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  What it means

  Literally “at New Year the day grows by a sheep’s leap.” Means that after the winter solstice, days start getting longer — but only by a tiny amount at first, like a sheep’s small jump.

  Vocabulary

  • Nowy Rok — New Year
  • przybywa — grows, increases (impersonal)
  • barani skok — sheep's leap — a small jump

  Grammar note

  'Przybywa dnia' — impersonal construction with genitive: 'there is more of the day'. 'Na barani skok' — by the amount of a sheep's leap.

  Cultural context

  A beloved Polish folk saying about the return of light after the winter solstice — the days grow longer, but so slowly at first that only a sheep's tiny hop marks the difference.

  Intermediate

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