"What I have made for myself, I will drink"
You are listening to SoundCzech - Radio Prague's new Czech language series in which you can learn useful phrases through song lyrics. Today's phrase is from a song called "Tomorrow morning at five" by one of the most popular Czech singers and song-writers Jaromir Nohavica.
And today's phrase is "co jsem si nadrobil, to si i vypiju" which loosely translates as "what I have made for myself I will drink to the last drop". /Nadrobit literally means to crumble food, or dunk it in drink./ The closest English equivalent of the saying is "as you make your bed, you must lie on it" which also refers to accepting responsibility for one's actions or living with the consequences of one's decisions. Listen to the phrase:
Czechs use both the "eat" and "drink" versions that are evocative of swallowing the bitter consequences of one's actions. "Co jsem si nadrobil, to si i sním" -what I have made for myself I will eat or "co jsem si nadrobil to si i vypiju" - what I have made for myself I will drink.
You will find that "to si vypiješ" - you will drink this up - is also used as a threat, when you want to warn someone that they will be held fully responsible for their actions. Have another listen to the original phrase:
In this case the words are said by a man who has been sentenced to death. He is to be executed at dawn and says "I will drink to the bitter end what I made for myself," adding - I have no regrets for the way I lived, I am prepared to pay the price.
Well, and that is it for today's edition of SoundCzech. We'll be back next week with a new expression and a new song. Personally I hope you don't get to use this one much on your own account. It usually spells trouble. Until next time - goodbye.
