No more messing around

Welcome to SoundCzech, our language series where we look at Czech sayings through song lyrics. In today’s episode the expression to look out for is “konec srandy” featured in a song of the same name by the popular Czech blues band Katapult.

Translated into English, konec srandy means the fun is over, or no more fun and games: what is implied is that it’s time, so to speak, to face the music. No more messing around. The lyrics are sung from the perspective of a protagonist figuratively shell-shocked by the responsibilities of adult life: fees, loans and taxes, insurance for the car and home, highway permits and registering the family dog. It’s no surprise with all the details plaguing him the protagonist wakes up restless and in a sweat, feeling as if he hasn’t done enough, yet at the same time as if he had worked all night. Konec srandy– the fun’s over – this is real life.

John Lennon has a lyric on Double Fantasy that life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans... in Katapult’s song, in a funny way, it seems there’s no room even for that: plans have been nuked off the face of the planet! The protagonist is snowed under with anxiety and he tells his partner, get ready sweetheart, tak se připrav, lásko moje... the fun’s over... konec srandy.

Other ways of saying konec srandy in Czech is the exclamation A šmytec! meaning, that’s it! Enough! It’s over. Or zazvonil zvonec– the bell has tolled. All imply a certain turning point and that there are tough times ahead. The word sranda on its own in Czech implies high jinks and horsing around – konec srandy means it’s time to get serious. A teď, vážně, (now seriously) your boss might say at an important meeting, we have to get down to business. Konec srandy. This is no time to be fooling around.