• Listen

  What it means

  Dogs bite those at the back. Those who lag behind or come last suffer the most — it pays to be quick and not fall behind the group.

  English equivalent

  The hindmost gets the worst of it. / The last one is a rotten egg.

  Vocabulary

  • ostatni — last, the one at the back
  • gryźć — to bite
  • pies — dog

  Grammar note

  'Ostatnich' is the genitive plural of 'ostatni', used as the object of 'gryzą' under negation-like logic (actually accusative here, but the genitive form is used in this fixed expression). 'Psy' is the nominative plural subject.

  Cultural context

  Likely rooted in the experience of travelling in groups where stragglers were vulnerable to stray dogs.

  Beginner

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!