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  What it means

  “When Paul converts, winter turns back on itself.” Around the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (January 25), winter begins to ease and the days start to lengthen noticeably.

  Vocabulary

  • nawrócić się — to convert (religiously); to turn around
  • zima — winter
  • na wspak — backwards, in reverse
  • odwrócić się — to turn around, to reverse

  Grammar note

  The proverb plays on the double meaning of 'nawrócić się': St. Paul's conversion and the turning/reversing of winter.

  Cultural context

  The Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (January 25) is a traditional marker of winter's turning point in the Polish folk calendar.

  Intermediate

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