflexive construction: 'one does not transplant'. 'Starych drzew' is the genitive plural after negation.
Intermediate
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