Za Bóg zapłać niewiele kupisz
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What it means
“With ‘God bless you’ you won’t buy much.” Gratitude and kind words are nice, but they don’t pay the bills. A pragmatic reminder that goodwill alone has no monetary value.
English equivalent
Fine words butter no parsnips.
Vocabulary
- Bóg zapłać — God bless you (traditional expression of thanks)
- niewiele — not much, little
- kupić — to buy
Grammar note
'Za Bóg zapłać' treats the phrase as a noun phrase in the accusative, governed by 'za'. 'Nie kupisz' is the negated second-person future perfective.
Cultural context
'Bóg zapłać' is an archaic/regional expression of thanks still heard in rural Poland and religious contexts.
Intermediate
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