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  What it means

  Literally “the tenth water after the kisel.” Describes a very distant relative — someone so distantly related that the connection is barely worth mentioning. The image is of watered-down fruit jelly, diluted beyond recognition.

  Vocabulary

  • dziesiąta — tenth (feminine)
  • woda — water
  • kisiel — kisel — a thick fruit jelly/pudding

  Grammar note

  'Po kisielu' uses the locative after 'po' in the sense of 'after' or 'following from'.

  Cultural context

  Kisiel is a traditional Polish dessert made from fruit and starch. The image of water left after rinsing the pot perfectly captures extreme dilution.

  Intermediate

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