Hello! I’m Norwegian, but in my work I run into quite a lot of eastern Europeans, including Poles. A while ago, I was talking to an Polish man, and he said something that stuck with me – “That’s a problem/question for a horse”. I forget the context of the conversation, and the exact wording, but it was in regard to a complicated question that was not for me and him to ponder.
I realized later that the reason it stuck with me was because I had heard this exact proverb in an interview of a Slovakian named Rudolf Vrba. My Polish coworker had said it in Norwegian, and this Slovak had said it in English. Thankfully, Vrba elaborated on what it meant. [“A Slovak proverb says ‘This is a problem for a horse’. He has a big head – he can think about it”](https://youtu.be/5D4l5xcZgxM?si=qHZCZ1PTGNJEmG7j&t=13418).
I asked another Polish man I know whether he was familiar with the proverb. He wasn’t, but said it may be a regional thing. My friend is from northern Poland, and so as far from Slovakia as you could get. Perhaps the older Polish man I spoke to is from southern Poland?
Can anyone shed some light on this? Have you heard this proverb before, and am I right to assume it is a regional phrase, or is it perhaps just a generational thing? Vrba would be 100 years old if he lived today, and the man I spoke to is likely somewhere in his sixties. My Polish friend is in his late thirties.
by ThePiderman