By a hair’s breadth
Hello and welcome to a new edition of SoundCzech, our programme in which you can learn some interesting and perhaps useful Czech phrases while listening to music. Today’s song is “Já mořem plul”, or I sailed the sea, by the Czech singer Pavel Bobek. It appeared on his 2000 album, “Jsem pouhý známý”, or I’m Just an Acquaintance. The phrase to listen for is “o chlup”, or by a hair’s breadth.
In this song, the actual phrase says, “ani o chlup dýl”, which literally means not by a hair’s breadth longer. (In proper Czech, however, it should really say “déle”.) The expression is used in very much the same way it is in English, perhaps even more frequently. People would typically say – “to bylo o chlup”– that was close, or “o chlup víc”– just a little more. Have another listen.
The Czech language has of course other ways of getting across the same meaning. Most commonly, you would say “o trochu”– a little, as in “o trochu víc”– a little more. People also say “o něco”. But there is a very similar expression – “o fous”, which has the same meaning but is difficult to translate as the word “fous” means a single beard hair.
The word “chlup”, a hair, is used in other Czech sayings as well. For instance, “sezřal to i s chlupama”– he ate it hairs and all – means someone swallowed it hook, line and sinker. An old Czech proverb says “vem chlup na dlani, když tam není”– try getting a hair off your palm when there is none. This is used to express that if something isn’t there, you just can’t have it. And, interestingly, the word “chlupatej”– hairy – was pre-war slang for a policeman.
