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  What it means

  Literally “when a person hurries, the devil rejoices.” Means rushing leads to mistakes — haste makes waste. The devil is happy when you’re careless.

  Vocabulary

  • spieszyć się — to hurry, to rush
  • diabeł — devil
  • cieszyć się — to be glad, to rejoice

  Grammar note

  Two reflexive verbs: 'spieszy się' and 'cieszy się'. The 'jak … to' structure is a conditional: when … then.

  Cultural context

  A very common piece of Polish folk wisdom — the devil as the beneficiary of human impatience is a recurring motif.

  Intermediate

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