wyjść jak Zabłocki na mydle

Etymology

Literally, “to end up like Zabłocki did with soap”. Cyprian Zabłocki was a 19th century Polish nobleman who allegedly came up with a scheme to get rich by selling soap abroad. Trying to deceive Prussian customs officers, he chained waterproof crates with the soap to a barge and ordered them thrown into the Vistula River, so that they would be transported unseen under the cover of water. Upon reaching the port city of Gdańsk, the crates were revealed to be faulty, resulting in all of the soap dissolving in water and Zabłocki losing all money he had invested in it. Compare Belarusian вы́йграць як Забло́цкі на мы́ле (výjhracʹ jak Zablócki na mýlje), зарабі́ць як Забло́цкі на мы́ле (zarabícʹ jak Zablócki na mýlje).