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  What it means

  “Mild weather on St Andrew’s Day — oh, that’s a bad omen.” If the weather is warm and soft around St Andrew’s Day (30 November), it foretells a harsh winter ahead. A folk weather proverb from the Polish calendar.

  Vocabulary

  • miękko — softly, mildly (of weather)
  • Andrzej — Andrew (St Andrew's Day, 30 November)
  • nadzieja — hope, prospect
  • niedobry — bad, not good

  Grammar note

  'Na Andrzeja' uses the genitive of the name 'Andrzej' after 'na' in a temporal construction meaning 'on St Andrew's Day'.

  Cultural context

  St Andrew's Day (Andrzejki) is a major folk holiday in Poland associated with fortune-telling and weather omens.

  Intermediate

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