Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


Direct Latin influence + Latin filtered through French - sometimes it's hard to decide which route a borrowing took. But most "big" polysyllabic English words are Latin / Greek.

Not everyone knows that many European languages, incl. Polish and Czech, absorbed cliches of meaning rather than the actual Latin words, hence e.g.:

wpływ = influx = influence
(something which literally "flows" onto something else, engulfing it like water)
podwładny = subordinatus = subordinate
stolica = sedes = seat / position of authority
(the Old Polish stolica meant a seat, as in chair or throne)
podpisywać = subscribere = sign
(write underneath)
Rzeczpospolita = Res Publica = republic
(the common / public thing)

etc. etc.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


courage; mercy; passion / compassion; amorous; honour; guard; cavalry; damsel; isle; mortal; regret; orange; Eskimo; page (a knight's young assistant); valour; coast; distress; martial; cream...

and that's just the tip of the tip of the iceberg...

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]

But people still use wonderful, splendid, marvellous etc. It's not a question of replacing all words with one modern, popular synonym.

It's just that certain words are not used any more. Period. And if you do use them, you either immediately give away your age (in case of obsolete slang, for example), or you risk being seen as a woolly rhinoceros of the vocabulary ;-)

And some words are just old, and have aged beautifully, and everyone still uses them. And that's the absolute majority of words we use today :-)

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


That is why I chose Hemingway as my "modern" writer. His prose is actually quite lucid and clear - to us. Think more along the lines of Konopnicka reading Nałkowska or Wańkowicz.


My point was - nobody seems to be actually using this word. If this is does not point at a word's demise, then I don't know what does.


To me, a person speaking this way would sound more pretentious than anything else.


Sure. Words like love, bread, home, mother, sky, sun have not changed for centuries and centuries. Because we use them, and they are meaningful to us. On the other hand, if we no longer find a word useful, it slowly drops out of use, and then dies. That's what those little crosses in the dictionary stand for = archaic / obsolete. I don't claim "blandish" is archaic, I just couldn't find a single example of it being in real, everyday use. Therefore, to me at this point it is technically dead.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


Actually, I'd agree with that one. English IS changing very rapidly, not because it's such a special language per se, but because it has spread into so many different channels. I think a Victorian reader of Dickens would have a dickens of a problem reading Hemingway - and that's mid-20th century. Don't get me started on anything more modern! ;-)

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


Well, I don't think it will replace the "correct" form; but it's out there, and has to be taken into account. Quite frankly, I wouldn't have used it yesterday, because I generally don't use it at all, but I thought "why not?" - because it is in the air, somehow. It kinda grows on you ;-)

I tend to read a lot, including tabloids, you see. I also spend a lot of time googling phrases and stuff to check for context / existence / non-existence of same. Some of the findings are really surprising (to me) - like the "a deceit" I mentioned earlier. Would you have said "this is a deceit"? It sounds really weird to me.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


I think we are talking at cross purposes here. I understand - and know - exactly what you're driving at. On the other hand, there are people out there who seem to be taking up the "this type of *a whatnot" form, because, most probably, they seem to feel that "this type of whatnot" is not exactly the same - for whatever reason. Or they are getting confused with "a type of whatnot". Who knows. But they're native speakers of English

Whatever the reason, it's not just me - the non-native - it's them (the natives) as well, which brings us nicely back to the question of default competence - or lack of it.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


I'll get back to you with this. I have to rush now, because I basically procrastinated all morning and now it's payback time ;-(


Deception / deceit are, AFAIK, both uncountable nouns, maybe that's why the indefinite article sits uncomfortably there. On the other hand, Google gives over 2000 links to UK websites with "a deceit" used in them. Somehow, I don't like the look of it, but there it is.

The internet is awash with phrases like "this type of *a screen / discussion / problem / configuration" though. As said above, I'll research this more in depth later, time is NOT on my side right now.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


Andrea Gilroy, Gerry McNeilly - are these names of "native speakers"? Probably yes. They are also the names of the authors of the book I quoted earlier - and the perpetrators of the terrible grammatical mistake also earlier discussed.

