Episode 117: This Topic River!

To temat rzeka!

English Phonemes: “toh TEH-maht [Ż]EH-kah”

Literal Translation: This topic river.

Elegant Translation: This is a topic like a river.

English Equivalent: It’s a long story.

This phrase is used the same way “it’s a long story” is in English. It’s falling out of use, but people still know what it means. It’s a good simile, meant to evoke the feeling of a long and wide and ever-flowing river, which would take a very long time to see every bit of and completely understand.

Sidebar grammar note:
It’s important to highlight that the word “to” is a noun and not an adjective. If it were acting as an adjective, and we were saying “this topic” as a married pair of words, we’d need the Polish word “ten”. 

So. Adjective “this” vs. noun “this”.

We actually have the same behaviors in English. The English words “this” and “that” can be used as adjectives (eg. this burrito - specifying a particular and close-by instance of a burrito) or nouns (eg. I want this (pointing at something nearby), or “this is what I’m saying” (referencing something abstract that has been established before)).

So the idea is exactly the same. It’s just that in Polish, we have different versions for adjective “this” and noun “this”. 

I mention this because it means that the literal translation as ”this topic” is actually inaccurate. It’s more like “this is a topic” where “is” and “a” are understood. 

I’m laughing out loud as I type this for you. The topic of this little three-word phrase is like a river! Yay irony!

To = this [noun, subj. form]
Temat = topic [noun. s. subj. form]
Rzeka = river [noun. s. subj. form]

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