# You came at the right time.



## Encolpius

Hello, if someone arrives just at the right time when you need him do you use the idiom: Idziesz jak na zawołanie? I know there is the phrase "jak na zawołanie" in Polish, too, but I haven't find many hits on the net. Thanks.


----------



## Ben Jamin

Encolpius said:


> Hello, if someone arrives just at the right time when you need him do you use the idiom: Idziesz jak na zawołanie? I know there is the phrase "jak na zawołanie" in Polish, too, but I haven't find many hits on the net. Thanks.



In Polish it is important to use the correct verb in the sentence. Your sentence translated back will be in English "You are going at the right time!" or "You usually go at the right time!"
To come in Polish is "przybyć", or "przyjść". You can use here either a perfective verb in the past tense "Przybyłeś/przyszedłeś jak na zawołanie" or an imperfective verb in the present tense "Przybywasz/przychodzisz jak na zawołanie". Remember that Polish has no present perfect tense, nor "passe recent", so you have to use either the past tense, or the present tense. If you want to stress the immediateness of the arrival, use the present tense. And remember that only imperfective verbs have present tense forms.


----------



## ymar

In my experience, this isn't how the idiom is used, although I must admit I'm hesitant in saying this. "Na zawołanie" means _on cue_. When I was at school, we, the boys, liked to brag about _bekanie na zawołanie_ (burping on cue). We also discussed the feasibility of _pierdzenie na zawołanie_ (farting on cue),_ rzyganie na zawołanie_ (puking on cue) and the like. "Jak na zawołanie" could be translated as "as if on cue". When a football player scores a lot of goals, you could say he _strzela jak na zawołanie_. The (obviously exaggerated) implication is that the player can score whenever he wants to, no matter what the opposition might do.

However, I would not be surprised if you could find the idiom used as you suggest by native speakers.

A minor point is that "idziesz" is not a good choice of verb here. "Pojawiasz się" or "przychodzisz" would be better.


----------



## Thomas1

Sometimes "o wilku mowa(, a wilk tu)" (litterally "about wolf speech, and the wolf here", English equivalent: speak of the devil (and in he walks)) can be used, but it's got broader meaning, so we would need a specific context to tell if it works. The part in the parenthesis is usually left out in spoken Polish.

I find "przychodzisz jak na zawołanie" OK.


----------



## Ben Jamin

Thomas1 said:


> Sometimes "o wilku mowa(, a wilk tu)" (litterally "about wolf speech, and the wolf here", English equivalent: speak of the devil (and in he walks)) can be used, but it's got broader meaning, so we would need a specific context to tell if it works. The part in the parenthesis is usually left out in spoken Polish.
> 
> I find "przychodzisz jak na zawołanie" OK.


You can also say "przychodzisz w samą porę". I think this would be the forst choice of many people.


----------



## jasio

Ben Jamin said:


> You can also say "przychodzisz w samą porę". I think this would be the forst choice of many people.



Also "Przyszedłeś/przyszłaś w samą porę", "przychodzisz (akurat) na czas", "przyszedłeś/przyszłaś (akurat) na czas" - all of them mean literally "_you arrived (just) at a right time_". As thomas1 wrote, specific wording very much depends of very specific context. 

Personally, I would find 'przychodzić jak na zawołanie' a little bit old-fashioned (what came to my mind was films of or about pre-WWII time), which does NOT mean it would be bad. My gut feeling is that nowadays it could be more appropriate to comment someone else's arrival and in story telling rather than as an immediate comment of arrival of the person you are talking to. But it's just a gut feeling.


----------



## Ben Jamin

jasio said:


> Also "Przyszedłeś/przyszłaś w samą porę", "przychodzisz (akurat) na czas", "przyszedłeś/przyszłaś (akurat) na czas" - all of them mean literally "_you arrived (just) at a right time_". As thomas1 wrote, specific wording very much depends of very specific context.
> 
> Personally, I would find 'przychodzić jak na zawołanie' a little bit old-fashioned (what came to my mind was films of or about pre-WWII time), which does NOT mean it would be bad. My gut feeling is that nowadays it could be more appropriate to comment someone else's arrival and in story telling rather than as an immediate comment of arrival of the person you are talking to. But it's just a gut feeling.



