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  What it means

  Literally “where there are no fish, a crayfish counts as a fish.” When better options aren’t available, you make do with what’s on hand — “beggars can’t be choosers.”

  Vocabulary

  • bezrybie — fishless waters / lack of fish
  • rak — crayfish
  • ryba — fish

  Grammar note

  'Na bezrybiu' uses the locative. 'Bezrybie' is a compound noun: 'bez' (without) + a root from 'ryba' (fish).

  Cultural context

  Fishing is culturally important in Poland, lending this idiom its vivid, rural imagery.

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