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  What it means

  Literally “to lie down like Rejtan.” Means to make a dramatic, desperate protest — throwing oneself down to block something, refusing to move. A theatrical act of defiance.

  Vocabulary

  • Rejtan — Tadeusz Rejtan — Polish nobleman and patriot

  Grammar note

  'Rejtanem' is the instrumental of 'Rejtan' — predicate instrumental describing manner.

  Cultural context

  Tadeusz Rejtan famously threw himself across a doorway in 1773 to block deputies from signing the First Partition of Poland, tearing open his shirt in despair. Jan Matejko's iconic painting immortalised the scene. 'Kłaść się Rejtanem' now means any dramatic, futile act of protest.

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