Which brings us to an interesting question: can a native speaker be wrong when they choose to use a particular, grammatically "unorthodox" structure? - and, if not, why is a non-native speaker wrong if they make exactly the same choice? I don't know about the current approach to native usage of a language, but some years ago I was taught that "the native speaker can do nothing wrong", i.e. whatever utterance they choose to come up with, it will be correct by default. Now let's assume that my - or anyone's - command of English is so good that it reaches this level of "native (in)competence" - what then? Just askin'. And just so you know, I never liked the idea of default native language competence, and so my question belongs to the devil's advocate scenario. ;-)

Seanus: I wonder if you are still too tired for this type of a (sic) discussion, LOL

You scoff at Google as a source of lexical corpus. But it does seem that quite a few native speakers of English are beginning to turn to the dark side of "type of *a". Makes you think - or at least should.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


Hear, hear. :-)
What I would have said, or what I hope I would have been able to say, had I the mental discipline to sit down and think for a while instead of just blabbing away randomly :-)

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


This word is deader than a doornail. Google spits out page after page after page of links to dictionaries, plus a smattering of links to a book entitled "No orchids for Miss Blandish" or something to that effect, plus a few people who are actually called Blandish. There seem to be no links to anybody ever using this word in context, no links to websites, blogs, message boards, online forums, articles, songs, etc. By the by, it would be translated as "przymilać się o co, wdzięczyć się" into Polish.

h


Do you really believe that in the 21st century, any European nation would not have the vocabulary required to put together a bureaucratic document? I admit that English-sourced Officialese is particularly disgusting, with its facilities, communities, leaderships, skillsets, local authorities, equal opportunities, and other non-words and non-phrases (all these ideas and things already have names in good, clear, old-fashioned English), but not being able to substitute a non-word in language A with the appropriate non-word in language B? It's just boring and tiring, but definitely not difficult or impossible.

And one more thing - it is almost impossible to compare the volumes of vocabulary different languages have. English, for example, has loads of borrowings which make for a lot of "different words for similar things" - mountain from the Latin mons, hill from the Anglo-Saxon is one example. Polish uses derivation to create new words from a common root, e.g. góra, wzgórze, wzgórek, górka; nevertheless, all of them are distinct and separate words.

In a similar vein, English has groups of words like delicate / gentle / soft or hairy / hirsute; Polish has mały / malutki / maleńki or punkt / punkcik or dzieciak / dziecko / dziecię / dzieciuch / dzieciątko / dzieciaczek / dziecina or, to keep up with the hirsute end of things: włochaty / owłosiony / zarośnięty / obrośnięty ;-)

Which language is richer, then? None. You simply cannot compare apples and oranges.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


congratulations ON

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]

I'm still waiting for the "facility into Polish" translation.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


If you looked hard enough you'd realise that this is a link to a quote from a book that's been actually proofread and published. I'm happy to make mistakes of that caliber.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


"nie nadymaj się tak" would be one possibility.


pilot / remote control / test episode (also pilot in Eng).

Translate "facility" (the noun) from English into Polish for me, please.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]

One of the many google results for the above "mistake".
Also, I know full well what sub-classify means, I just don't accept it as a grammatical term here (to differentiate the Polish vocabulary system from the English). You seem to be claiming here that the English language does not have any finer distinctions such as bread basket, shopping basket, basket ball, waste basket - or do you claim to have a separate word for each?

In other words, I think that you've made up a theory that doesn't hold water.
Apart from which I still don't understand your "translator" hangup. I have not translated anything in this thread and do not plan to. And I wasn't talking about aspective forms either, where did you get that one from?

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]

The thing is, sometimes I'm just too tired for this sort of a "discussion". English has a word for everything - oh really? - Polish "sub-classifies" (whatever that means), and what has translation got to do with it? Are you confusing the Polish tłumaczyć, which means both explain and translate, with the English? Whatever. Have it your way. I know nothing. Good night.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]

I find these linguistic theories rather naive.

Life / Cosmetics in Poland [14]


Drogeria Natura? (My favourite)
Rossman?
Blue Drogerie? (Much less favourite, still works though)
Etc.
Plus, any larger shopping mall in PL will be stocked to the roof, I can never tear myself away and make a final, FINAL decision about what I really want ;-)

Study / University in Poland is too easy [68]


can you clarify please?

UK, Ireland / My friends upset at Brits.... [51]


Have you never read the online comments on the Sun / Star / Daily Mail / other tabloid websites? As soon as people are online and feel fairly anonymous, they let rip. I read this stuff as a sort of hobby/sociological research (English, American, Polish, you name it, I read it) ;-)

People are exactly the same the world over in this respect. So keep you hair on! ;-)))

Study / University in Poland is too easy [68]


In other words, studying medieval literature is for idiots only, huh? I'm proud to be an idiot then.

