Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
John: Idioms Using wziąć Meaning "To Take"
John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to PolishPod101.com. I'm John.
Marzena: And I'm Marzena!
John: This is Must-Know Polish Slang Words and Phrases, Season 1, Lesson 23. In this lesson, you'll learn idioms using wziąć, meaning "to take."
John: Here, you will learn what you can "take" in Polish.
SLANG EXPRESSIONS
John: The expressions you will be learning in this lesson are...
Marzena: wziąć się za siebie
Marzena: wziąć się w garść
Marzena: wziąć byka za rogi
Marzena: wziąć pod swoje skrzydła
John: Marzena, what's our first expression?
Marzena: wziąć się za siebie
John: It doesn't have a literal meaning, but when it's used as a slang expression, it means "to start to take care of oneself."
Marzena: [SLOW] wziąć się za siebie [NORMAL] wziąć się za siebie
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Marzena: wziąć się za siebie
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this expression to refer to a situation where a person starts to take better care of themselves.
John: Now, let's hear an example sentence.
Marzena: [NORMAL] No dobrze, to teraz muszę się za siebie wziąć. [SLOW] No dobrze, to teraz muszę się za siebie wziąć.
John: "Okay, so now I have to take care of myself."
Marzena: [NORMAL] No dobrze, to teraz muszę się za siebie wziąć.
John: Okay, what's the next expression?
Marzena: wziąć się w garść
John: It literally means "to take oneself in one’s hands," but when it's used as a slang expression, it means "to get hold of oneself, put oneself together."
Marzena: [SLOW] wziąć się w garść [NORMAL] wziąć się w garść
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Marzena: wziąć się w garść
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this expression when you refer to a situation where a person went through a very hard period but is back on track.
John: Now, let's hear an example sentence.
Marzena: [NORMAL] No już, weź się w garść. [SLOW] No już, weź się w garść.
John: "Come on, put yourself together."
Marzena: [NORMAL] No już, weź się w garść.
John: Okay, what's our next expression?
Marzena: wziąć byka za rogi
John: It literally means "to grab the bull by the horns," but when it's used as a slang expression, it means "to do something important without thinking or wondering if you should do it."
Marzena: [SLOW] wziąć byka za rogi [NORMAL] wziąć byka za rogi
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Marzena: wziąć byka za rogi
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this expression when you refer to someone doing something important or big without thinking about it for too long.
John: Now, let's hear an example sentence.
Marzena: [NORMAL] Teraz to musisz wziąć byka za rogi. [SLOW] Teraz to musisz wziąć byka za rogi.
John: "Now you have to do it without thinking."
Marzena: [NORMAL] Teraz to musisz wziąć byka za rogi.
John: Okay, what's the last expression?
Marzena: wziąć pod swoje skrzydła
John: It literally means "to take somebody under one's wings," but when it's used as a slang expression, it means "to take somebody under one's wing."
Marzena: [SLOW] wziąć pod swoje skrzydła [NORMAL] wziąć pod swoje skrzydła
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Marzena: wziąć pod swoje skrzydła
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this expression to refer to a situation when somebody takes care of somebody else.
John: Now, let's hear an example sentence.
Marzena: [NORMAL] Szefowa od początku wzięła go pod swoje skrzydła. [SLOW] Szefowa od początku wzięła go pod swoje skrzydła.
John: "The boss took him under her wing from the beginning."
Marzena: [NORMAL] Szefowa od początku wzięła go pod swoje skrzydła.
QUIZ
John: Okay listeners, are you ready to be quizzed on the expressions you just learned? I'll describe four situations, and you choose the right expression to use in your reply. Are you ready?
John:You were a little down but now everything is better. You got ahold of yourself.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Marzena: wziąć się w garść
John: "to get hold of oneself, put oneself together"
John:Your friend was dumped and now he is not leaving his home. He’s not really taking care of himself. You want to tell him that he needs to start taking care of himself.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Marzena: wziąć się za siebie
John: "to start to take care of oneself"
John: Your supervisor helped you a lot. She let you grow and helped you make right choices. She took care of you.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Marzena: wziąć pod swoje skrzydła
John: "to take somebody under one's wing"
John: You decided to just go for it. You may not be ready but at least you will try to do your best.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Marzena: wziąć byka za rogi
John: "to do something important without thinking or wondering if you should do it"

Outro

John: There you have it; you have mastered four Polish Slang Expressions! We have more vocab lists available at PolishPod101.com so be sure to check them out. Thanks everyone, and see you next time!
Marzena: Cześć.

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