liškou podšitý

Czech

Etymology

From liška (“fox”) + podšitý (“lined”). In the past animal fur used to be sometimes sown inside coats. At the same time there was a prejudice that some animal characteristics can be transferred to people by touching them. People wearing coats with lined fox fur were expected to have acquired characteristics like cunningness or slyness.^[1] Compare Polish tchórzem podszyty.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [lɪʃkou̯ potʃɪtiː]

Phrase

liškou podšitý

(idiomatic) sly as a fox
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:podšitý
- 1888, Josef Kajetán Tyl, Alchemista‎^[1]:
  „Tys chytrák liškou podšitý!“ odpověděl radní pán, „a rád bysi zákony nadešel, nežli tě samy k soudu popoženou […]“.
  "You are a cunning person, sly as a fox!" answered the town councillor, "and you would like to get round the laws before you get to court because of them […]"

Related terms

References

^ Václav Machek (1968) “šíti”, in Etymologický slovník jazyka českého [Etymological Dictionary of the Czech Language], 2nd edition, Prague: Academia

[Machek-1] Václav Machek (1968) “šíti”, in Etymologický slovník jazyka českého [Etymological Dictionary of the Czech Language], 2nd edition, Prague: Academia

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