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  What it means

  Literally “even Solomon cannot pour from an empty vessel.” The proverb means that no matter how wise or capable a person is, they cannot produce something from nothing. It is used to excuse oneself or someone else for a lack of results when the necessary resources, energy, or material simply aren’t there. Poles often use it humorously to acknowledge their own limits without self-blame.

  English equivalent

  You can't squeeze blood from a stone.

  Vocabulary

  • pustego — empty (genitive singular of pusty, here modifying a masculine noun)
  • Salomon — Solomon (the biblical king proverbially associated with wisdom)
  • naleje — will pour / can pour (third person singular, perfective future of nalewać)

  Grammar note

  The preposition z (from, out of) governs the genitive case, hence pustego instead of pusty. The verb nalewać / nalać means to pour a liquid into a container; the perfective form naleje stresses the completed act. The negative nie naleje — 'will not pour' — carries the meaning of impossibility.

  Cultural context

  Solomon here is an allusion to his legendary wisdom found in the Bible, familiar throughout Polish Catholic culture. The proverb is warm and slightly wry — a polite way of saying 'I've given all I have.' It appears in both rural and urban speech and has been quoted in Polish literature since at least the 17th century.

  Intermediate

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