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What does “zapierać dech w piersiach” mean?

When something stuns you in Polish, it zapiera dech w piersiach — literally it “jams the breath in your chest.” This is the standard way to call something breathtaking: a view, a performance, a mountain panorama. The diver’s story ends on exactly this note: surrounded by a whole family of friendly sharks, he sees a sight that is zapierający dech w piersiach — breathtaking.

Zapierać means to block or press against something, so the idiom paints real physics: the air gets stuck in your piersi (chest). You can use the verb form — ten widok zapiera dech (“this view takes your breath away”) — or the ready-made adjective phrase zapierający dech w piersiach before a noun. Drop it into a travel story and you instantly sound less like a textbook.