🤖 Literally, in English
“They let the goat into the vegetable garden.”
Пустили козла в город. Pustyly kozla v horod
🤨 What does it ACTUALLY mean? →
🇬🇧 What you'd actually say
“They put exactly the wrong person in charge.”
also: “That's the fox guarding the henhouse.” · “They gave the job to the one person who'll ruin it.”
- 📖 Meaning
- Someone was given control of the thing they are most likely to damage or steal from.
- 💡 Why it's funny
- English guards chickens from a fox; Ukrainian guards cabbages from a goat. The Ukrainian version is less bloodthirsty and somehow more annoying.
- 🧭 Closest English idiom
- “To put the fox in charge of the henhouse.”
- 📝 Explanation
- Used about appointments and hiring — often with heavy sarcasm about management or politics.
🧠 Learn
- in charge of (phrase) — responsible for controlling something — відповідальний за “She's in charge of the whole department.”
- henhouse (noun) — a small building where chickens are kept — курник “The fox got into the henhouse.”
🗣 In context
Його призначили відповідати за бюджет? Пустили козла в город.
They put him in charge of the budget? That's the fox guarding the henhouse.
🎧 Hear the contrast
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