postav dům, zasaď strom, zploď syna (build a house, plant a tree, have a son).

This phrase encapsulates the three tasks that every proper Czech male was traditionally expected to fulfill. Under communism it was not uncommon for men to build their own homes with the help of friends and relatives.

za Rozvadov (beyond Rozvadov).

This expression refers to the act of emigrating. Rozvadov is a town on the country’s western border and to go beyond it is to leave the country. Emigration is often regarded as a form of betrayal of the Czech cause, a feeling the communists harped on endlessly to discredit those who left either voluntarily or forcibly. At the same time, Czechs have a great deal of respect (and envy) for those – like Ivan Lendl or Milos Forman – able to succeed not just in the small-time environment of the Czech lands, but in the vast world outside.