Study / University in Poland is too easy [68]


A title is only that. You should have looked into the Introduction to see what the author was planning to discuss, what methodology (and why) they were employing, etc.

My thesis was entitled "The Symbolism of the Rose in Middle English Literature". That was the title. But I had to sit down and really work hard to explain what a symbol was to the medievals (as opposed to allegory, for example), write a chapter on St Augustine's theory of signs, explain my method, set out the research tools I was going to use (and explain why those, and not others) etc. etc. If you think it was easy because the title did not contain all this information, you are very much mistaken.

I have spoken.

News / The most useless things in Poland [140]


If that were the reason (price and condition) you could easily buy a car in Germany of France, left hand drive and all. It's downright dangerous to drive a rhd in Europe or a lhd in the UK, for obvious reasons.

History / Drang nach Osten. [79]


Mnichov is the Czech name. The Polish for Munchen is Monachium. I prefer the sound of Monachium ;-)

Travel / Ostroda to Elblag Canal Trip [6]


And that's exactly what they were ;-) You had the bad luck to share the trip with one sort of field trip or another (could've been a farmers' co-op on a day trip for example)... All these people were probably as happy as kids to be away from home, away from work, away from everyday responsibilities. And as they knew no other way to relax than drinking and shouting, they drank and shouted. This is not to excuse them in any way, but I can understand them (sort of). The only thing is, they should have reserved the boat for themselves, and not inflicted their infantile joy on the rest of the world at large ;-)

Food / KOŁDUNY, ANYONE? [2]

Actually kołduny taste almost the same as mok-mok, which are Tibetan dumplings served in broth which I had the luck or chance to try once in the Himalayas way back in the early seventies as a child. I mean - my parents bought the broth for me to eat, I didn't go there alone ;-)

History / Where did the stereotype of Polish people being stupid come from? [131]


I am sure there are dumb Czech jokes out there, and dumb Dutch and suchlike. The thing is, for some unknown reason people (nations) usually make nasty remarks and jokes only about their immediate neighbours, even if a nation farther afield is making life much more difficult for them!

Even though the Poles were at some point in time plagued by the Swedes or Turks, somehow there are no jokes in Poland about these nationalities, for example. But there are lots of jokes/"funny" remarks about Czechs, though Czechs were usually just a minor irritant politically. That's human nature ;-)

Life / Polish Names day traditions? Presents? Food? [39]


I would only like to point out that these businesses are just covering all their bases, as the typical phrase they use is "urodziny, imieniny dla dzieci", plus a host of other party occasions. I have brought up 2 kids in Poland (one is now early teens, the other late teens) and if you asked THEM what they think about having a name day party, they would pull a face at best. I should know, I had to organize all those birthdayparties through the years and think of gifts to buy for their friends' birthdays.

Name days are good for those who do not wish to disclose their age any more - and for those who are casting around for a reason to hold a party ;-)

But seriously - I have never personally heard of a nameday party held for a child. For my Dad, for auntie Flora, for my colleague at work, yes - but never for a child or teenager. Someone might say to a child "best nameday wishes" in passing, but that's about it. Birthdays are the big thing.

UK, Ireland / WHY DO POLISH PEOPLE THAT COME TO ENGLAND CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH? [118]


I used to teach English at a secondary school and at university. Every time I went for the listening comprehension / student speaking time / discussion tasks, I would get the same response from the students: a huge sigh of NOT AGAIN! They hated it with a vengeance, for some reason. They were absolutely happy just sitting there fiddling with multiple choice grammar tests and suchlike. Young people, 16-20 years old! It really frustrated the hell out of me. When asked what they expected of me as their teacher, they candidly explained that I should "revise grammar" with them and spend time writing out huge lists of "useful words" on the board. As if they had never heard of dictionaries. I am a trained teacher mind you, and learnt whatever I know during the eighties, so according to Bondi I should be the evil incarnate as far as teaching English goes, but actually I always found the students to be exceptionally disinterested and passive... :-(

I even tried telling them that one day Poland would be in the EU (that was pre-2004) and they would travel abroad blablabla, but they just laughed it off. I'm still miffed when I think of it!