I would not say it is old fashioned, but using this expression requires a set of circumstances that should occur simultaneously:
1, You really need a certain person.
2. The person arrives unexpectedly, not suspecting that there was a need for him.
For example: a group of persons has a problem with some technical equipment, and one of them says “only Jan can help us, he is really an expert at this”, and Jan arrives almost immediately after being mentioned.


----------



## Harry-Potter

I don't find it old-fashioned either. But the expression in my opinion carries a bit different meaning which - I think - hasn't been mentioned here. "Iść na zawołanie" to me means that the person who does it is very influenced by somebody. For example if a bossy girl has her boyfriend do everything for her, his friends can say, 'Ona coś powie, a on idzie (jak na) zawołanie', meaning he's at her beck and call.


----------



## Ben Jamin

Harry-Potter said:


> I don't find it old-fashioned either. But the expression in my opinion carries a bit different meaning which - I think - hasn't been mentioned here. "Iść na zawołanie" to me means that the person who does it is very influenced by somebody. For example if a bossy girl has her boyfriend do everything for her, his friends can say, 'Ona coś powie, a on idzie (jak na) zawołanie', meaning he's at her beck and call.



1. We have already established that ""Iść  jak na zawołanie"  was an erroneous translation to Polish in #1. 

2."Iść na zawołanie"  and ""Przybywać/przychodzić *jak* na zawołanie". have a completely different meaning, and nobody claimed that they mean the same, so your post starts a new thread.


----------



## dreamlike

"O wilku mowa" is an entirely different kettle of fish. It's used to mark the presence of a person that we have been talking about, when this person suddenly shows up, most often unexpectedly. 

In the context given, where in English I'd use the expression "in the nick of time", I think we would do well to use "przyszedłeś w samą porę" or "rychło w czas". The latter is often used in an ironic way, though, so be wary of that.

"na zawołanie" is yet another thing, not really applicable here.


----------



## jasio

Ben Jamin said:


> I would not say it is old fashioned, but using this expression requires a set of circumstances that should occur simultaneously:
> 1, You really need a certain person.
> 2. The person arrives unexpectedly, not suspecting that there was a need for him.
> For example: a group of persons has a problem with some technical equipment, and one of them says “only Jan can help us, he is really an expert at this”, and Jan arrives almost immediately after being mentioned.



Perhaps this is the reason I don't hear it too often.


----------



## Thomas1

dreamlike said:


> "O wilku mowa" is an entirely different kettle of fish. It's used to mark the presence of a person that we have been talking about, when this person suddenly shows up, most often unexpectedly.
> 
> In the context given, where in English I'd use the expression "in the nick of time", I think we would do well to use "przyszedłeś w samą porę" or "rychło w czas". The latter is often used in an ironic way, though, so be wary of that.
> 
> "na zawołanie" is yet another thing, not really applicable here.


That's a fine kettle of fish. 
I wouldn't discard "o wilku mowa" altogether. It can be used in a situation when "someone arrives at the right time when you need him". You can easily find examples in which these criteria and the ones determinig the use of the Polish expression converge (hence my advisory and request for a specific context, which, mind you, hasn't been given so far).


----------



## dreamlike

Thomas1 said:


> I wouldn't discard "o wilku mowa" altogether. It can be used in a situation when "someone arrives at the right time when you need him". You can easily find examples in which these criteria and the ones determinig the use of the Polish expression converge (hence my advisory and request for a specific context, which, mind you, hasn't been given so far).


Point well-taken.


----------



## Ben Jamin

I would use "o wilku mowa" only when a person appears when we are talking about him, but not when we really need that person. The expression "o wilku mowa" is slightly negative, more often than not used about somebody that is not really welcome (but I wouldn't exclude used positively in a joking context, but then with a broad smile as a compensation).


----------



## Thomas1

Ben Jamin said:


> [...]The expression "o wilku mowa" is slightly negative, more often than not used about somebody that is not really welcome (but I wouldn't exclude used positively in a joking context, but then with a broad smile as a compensation).


This isn't necessarily so to my experience. Lexicographers from PWN seem to agree:
O wilku mowa, a wilk tu «o sytuacji, w której niespodziewanie zjawia się ktoś, o kim właśnie rozmawiano»
_Uniwersalny słownik języka polskiego_, PWN​


----------

