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  What it means

  Literally “a fairy tale about an iron wolf.” Means a completely made-up story, a tall tale, or nonsense — something nobody should believe.

  Vocabulary

  • bajka — fairy tale / fable / tall tale
  • żelazny — iron / made of iron
  • wilk — wolf

  Grammar note

  'O żelaznym wilku' uses the locative after 'o.' 'Żelaznym' is the locative masculine form of 'żelazny', agreeing with 'wilku' (locative of 'wilk').

  Cultural context

  An iron wolf is an absurd, impossible creature — the phrase signals that what you're hearing is pure fantasy. Also connected to the legend of Vilnius, where Grand Duke Gediminas dreamed of an iron wolf, though in everyday use the idiom simply means nonsense.

  Intermediate

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