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  What it means

  Whom academy, court, and camp cannot polish in wit, his wife should teach him sense and cleverness. A wife’s practical wisdom can succeed where formal education fails.

  Vocabulary

  • akademia — academy, university
  • dwór — court, manor
  • obóz — camp, military camp
  • wypolerować — to polish, to refine
  • rozum — reason, wit, intelligence
  • dowcip — wit, cleverness
  • douczyć — to finish teaching, to teach fully

  Grammar note

  'Kogo... nie wypoleruje' uses the genitive with negation. 'Tego... douczyć powinna' uses the genitive again as the object. 'Powinna' is the feminine conditional of 'powinien' (should).

  Cultural context

  An old Polish saying reflecting the belief that a wife's practical education complements formal schooling. The three institutions — academy, court, and military camp — represent the main paths of male education in early modern Poland.

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