Life / BEING POLISH MEANS....? [18]

Being Polish means loving, respecting and protecting the three things Poles have traditonally cherished: God, homeland and family. It means the knightly ethos of helping those in need as well as overflowing hosptiality extended to all and sundry. It means idealism and romanticism in the Mickiewiczian (rather than the Harlequin romance) sense of the term. Do all Poles fit the bill? Of course not, but as in archery, you have to aim above the mark to hit your target.

Language / Pronouncing final -ą as -oł (Czech infleunce?) [14]

But the ą in łące is not nasal but a plain on (łonce) sound. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only true remaining nasal in Polish is the final -ą.

Genealogy / Antoni Uszylo - surname and place [6]

There are only 14 people in Poland sharing the Uszyło surname, and all of them live in the Koszalin region (formerly German Köslin). That suggests that they are all memebrs of the same family and that after the war they were amongst the Polish repatriates transplanted from the one-half of pre-war Poland annexed by Stalin and never returned. The name itself is one of many verb-derived surnames which include Przybył, Biegała, Świtało, etc. Its root is the verb "szyć" (to sew) and l literally means "it has sewn".

Could the locality you mentioned be today's Bertuliai (in Lithuanian) which is now in Lithuania?

Food / Recipes for a Polish dish [9]

Suggestions for some dishes like babcia used to make:

zrazy wołowe zawijane z kaszą gryczaną i buraczkami
(Beef roll-ups with buckwheat groats and braised beetroot.)

kurczak nadziewnay po polsku z kartofelkami i mizerią
(roast chikcen with dill-flavoured bread, liver & meat stuffing with boiledpotatoes and sliced cucumbers with sour cream.)

kotlet schabowy z tłuczonymi kartoflami i kapustą duszoną
(pounded, breaded pork cutlet with mashed potatoes and stewed cabbage or sauerkraut.)

For dessert: a big (non-grandmotherly) kiss!

Language / Jennifer - will people be able to pronounce it properly? [11]

Jennifer is nothing mroe than one of the English equivalents of Genowefa. And the short form of that in Polish is Gienia - something every Pole can pronounce.

Genevieve also exists in English. The origin of this dithematic first name was Geno (a Roman clan) and the Germanic wifa (woman, wife).

Genealogy / Antoni Uszylo - surname and place [6]

You can also contact the Koszalin district authorities and ask them for the Dział Ewidencji Ludności (population records dept):
Województwo: Zachodniopomorskie
Powiat: Powiat m. Koszalin
Gmina: M. Koszalin
Poczta: Koszalin
telefon: 0-94 342-27-11
faks: 0-94 346-22-61
Adres e-mail
poczta@powiat.koszalin.pl

Tell them you are searching for long-lost relations and ask them if there are any Uszyłos on record and, if so, could they provide you with soem addresses.

You may run into the privacy-protection nonsense that oppresses us these days at every turn of the way. Naturally, yo'll have to to all this in Polish. If not fluent in the lingo, find someone who is.

Good luck!

Genealogy / Father born in Wieruszow - Amrozynska, Knop [6]

Knop was probably originally derived from German "Knopf" (button, knob, pommel of a sword, etc.) The original Knopf may have been a button-maker or seller or hailed from some such locality as Knopfendorf, Knopfenwald, Knopfenfeld, etc.

Language / Polish vs. Romanian [21]

Since most everyone knows the Lord's Prayer, it is a good way to compare different langauges. The Romanian is interesting in that one can detect elements of different languages. Instead of some Latin sanct- root for 'hallowed (be Thy name)', we have a word defintiely borrowed from Slavdom: sfinţească-se. 'greşelile' is clearly taken from 'grzech' or its Russo-Bulgarian equivalent. And, I may be wrong, but in 'For thine is the power...' we have 'Că a Ta' which reminds me of French 'car a Toi...'

If I only knew how to pronounce this text! I wonder if someone might care to phonetically transcribe it into Polish?

Tatăl nostru care eşti în ceruri,
sfinţească-se numele Tău,
vie împărăţia Ta,
facă-se voia Ta, precum în cer aşa şi pe pământ.
Pâinea noastră cea de toate zilele
dă-ne-o nouă astăzi
şi ne iartă nouă greşelile noastre
precum şi noi iertăm greşiţilor noştri.
Şi nu ne duce pe noi în ispită,
ci ne izbǎveşte de cel rău.
[Că a Ta este împărăţia şi puterea şi mărirea,
acum şi pururea şi în vecii vecilor. Amin.

Genealogy / Father born in Wieruszow - Amrozynska, Knop [6]

Most Every name, from Margolis, Szapiro, Blumental, Lubartower, Gryn, Wajs, Apfel, Szwarc, Rosenzweig, Birnbaum or Birnbojm (Yiddish) to Nowak, Kowalski, Lewandowski, Wójcik, Zieliński, Szymański and Antonowicz can be a Jewish name.

