złapał Kozak Tatarzyna, a Tatarzyn za łeb trzyma

Polish

Etymology

Rhyme, literally, “a Cossack has caught a Tatar, but the Tatar holds his head”, as the Tatars were stereotypically considered tall while the Cossacks were considered short.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈzwa.paw ˈkɔ.zak ta.taˈʐɘ.na |a‿taˈta.ʐɘn za‿ˈwɛp ˈtʂɘ.ma/
  • Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]

Proverb

złapał Kozak Tatarzyna, a Tatarzyn za łeb trzyma

  1. (idiomatic) someone in a conflict situation thinks they have won, but in fact it is the other party that has the upper hand

Further reading

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