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  What it means

  “When there’s frost on St. Lucy’s Day, grease your cart.” If it’s frosty on December 13 (St. Lucy’s Day), expect a mild winter — you’ll be using a wheeled cart rather than a sleigh. A folk weather prediction proverb.

  Vocabulary

  • Łucja — Lucy (St. Lucy's Day, December 13)
  • mróz — frost
  • smarować — to grease, to lubricate
  • wóz — cart, wagon

  Grammar note

  'Smaruj' is the imperative of 'smarować'. 'Na świętą Łucję' uses the accusative in a temporal expression.

  Cultural context

  St. Lucy's Day (December 13) is one of many Polish calendar saints used for weather prediction. A greased cart (not a sleigh) implies no snow.

  Intermediate

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