A few handy phrases

Today's body part is the hand. The Czech word ruka and its plural form - ruce is commonly used for both hands and arms. The number of phrases and fixed expressions using the words is overwhelming - you can try and count how many you can think of in your own language.

First of all, the hand symbolises work and skills. Má zlaté ruce - he or she has golden hands - that's what Czechs say about very skilful people. About someone who has trouble making ends meet Czechs say ¾ije z ruky do úst - they live from hand to mouth. Some people earn their livings in ways that are not completely honest and some of them can, metaphorically speaking, dirty their hands - u¹pinit si ruce. If people do not want to acknowledge their wrongdoings and face the consequences or simply deal with problems, we say they wash their hands of it. Czech uses exactly the same phrase - umýt si nad nìèím ruce.

The word hand is also used in phrases which refer to distance. If we need somebody or something to be available, to be near, we say we want them to be at hand - být po ruce. On the other hand, if something is far away, or out of the way, Czechs use the expression být z ruky, literally be out of hand.

The hands are also a symbol of power and control. In our imagination they can hold the scepter, the stick, the helm or the reins. From these images stem phrases such as mít nìco pevnì v rukou - hold something firmly in your hands or have something under control. If something gets out of one's hands, Czechs say - vymklo se mi to z ruky. And if someone is in a superior position over somebody else and they obey him blindly - we can say zobou mu z ruky - they feed out of his hand.

The hand also represents cooperation or unity, as symbolised by the handshake, for example. If Czechs say ruku na to, they want somebody to promise, to seal a deal by a handshake. Another idiom associated with cooperation is ruka ruku myje - literally "one hand washes another" meaning you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.

This has been just a handful of phrases. We could go on and on but our time is up. Tune in again next time, if you can. Na shledanou.