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  What it means

  Literally, “work does not harm anyone.” It means that hard work never hurt anybody. People use it to dismiss complaints about a task or to urge a reluctant person to begin, often with a sympathetic but firm tone.

  English equivalent

  Hard work never killed anyone / Work never hurt anyone.

  Vocabulary

  • praca — work, labour; feminine nominative singular
  • nikogo — no one, nobody; genitive of nikt ; required here by negation
  • krzywdzi — harms, wrongs, hurts; 3rd person singular present of krzywdzić

  Grammar note

  'Nikogo' is the genitive form of 'nikt' (nobody), required because in Polish the direct object of a negated verb shifts to the genitive case (the rule of genitive of negation). Without negation, the accusative 'kogoś' (someone) would be used instead. This grammatical feature is one of the distinctive characteristics of Polish negation.

  Cultural context

  The register is neutral to slightly formal. It can be encouraging or ironic, sometimes with dark humour when someone is given an unpleasant task. It reflects a wider Central European view of work as healthy and virtuous.

  Beginner

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