Tak krawiec kraje, jak mu materii staje
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What it means
“A tailor cuts as much cloth as he has.” Work with what is available, and fit your plans to your resources. Do not promise or try to do more than you can afford.
English equivalent
Cut your coat according to your cloth.
Vocabulary
- krawiec — tailor
- krajać — to cut
- materia — fabric, cloth
- stawać — to suffice, to be enough (archaic)
Grammar note
'Materii' is the genitive of 'materia'. 'Staje' here is an archaic third-person singular of 'stawać' meaning 'to suffice'.
Cultural context
The tailoring image came from a time when clothes were made to measure and fabric cost a lot.
Intermediate
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