What does “trzymaj się” mean in Polish?

Trzymaj się — literally “hold yourself,” from trzymać, “to hold” — is what Poles say when they want a goodbye to carry some warmth. It means “take care,” but with a hint of “hang in there,” which is why it fits a pep talk as naturally as the end of a phone call. The plural trzymajcie się addresses a group, as in this thirteen-second message to everyone watching.

The rest of the clip is a compact kit of Polish reassurance: będzie dobrze (“it’ll be all right”), musicie mi zaufać (“you have to trust me” — zaufać takes the dative, mi), and prosto od siebie (“straight from me,” i.e. sincerely). Related farewells to file next to it: trzymaj się ciepło (“keep warm,” an even cosier version), uważaj na siebie (“look after yourself”), and the reflexive się they share — “yourself” — which is why trzymaj się can never be said to someone else’s dog: that would be trzymaj go.