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  What it means

  Literally “penny to penny and you’ll have a fat hen.” Means that small savings add up — if you put aside a little at a time, you’ll eventually accumulate something substantial. The Polish equivalent of “take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.”

  Vocabulary

  • grosz — penny, grosz (smallest Polish coin)
  • kokosza — fat hen (archaic/dialectal)

  Grammar note

  'Grosza' is the genitive singular after 'do' (to/towards). The rhyme grosz/kokosza makes it memorable.

  Cultural context

  An old Polish proverb about thrift. 'Kokosza' is an archaic word for a plump hen — a symbol of prosperity.

  Intermediate

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