Language / [Phrase of the Day]: English to Polish [37]

Got the time? - The abrupt
The time? - Abrupter
Time? - Abruptest

How brief can this question be?

Travel / Aurora Borealis over Poland [16]


Not the most exciting answer....

.... unless they've grouped together to form an ensemble, orchestra or barbershop quartet.

Travel / Aurora Borealis over Poland [16]

"I used to do some bad things in the past that may have added a little to my imagination at the expense of my understanding."

said the now totally clean-living Osiol.

I'm still sure about the clicking desert - lizards or not!

Language / An issue in threads about translating between Polish and English [16]

jkirkwood, I have to disagree with some of what you have said.

Word order is one of the most important features of English grammar.
Accepted we don't use gender in a grammatical sense.
Levels of formality ARE present in English. We just don't have the T / V distinction.
A non-native speaker will be far less likely to be able to use the correct level of formality because they are mostly taught that there is no distinction, but we all know when somebody in being polite / impolite / overpolite and so on.

We are all the same Homo sapiens sapiens, just using different languages - they all reach the same levels of complexity in the end, and that is the complexity of the human mind and what we need to communicate.

As many mistakes can be made translating in either direction. Neither language is inherently simpler.

Can people make a bit more effort using the Polish alphabet.
I see far too many translations where we get

a instead of ą
l instead of ł
etc. etc.

If someone is actually trying to learn, sloppy writing like this can cause real problems.

Travel / 2-week vacation in Poland - it was awesome! Culture shock interesting. [29]


Not everyone will want to read this. It is, however, worth it for a laugh at my expense.

I did find a toilet where you could get a ticket from the nearby bar in the town square, so you didn't have to pay.

I had been drinking and couldn't hold on for a toilet in a pub, so I asked for my ticket, and to the toilet I went.

I gave the lady my ticket and proceeded to the urinal.
It took a few moments for me to realise how many plumbers have left Poland since joining the EU.
There was a urinal. There was a downpipe. The was another pipe almost parallel to the floor that disppeared through the wall.
However, not all of these pipes were joined together, with the result that my brand new pair of shoes received an unexpected christening.
As soon as I realised, I couldn't help bursting into laughter.
A mate of mine in the cubicle didn't know at that moment why I was laughing, but laughter can be infectious.
By the time we left, the only one not laughing was the lady at the way in who took my ticket.
She should have been happy I was laughing, rather than shouting at her.

All other toilets I have experienced in Poland I have found to be at least satisfactory.

Feedback / Forum Ideas - Listing - Who is online/Who is reading this thread [58]

What about people lurking in threads, either not getting involved in the discussion
or just waiting to pounce into the chat, taking everyone by complete suprise?

Feedback / Forum Ideas - Listing - Who is online/Who is reading this thread [58]

I imagine it would be more difficult than it's worth setting something like this up.
But then, I don't understand computers and stuff.

Feedback / Forum Ideas - Listing - Who is online/Who is reading this thread [58]

There might be 'friends' on-line you want to chat with, but
what can be better than chatting with people you don't know.

There are no strangers in this world, only friends we haven't met yet
(and a few enemies if you go for that sort of thing)

An unneccesary idea IMHO.

Feedback / Forum Ideas - Listing - Who is online/Who is reading this thread [58]


Sometimes I accidentally post on a topic when I'm trying to lurk.
I just can't keep me big mouth shut.

Anyway, I say it is a silly idea. Things work as they are. You find where people are quite easily and if you're intertested in the discussion, you join in. If someone's not posting, their presence does not need to be known.

News / English vs. Polish hostility [323]

I threw a snail at a Polish man today.
He threw another back one at me.
Hostility?

Language / Double negative in Polish language [24]

I almost wish I hadn't said no nothing.

Thanks everyone.

UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]


They are illegal in the United Kingdom.
We don't study our poo.

More seriously:
Some have to help support their families - the state pension in Poland is not enough.
Some are not tied to where they are from - if they want to earn more, they go where the money is, where the jobs are.

Some are told by their mothers - get off your arse, and go and get a job!
Two or three of them have come for the food and weather. Maybe.

