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  What it means

  “The third hand beats and weeps.” This longer card-game saying means the key third party wins but also suffers. Winning and pain can come together.

  Vocabulary

  • trzecia — third (feminine)
  • ręka — hand
  • bić — to beat, to strike
  • płakać — to weep, to cry

  Grammar note

  'Bije i płacze' has two third-person singular present verbs joined by 'i' (and), with the same subject, 'ręka'.

  Cultural context

  The saying comes from Polish card-playing tradition and notes that even a winner may pay a price.

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