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  What it means

  Literally “the devil is not as frightening as he is painted.” Means something dreaded is not as bad as it seems — “his bark is worse than his bite.”

  Vocabulary

  • diabeł — devil
  • straszny — frightening / scary
  • malować — to paint

  Grammar note

  'Jak go malują' — 'jak' means 'as', 'go' is accusative of 'on' (him), 'malują' is third-person plural (they paint him).

  Cultural context

  Poland's Catholic heritage makes devil-related idioms especially vivid and common in everyday speech.

  Intermediate

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