Bolek robi kawę i myli cukier z solą

What does “mieć pecha” mean in Polish?

Mieć pecha means to have bad luck, and the word pech is a borrowing from German Pech — “pitch,” the black sticky tar. The old image: misfortune sticks to you like tar you can’t wash off. This clip opens a whole series called Bolek ma pecha — “Bolek has bad luck” — and delivers immediately: he sweetens his beautiful coffee with two spoonfuls of salt.

The family of the word is worth collecting: a pechowiec is a walking-disaster person, pechowy dzień is an unlucky day, and Friday the 13th is pechowa trzynastka. The opposite is mieć szczęście — to be lucky. Bolek’s tasting scene also gifts you a perfect minimal pair: the coffee is słona (salty), not słodka (sweet) — one consonant between comedy and breakfast.