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Posts by Polonius3  

Joined: 11 Apr 2008 / Male ♂
Warnings: 2 - QQ
Last Post: 9 Apr 2018
Threads: Total: 993 / In This Archive: 289
Posts: Total: 12,357 / In This Archive: 906
From: US Sterling Heigths, MI
Speaks Polish?: yes
Interests: Polish history, genealogy

Displayed posts: 1195 / page 8 of 40
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Polonius3   
27 Aug 2009
History / WHO WILL REPRESENT THE USA AT WESTERPLATTE? [28]

blog.rp.pl/magierowski/2009/08/26/ameryko-co-jeszcze-mozemy-dla-ciebie-zrobic

How many more Poles have to die in Afghanistan for Washington to send a top-level representative to the 1st September WW2 observance at Westerplatte?
Putin, Merkel and other govt chiefs are coming.
Polonius3   
27 Aug 2009
Genealogy / Change of name - Mary Dec [5]

The more common hypocoristic form of Dionizy is Dyzio. I believe Dec is an adaptation of the German Dietz which in turn is short for Dietrich.
Polonius3   
27 Aug 2009
Genealogy / Surnames Rekosiak, Nalipinski, Gadamowicz, and Warczak [4]

Rękosiak - son of someone nicknamed Ręka, Rękoś, Rękul, etc. Jaś Ręka = big-handed (ham-handed) Johnny

Nalipinski - dialectic pronunciaton of Nalepiński, toponymic nick from Nalepy

Gadamowicz - patronymic nick: son of Gadam (an old, now rarely encountered first name)

Warczak - Warcz could have been called that for growling at people or for hailing from the locality of Warcz, and his son would have typically been dubbed Warczak.

Warzak and Warczak are not the same name unless someone inadvertently dropped out a letter over generations of manual re-copying.
Warzak might be the brewer's son.
Polonius3   
24 Aug 2009
Language / WACEK, BAŚKA, OTHERS? [6]

It means head or brain, as in "Baśka pracuje" (the brain is working or tckign away).
Polonius3   
23 Aug 2009
Language / HOW DOES RUSSIAN CZECH, URKAINIAN SOUND TO POLISH SPEAKERS? [18]

I wonder how native speakers of Polish relate to the sound and lilt of spoken Russian, Czech and Urkainian?
I know there are jokes about Czech (hodovla divek = girl's dorm, dachovy osranec = pigeon). There was a Polish satirist (Ross, Rosiewicz?) who had a song about why he couldn't possibly marrry a Czech girl because he'd die of laughter.

As a native speaker of English I for one find spoken Dutch somehow clippety/gekloppen amusing.
Polonius3   
23 Aug 2009
History / RUSSIAN TV ACCUSES POLAND OF BEING HITLER ALLY [30]

Polish news portals reporting Russian TV marking the 70th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact by accusing Poland of signing a secret anti-Soviet protocol with Hitler in 1934. Such output appears to be laying the groundwork for Comrade KGB Putin's 1st Sept. visit to Westerplatte.

Russian state television Vesti information presented documentary " Secrets of the secret protocols" , in which it alleged that Poland allying himself with Adolf Hitler against the USSR . That is - according to the author Vadim Gasanov image - was one of the reasons for the conclusion by Joseph Stalin non-aggression agreement with Germany , called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact .

On Sunday, the 70th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact , under which the Stalinist Soviet Union and Nazi Germany divided Eastern and Central Europe to its sphere of influence , including cutting made ​​Polish .

Polonius3   
23 Aug 2009
Love / What do you think of Polish women who swear in English? [15]

What do you think of foul-mouthed, down-coarsened women who swear in any language, drink straight from the bottle and in general are crude, rude, loud and vulagr? And men that act the same down-dumbed way, for that matter?
Polonius3   
23 Aug 2009
Language / WACEK, BAŚKA, OTHERS? [6]

Anyone know how the hypocoristic forms Wacek and Baśka became the colloquial way certain body parts are referred to? How far back does this go? Know of any other examples?
Polonius3   
23 Aug 2009
Language / Polish vs. Romanian [21]

(And the Romanian case system is completely different from that of Latin, knowing Latin won't help you with Romanian cases).

How is the case system compeltely different from Latin? Are there cases other than the typical nom, gen, dat, accus, instr, etc. or are the endings simply diffrerent? Can you give an example using a cognate common to Romanian ann Latin, for instance the word father, mother, etc.?
Polonius3   
23 Aug 2009
Genealogy / Dyszynski meaning [3]

Both forms exist in Poland: Dyszyński is used by over 100 people, Duszyński by more than 6,000. It seems rather unique for anyone named Duszyński to change it to Dyszyński. Even thouhg 'y' can also be a vowel in English (gym, physics, etc.), to some Americans that would appear an even more fomridable and unpronounceable litany of consonants with a single vowel 'i' at the end.
Polonius3   
23 Aug 2009
News / POLAND - STILL ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST PRO-AMERICAN COUNTRIES? [3]

Poland has long had the reputaiton of being one of the world's most pro-American countries. Is that still the case or is ove for America waning? If so, what are its symptoms?