I do notice there is a trend for the older workers to have a better work ethic than the young. For some young people, they haven't had a proper job in Poland before coming to the UK. When they arrive, they see how easy they can take it.

Others, especially older people, are prepared to graft, doing great credit to their standing in the UK's labour market. Unfortunately, this effort is all too often taken for granted.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]

When will the idiots understand the difference between homosexuality and paedophilia?
Paedophilia is, by its nature, not consensual.
There are forms of both homo- and heterosexuality that are also non-consensual.
The overwhelming majority of straight and gay relationships are built upon the same foundations - love, trust, an agreed level of interdependence, and having a good time in bed behind closed doors - consensually.

This 'slippery slope' idea can be carried sideways (not forwards, but sideways) to say that anyone who gives someone a can of beer will inevitably, at a later date, also supply heroin.

Idiots.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]

Children see couples heterosexual relationships around them all the time.
Not all grow up to become heterosexuals.

A gay couple lived opposite my family's home throughout my childhood.
It didn't make me gay.

Children who see homosexual relationships are just less likely to hold such antiquated views about such relationships, not become gay themselves.

Levels of homosexuality have always been fairly constant. The only thing that changes is how much it is hidden and repressed.

A gay friend of mine suffered years of depression, and was close to suicide because of the strength of people's views about homosexuality. Eventually, he came out to his family, then his friends. He is now no longer depressed and self-repressed. He runs his own business and is very happy with his boyfriend.

If he hadn't been allowed or able to express this facet of his true self, he would not be with us today, he would not be running his own business, and his family and friends would have been mourning a tragic loss.

Also, I firstly think of him as a friend, then as a very good chef, someone who has a great sense of humour, is very good with people. His gayness is now, and should be merely a minor detail of his life.

UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]


Of course. I personally own the entire world.
And a few other worlds too.

UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

Rude people are LOUDER than good people.

UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

Can we forgive misplaced apostrophes of their's?

Why did I move 15 miles across Hertfordshire for my job?
That is the question.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]

There is indeed too much sexuality of various kinds forced upon children these days.
Let children be children.
But sex education is important, but if schools do it badly, it's worse than them not teaching it at all.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]

Let adults be adults.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]

I say the doggie doth protest too much.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]

I just wonder what it is in some people that makes them protest so loudly.
It seems that certain people believe that people are so week that they see two men holding hands in the street and they themselves or their children will suddenly become gay as a result.

Do YOU fear that under your straight-as-you-can-be shell, you may have gay tendencies?
I, for one, know that I am not gay, but that I accept those who are as equals.
If you think you're so weak that you are the second monkey in 'Monkey see, monkey do' then
you need help.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]


And voracious homophobes.

Too many butt jokes - people are forgetting lesbians.

UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

Why has the UK been left off those lists?
Where are we on the league table?

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]


Will there be cures for shoe fetishism, self abuse and a preference for girls with hairy armpits?

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]


Is this a way of getting out of giving an answer?

Language / Should I learn both Polish and German [147]

I have often wondered if learning a foreign language from a child's perspective might work better than many of the teach yourself books and so on that are available. Children have to wait a few years before ordering meals at restaurants or looking for lost luggage, but to learn how the language works and practice making all the right sounds, the first-language speaker beginners' level might work better.

Any good childrens books in Polish?
Have any adults learnt English from Dr. Suess' The Cat in the Hat?

UK, Ireland / English people attitude towards Poles? [761]

I look for native English people in my area smiling. Some do. Most don't.
Nobody in London smiles except the tourists.

News / Polish Elections - your opinions [27]


No-one I've spoken to will accept any responsibility for the twins.
That's probably quite normal. People vote, then pretend they never voted for who they did vote for.
But then again, many people don't bother to vote, then complain about the results.

News / Polish Elections - your opinions [27]


All the Polish people I have met in the UK (okay, so they're here, not there) say they never voted for them or their party.

I remember when I was very small. Nobody admitted to voting for Thatcher. Most people hated her (despite her democratic election). These days, more and more people talk about how good she was.

I must admit to knowing very little about Polish politics.
Politics generally seem to be a much ignored area of life in conversation.