Więcej poufałości niż znajomości
Listen
What it means
“More familiarity than acquaintance.” Said of someone who acts overly familiar or intimate with people they barely know — taking liberties that their actual relationship doesn’t warrant.
English equivalent
Familiarity breeds contempt.
Vocabulary
- poufałość — familiarity, over-familiarity, forwardness
- znajomość — acquaintance, knowledge of someone
- więcej — more
- niż — than
Grammar note
'Poufałości' and 'znajomości' are genitive singulars after 'więcej … niż'. The sentence is elliptical — no verb is stated.
Cultural context
Reflects Polish social norms around the distinction between formal acquaintance and genuine closeness.
Advanced
Noticed a typo, a wrong translation, or anything that doesn't look right? We'd love to fix it — just let us know via the contact page. Thank you!
More Polish proverbs
- "A stepmother, even if made of sugar, is always bitter." No matter how kind a stepmother tries to …
- "For a wise head, two words are enough." A clever person needs only a brief hint to understand; …
- "A Pole is wise after the damage is done." Poles (or people in general) tend to learn from mistakes …
- "The wise will accept advice; the fool will scorn it." Intelligent people are open to counsel, while …