Is there much of a backlash against American cultrual imperialism (McDonaldisation, Hollywood, MTV, Halloween, Valentine's, etc.)?
Do Poles resent American visas, lack of F16 offset, Obama's failure to visit, foot-dragging on the anti-missile shield, etc.?
Polonius3   
22 Aug 2009
Food / Ham stringbean green bean soup [5]

If this is the same soup I am thinking of, I encountered it for the first time amongst the descdendants of late 19th/early20th century immigrants from Wielkopolska in Michigan. Perhaps it is still prepared somewhere in Poland.
Polonius3   
22 Aug 2009
Language / Polish vs. Romanian [21]

Does Romanian have both a definite and indefinite enclytic article?
Is it true that Romanian, despite Slavonic vocbaulary influence, is grammatically closer to Latin than even Italian?
Polonius3   
22 Aug 2009
Food / Ham stringbean green bean soup [5]

I think you mean kwas, aka kwaśna zupa, once popular in the peasant cookery of the Wielkopolska region. Is that where your ancestors are from?
Polonius3   
22 Aug 2009
Life / DO ADULT CHILDREN EXPLOIT THEIR PARENTS IN POLAND? [22]

There was a discussion here a while ago about how 'controlling' Polish parents allegedly are. What about exploitative kids? In Poland many adult married kids off on their own bring home their dirty laundry for mum to wash and iron. The hit the folks up for money, because they always seem to be short of cash (mainly becasue of living beyond their means). They may also drop off the kids at a moment's notice expecting their parents to babysit, without thinking that they may have had other plans of their own. In general, many are highly inconsiderate and take their parents for granted.

Have any of you observed something of this sort? What is it like in other countries represented on this forum?
Polonius3   
21 Aug 2009
Love / CZERWIEC (JUNE) -- A POLISH WEDDING MONTH [9]

Sorry, I'm not familiar with current Polish civil-marriage procedures. My interests are more ethnographic. Maybe try Googling.
BTW I recently ran across this input from someone researching local "Baltimore Polish Marriage Tradition". It contained the following description:
After the ceremony at the reception the Brides veil is removed and a hadnkerchief is placed on her head (reason unknown). The Groom has a straw hat placed on his head with dangling plastic babies (fertility symbol?)

No-one I know can identify this as a Polish custom. They all said that they never heard of this custom. Someone thought it might have been a custom in a particular area of Poland brought to Baltimore through immigration."

There is a wedding invitation in English and Polish in the translation section of this forum. It might be helpful.
Polonius3   
21 Aug 2009
Life / IS POLISH PATRIOTISM OBSOLETE? [34]

Those who disparagingly claim patriotism is obsolete, inadvisable or even dangerous often link it to nationalism, chauvnism, intolerance, ethnic cleansing, the lot!
Polonius3   
21 Aug 2009
Life / IS POLISH PATRIOTISM OBSOLETE? [34]

Some Europhiles, globalists and sundry one-worlders claim glorifying one's accidental place of birth is pointless and equate patriotism with nationalism, and that is only a step away from chauvinism.

Those in favour of patriotism call it healthy national pride, a resepct and love for one's native land and national heirtage, as reflected in the well-known Polish motto: Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna (God, Honour, Homeland/Fatherland).

What is your take on this? How does what you know of Polish patriotism differ from that encountered in your own country?
Polonius3   
21 Aug 2009
Genealogy / PATRONYMIC NICKS: -AK, -CZAK, -CZUK, -WICZ, -ICZ, -IC, -SKI ET AL [NEW]

The problem, for many is that Polish entails a plethora or variant forms for many things* including the patronymic nickname indicating who one's father was.

The adjectival -ski ending was usually toponymic (from a localtiy) but could also have originated as a patronymic nick as in Kowalski (młot kowalski and Jan Kowlaski - a blacksmith's hammer and John the blacksmith's son).

Less common patronymic endings include: -czyk, -ek, -ik and -yk.
It is important to remember that the origin of these nicknames-turned-surnames goes back many centuries and has nothing to do with anyone's known ancestors, unless you know your family line back to the 14th or at least 18th century.

* There exist numerous forms for many Polish diminutives, eg: from pies (dog) - piesek, pieseczek, piesio, psina, psinka, psiaczek and also an augmentative form: psisko (big, old cur).

By contrast, from the basic root dog English has only the one form: doggie. There are of course non-dog-rooted synonyms such as cur, mutt, canine, mongrel and Heinz 57.
Polonius3   
20 Aug 2009
Genealogy / Change of name - Mary Dec [5]

Any of these scenarios are possible. If she wanted to change her name to Sister Mary something, then maybe she became a nun. Check with the order of sisters she may have belonged to, as they might still have her on their rolls.

Meanwhile, Dec as a Polish sunrname is short for Dionizy (in English: Dennis).
Polonius3   
19 Aug 2009
USA, Canada / WHAT'S THE CANADIAN HEALTH SERVICE REALLY LIKE? [15]

I've heard conflicting reprots on how modern and well-organised the Canaidan public heatlh service is and, conversely, how Canadians who can afford it perfer to treat their ailments south of the border. What's the real low-down on this? I ask because our Obama is now pushing for a national health plan amid strong opposition .
Polonius3   
19 Aug 2009
Genealogy / Suwalki - Buckiewicz Polish names... [12]

You can try contacting: Wydział Udostępniania Informacji (a Polish govt agency)
ul. Domaniewska 36/38
02-672 Warsaw
tel. 0-00 48 22 601-1839

The problem is you have to specify a person by first and last name, then they ask him/her whether they wish to be contacted. I don't know how good they are about answering enquiries.

Another option is a private genealogical researcher, for instance:
Iwona Dakiniewicz - genealogy@pro.onet.pl
Polonius3   
16 Aug 2009
Genealogy / Family History: Podsiedlik? My great grandmother had parents from Poland [4]

There was once a now archaic verb in Polish posiedlić (to settle, take up domicile, plant roots) which could have generated Posiedlik to mean someone who had done so (settler, colonist, etc.) Could Podsiedlik have been a derviative or could the "d" have somehow got left out after generations of manual recopying???

The prefix pod- can sometimes mean to do something on the side, not fully, marginally, in the vicnity, etc. Perhaps (although this is highly speculative) Podsiedlik might have originated as a nickname for someone who had settled nearby, at the edge of the core settlement, etc. ???