The Toothy One

Welcome to another edition of SoundCzech – Radio Prague’s Czech language course in which you can learn new phrases or expressions through song lyrics. Today’s song is called Zubatá by the famous underground rock band Pražský výběr – a group headed in the 1980s by singer and musician Michael Kocáb, now the country’s minister for human rights and ethnic minorities. Zubatá is a Czech slang expression for none other than the Grim Reaper, only in Czech Death is a woman.

The root of the expression is zub, meaning tooth, while zubatá translates as the toothy one. Unlike others, Death is incapable of hiding her pale grin, a smile no one willingly returns. The text in the song is just four lines, as simple as can be:

Včera ráno přišla zubatá, zubatá -

Povídá mi: „Vem si kaťata, kaťata

Je čas, hochu, musíš jit teď se mnou

Nebreč, žádný finty smrtí nehnou.“

Yesterday death came for me, death,

She told me “Pull on your shorts, shorts”

It’s time, boy, you must come with me,

Don’t cry, against Death all tricks are useless.

At least the protagonist has time to pull on his shorts – very considerate. And if all that has you wondering about other Czech expressions for death, here are a few. If someone has kicked the bucket, you might say natáhl bačkory– he’s popped his clogs but what it means is to turn up one’s toes or to turn up one’s slippers – bačkory. That’s what happens when you have the misfortune to answer the door and meet a grinning skull with too many teeth.

Vypustil duši might be used to describe someone who has croaked or given up the ghost – his soul was released, while someone pushing up daisies or now feeding the worms, would be said to be pod kytičkami– under the flowers. There’s one, even funnier irreverent expression you might also sometimes overhear in the pub: someone might say teď prdí do hlíny– now he’s farting in the dirt. Evil, isn’t it?

Speaking of Czech pubs, if you’re ever in one trying to pick up a girl and she tells you vrať se do hrobu– it means she thinks you’re a tad too old. Return to your grave and stop bugging her is what’s implied. Why? Well, you look like death warmed over.