Episode 34: Boldly, Boldly!

Śmiało, śmiało!

English Phonemes: “SHMYAH-woh SHMYAH-woh”

Literal Translation: Boldly, boldly!

English Equivalents: Go on, then! Off you pop! Let’s go! Have at it! Go on! 

This is a way to encourage someone to do something. It’s a positive supportive thing to say to someone. 

The idiom itself is super Polish. Thinking about the grammar, usually in English you don’t see an adverb standing alone like this. But in Polish it’s completely okay. The form that śmiało is in is also interesting because in a sentence the word will probably have different endings (śmiale [adv.], śmiałe [adj.], śmiała [adj.], śmiały [adj.]) and rarely will it look like it does here when it’s in a sentence surrounded by other words. 

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