To carry someone in your arms

Welcome to another edition of SoundCzech – Radio Prague’s Czech language series in which you can learn new phrases with the help of song lyrics. Today’s song is On My Own from the musical Les Miserables, it is sung by Lucie Bílá and the phrase to listen out for is “nosil by mě na rukou”.

“Nosit někoho na rukou” means to carry someone in your arms and Czechs use it to say a woman is being taken good care of by a man. “On jí na rukou nosí“ means he carries her around in his arms – in other words she does not need to make any effort.

Another –less poetic way- of saying much the same thing is the expression “on by se pro ní rozkrájel” - he would slice himself into pieces for her – or ”on by se pro ní přetrhl”– he would tear himself apart to make her happy – much like the English he would bend over backwards.

When a woman is so cosseted Czechs say “chová ji ve vatičce”– he keeps her in cotton wool – as if she were a precious breakable object. Or “chová jí jako vejce malovaný” he treats her as if she were a painted egg. The latter refers to Easter eggs which are blown out of their shells before they are painted and need to be handled with extreme caution.

A man who is thus obsessed will fulfil his woman’s every wish “udělá co jí na očích vidí”– meaning he will fulfil every wish he sees expressed in her eyes. Or he will bring the blue colour down from the sky for her – “snese jí modré z nebe.”

And finally there is the expression “opatrovat jako oko v hlavě”– to take as good care of someone – to protect them as much as you protect your own eyes. And that brings us to the end of today’s lesson –this is Daniela Lazarová saying thanks for learning Czech with me and na shledanou.