Genealogy / surname Czworka [8]

Only 3 people in Poland named Cwórka and they live in £ódź or vicinity (presumably one family). The name means quartet or foursome.

Genealogy / surname Czworka [8]

I'm a US-born 100% Polish American with four Polish-born grandparents who came from the Konin (paternal) and Lublin (maternal) areas. I was raised in the once predominantly Polish enclave-suburb (you had to drive through some part of Detroit to leave it!) of Hamtramck, Michigan -- home of Kowalski Sausage Co., Dodge Main and Chevrolet Gear & Axle. I have lived in Wisconsin and Michigan, travelled to Poland many times and spent a few years in Warsaw. I am interested in onomastics (name research) and most every other aspect of Polish and Polonian history, sociology, language, cuisine, ethnography, etc.

Food / Zaplaska (?) soup [6]

Maybe that is how you heard zaprażka said. In some dialects that is the word for roux (simmered fat & flour soup thickener).

Food / Sour cream use in Pierogi dough? [11]

Yes, this makes the tenderest pierogi dough known: 2 cups flour, 1 cup sour cream and 1 small egg. That's all there's to it! Also 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Food / Which brand of sauerkraut do you prefer? [10]

Care to share your sauerkraut recipe?

Life / Polish background music for presentation [3]

Chopin is indeed the best single choice. For multiple choices, also consider Moniuszko. There is a good all-instrumental album, a cross-section of the best-known Polish light classical and traditonal music called Echa Ojczyzny (Echoes of the Homeland). Dunno it it's still available.

Genealogy / What nationality is Slavic? [23]

I kind of suspected that, but if the wife were just Russian or just Czech, would Slavic still be used, or does it apply only to Polish nationality?

Food / Kołacz - POLISH CHEESE/WHEEL CAKE [12]

Kołacz - Polish wheel cake

Long before the mutli-tiered wedding cake made the scene in Poland, there was the kołacz weselny, a round yeast-raised cake or bread usually with a sweet cheese filling in its central indentation.

Here is some info for those interested:

easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/polishdesserts/r/cheesekolacz2.htm

Food / Favorite Pierogi? [56]

What happened to savory cheese pieorgi in Poland? In Hamtramck that was the only kind of just cheese pierogi our little ol' babcias (God rest theri soul!) used to make. There were of course cheese & potato versions (known as ruskie in Poland). But in Poland if you ask for pieiogi z serem you get this God-awful, sickening-sweet cheese filling usually 'overperfumed' with synthetic vanilla flavouring (vanillin or wanilina in Polish).

The cheese pierogi I like are flavoured with only a touch a lemon juice, salt and perhaps only one teasspoon of sugar to break the blandness.

Personally, I find the vanillin-flavoured type to be quite a turn-off, but.....à chacun son goût!

Genealogy / What nationality is Slavic? [23]

Hey Guys -- Mea maxima culpa. It was a slip of the finger. what I had heard was: "He's Jewish (not Polish Jewish) but his wife is Slavisch." Sorry for the confusion. The word 'Polish' did not enter the picture.

USA, Canada / Polish and Ukrainian image in Canada? [4]

Thanks.Very interesting indeed!

Genealogy / What nationality is Slavic? [23]

As far as I know, all were US-born.

Language / 'Gateway' slavic language? [54]

What about Sorbian (aka Wendish or Lusatian)? Lord's Prayer seems no more difficult than in Kashubian.

Wótèe naš (Upper Sorbian)

Wótèe naš, kiž sy w njebjesach.
Swjeć so Twoje mjeno.
Přińdź Twoje kralestwo.
Stań so Twoja wola, kaž na njebju, tak na zemi.
Wšědny chlěb naš daj nam dźens.
Wodaj nam naše winy, jako my tež wodawamy swojim winikam.
A njewjedź nas do spytowanja,
ale wumóž nas wot złeho.
(Přetož Twoje je kralestwo a móc a sława na wěki)
Amen.

Wóśce nas (Lower Sorbian)
Wóśce nas, kenž sy na njebju,
wuswěśone buź Twójo mě;
pśiź k nam Twójo kralejstwo;
Twója wóla se stań
ako na njebju, tak teke na zemi.
Wšedny klěb naš daj nam źinsa,
a wódaj nam naše winy,
ako my wódawamy swójim winikam.
A njewjeź nas do spytowanja
ale wumóž nas wót togo złego,
Pśeto Twója jo to kralejstwo a ta móc a ta cesć do nimjernosći.
Amen.

Life / Son's First birthday - Poland tradition celebration? [3]

An old Polish tradition on the 1st birthday is to set the baby on a carpeted floor. Round him/her should be equidistantly arranged: a book, a banknote, a rosary and a vodka glass (kieliszek). The thing the baby reaches for first is supposed to foretell its future (intellectual, business tycoon, priest/nun or drunk). Naturally it's all tongue in cheek but it does provide the family with a bit of diversion.