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  What it means

  “Bread weeps when eaten for free.” Food obtained without work or payment is wasted and disrespected. One should earn what one eats.

  English equivalent

  There's no such thing as a free lunch.

  Vocabulary

  • chleb — bread
  • płakać — to cry, to weep
  • darmo — for free, without payment
  • jeść — to eat

  Grammar note

  'Gdy go darmo jedzą' — 'gdy' introduces a temporal/conditional clause; 'go' is the accusative pronoun referring to 'chleb'; 'jedzą' is third-person plural.

  Cultural context

  Personifying bread as capable of weeping reflects the deep reverence for bread in Polish folk culture.

  Beginner

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