• Listen

  What it means

  “On Saint Agatha’s day, flies come out from behind the lath.” Tied to February 5th (St. Agatha), this proverb notes that even insects begin to stir from their winter hiding places — a sign that spring is slowly approaching.

  Vocabulary

  • muchy — flies
  • wychodzą — come out, emerge
  • łata — lath, patch, plank (here: a gap in the wall or woodwork)
  • zza — from behind

  Grammar note

  'Zza łaty' uses the genitive after 'zza' (from behind). 'Wychodzą' is the third person plural of 'wychodzić' (to come out).

  Cultural context

  St. Agatha's Day (February 5) was seen as a very early sign of the coming spring in Polish folk tradition, even though winter was far from over.

  Intermediate

Noticed a typo, a wrong translation, or anything that doesn't look right? We'd love to fix it — just let us know via the contact page. Thank you!