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  What it means

  Literally “A bad ballerina is bothered by the hem of her skirt.” Someone who lacks skill or simply doesn’t want to do a task will always find an external excuse to blame — a minor, irrelevant detail becomes an obstacle. This is the more vivid, literary variant of the dancer-and-apron proverb, evoking the image of a clumsy ballerina who trips over her own costume rather than admitting her lack of talent.

  English equivalent

  A bad workman blames his tools.

  Vocabulary

  • złej — bad, poor (dative singular feminine of 'zła')
  • baletnicy — ballerina (dative singular of 'baletnica')
  • przeszkadza — bothers, hinders (third-person singular of 'przeszkadzać')
  • rąbek — hem, edge (nominative singular)
  • spódnicy — skirt (genitive singular of 'spódnica')

  Grammar note

  The subject of 'przeszkadza' is 'rąbek spódnicy' (the hem of the skirt) — it is the thing doing the bothering. 'Złej baletnicy' is dative, indicating the person who is bothered ('przeszkadzać' + dative is the standard construction). 'Spódnicy' is genitive singular of 'spódnica', expressing possession.

  Cultural context

  This is the more poetic and formal variant; it appears in written Polish and educated speech. The folk version with 'tanecznica' and 'fartuch' (apron) is more common in everyday conversation. Both mean exactly the same thing and are fully interchangeable.

  Intermediate

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