The Idioms from Around the Globe series continues its journey in April. This month we introduce an idiom from Poland, courtesy of our guest blogger, the Polish conference interpreter Justyna Gutowska. Justyna will explain why “haste makes waste”.
Co nagle to po diable
Language: Polish
In English, please! What is done hastily, is done the devil’s way.
What it means: Haste makes waste
Why the devil? The Polish proverb Co nagle to po diable literally means that “what you do hastily or without due consideration, is done the devil’s way”. In other words, decisions made in a hurry are usually wrong and should be avoided. The devil appears in many Polish proverbs. This is possibly due to the country’s deeply rooted Christian tradition. Or perhaps because in many cultures and traditions, the devil symbolises all evil. Co nagle to po diable has an equivalent in English – “haste makes waste”, which has, in essence (and without the devilish involvement) the same meaning.
Bio: Justyna Gutowska is a competent Polish conference interpreter with 6 years’ experience in providing bespoke language services in Polish and English including interpreting, conference interpreting, interpreting and translating for business. Her business acumen comes from 6 years’ experience of working with international multilingual companies in the field of process optimisation, project coordination and management.
Do you find idioms fascinating? This article offers some useful background information on what they are and how to use them.
