• Listen

  What it means

  Literally “the devil covered it with his tail.” Means something has vanished without a trace, disappeared completely — as if the devil swept it away with his tail.

  Vocabulary

  • diabeł — devil
  • nakryć — to cover / to conceal (perfective)
  • ogon — tail

  Grammar note

  'Ogonem' uses the instrumental of 'ogon' — the instrument with which the covering is done.

  Cultural context

  A vivid folk expression rooted in Polish demonology. Used when something goes missing inexplicably.

  Intermediate

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!