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  What it means

  “Like in the time of King Augustus: eat, drink, and loosen your belt.” A sardonic reference to the reign of the Saxon kings (August II and August III) in 18th-century Poland, remembered as a period of indulgence, political paralysis, and decline.

  English equivalent

  Eat, drink, and be merry.

  Vocabulary

  • król — king
  • Sas — Saxon (nickname for the Saxon kings)
  • popuszczać — to loosen, to let out
  • pas — belt

  Grammar note

  'Popuszczaj' is an imperative form. 'Za króla Sasa' uses the genitive after 'za' in a temporal sense ('in the time of').

  Cultural context

  The Saxon kings (August II and III) ruled Poland in the early 18th century. Their era is associated in Polish memory with noble excess and the weakening of the state.

  Intermediate

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