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  What it means

  Literally “to put on the tally/notch.” Means to chalk something up to, to attribute something to a cause — to assign responsibility or blame to a particular factor.

  Vocabulary

  • kłaść — to place / to lay (imperfective)
  • karb — notch / tally / account

  Grammar note

  'Na karb' uses the accusative after 'na'. Followed by the genitive of the cause: 'kłaść coś na karb zmęczenia' (to chalk something up to tiredness).

  Cultural context

  From the old practice of keeping tallies by cutting notches in wood. The metaphor of recording a debt or fault survives in this idiom.

  Intermediate

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