What does “jak to” mean in Polish?

Jak to? — literally “how that?” — is the Polish way to say “what do you mean?” when something makes no sense. On its own it’s a full reply; stuck in front of a repeated statement it becomes pure disbelief: Nie ma go nigdzie. — Jak to nie ma? “He’s nowhere.” — “What do you mean, nowhere?” You’ll hear it dozens of times a day, in shops, on the phone, and in every family argument.

The pattern is jak to + the words you’re contesting: jak to nie wiesz? (“what do you mean you don’t know?”), jak to zamknięte? (“what do you mean, closed?”). The clip also drills the phrase Poles use for “he isn’t here / there’s no him” — nie ma go — and the searching vocabulary that goes with a missing dog: na górze (“upstairs”), gdzie ty jesteś? (“where are you?”), chyba uciekł (“he’s probably run off”).