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  What it means

  “Where the devil cannot go, he sends a woman.” Said (often humorously or ironically) when a woman succeeds where others have failed, or when someone uses an unexpected intermediary to get a difficult thing done.

  Vocabulary

  • diabeł — devil
  • móc — to be able to, can
  • baba — woman (colloquial, can be pejorative)
  • posłać — to send

  Grammar note

  'Pośle' is the future perfective of 'posłać'. 'Nie może' is negated present of 'móc'.

  Cultural context

  The proverb reflects old folk attitudes but is today often reclaimed humorously to praise women's resourcefulness.

  Intermediate

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