Water, water everywhere
You're listening to SoundCzech - Radio Prague's own Czech language series in which you'll learn useful phrases through song lyrics. Today we'll be listening to clips from a song by one of the most popular young Czech bands, Divokej Bill.
The song is called "Znamení" or "Sign" and like many other songs by the band it is crammed with idioms. The phrase we are listening out for today is "samá voda", literally translated as "all water". The expression comes from a children's game similar to "Hunt the Thimble". A child is supposed to look for an object hidden somewhere in the room and when they are nowhere near the object, others shout "Samá voda!". In English you would say "cold". The phrase is often used metaphorically to mean that someone is making the wrong guess.
As the child gets nearer the object, others call "Přihořívá!" meaning something like "catching fire". Once the object is discovered everybody shouts "Hoří!" or "Fire!". But back to "samá voda" in the song by Divokej Bill.
In this clip you could hear another idiom - "kosa na kámen". The whole phrase is "Padla kosa na kámen" or "Narazila kosa na kámen" - literally "the scythe hit a stone". The meaning of the phrase is that two equally strong rivals have come to a confrontation. The idiom is sometimes translated into English as "an irresistible force meeting an immovable object". Let's listen once again.
And that's it for this week's edition of SoundCzech with a double serving of Czech idioms: "samá voda" and "kosa na kámen". Until next week you can practice today's phrases by listening back on our website - www.radio.cz/english. Finally, a few bars of "Znamení" by Divokej Bill. Thanks for listening.
