USA, Canada / Moved back from Canada to Poland:). Here are the reasons why. [868]


I think you missed her post.
She wrote in "even during the grape growing season".

This is a quote from those who know best about Niagara when it comes to grape growing:

Monthly temperatures in Niagara are similar to those in Bordeaux and Burgundy in France. The moderating effects of Lakes Ontario and Erie, and the protective influence of the Niagara Escarpment, creates an area of moderate temperatures during spring and summer growing seasons. Its rich and fertile soils and unique microclimate are suitable for growing Vitis vinifera grapes, making Niagara a prime grape-growing region. Niagara has 13,600 acres under vine. The grape growing area stretches from Niagara-on-the-Lake in the east to Grimsby in the west.

grapegrowersofontario.com/thevineyards/niagara.html

This doesn't sound like the polar bear kind of climate she suggested, does it?

Regardless, in my 20 years here I haven't seen one single instance of grape growers heating their grapes any time of the year. Not once. And I drive by those fields almost every day.

In general there are 3 harvests in the area:

- September - your "regular wines"
- Late harvest (November/early December) - sweeter varieties
- Deep Winter - ice wine, which is pretty much very, very sweet syrup. A sip is all you need and few want more than that. It is a popular import in Asia though (mostly Japan and Taiwan).

USA, Canada / Moved back from Canada to Poland:). Here are the reasons why. [868]


That'll be bologna or baloney.
And the windshield would actually make the weather feel warmer. That's why they are so useful in vehicles. Or did you mean wind chill? If so, the temperature was still nowhere near -30C in Toronto when you lived there. It just felt that way. The "wind chill" factor does not state what the actual temperature is but what it feels like. To me anything above 0C feels warm.


Complete and utter bullcrap. Where the heck did you get one from? Heaters in the grape growing season when it's well above +30C in the open field? How do you heat 200 acres of grapes? With what? Do you have a link to those "special heaters" dealers? I might want to buy one for my garage.

Sheesh... do you have even a vague idea about the energy requirements for your imaginary scenario? Any clue how much wine would cost if that was actually done?! That's beyond ridiculous.

And did you know that some tractors and air conditioners installed? I did GPS consulting for a local farm equipment. They sold, among others, Gregoire (French made) grape harvesters. The most popular models were fully air-conditioned.

In Winter the picking is manual and the pickers have to wear thick gloves. Not for their protection but to protect the frozen grapes from thawing. They can pick only at night after the temps had been steady below -10C for 3 consecutive days. That's how they get material for ice wine. Pricey, over $40 for a glass of wine. Last Winter the local papers complained harvest wasn't too good as the temps were not low enough for very long. That's the result of the Lake Effect in Niagara. If you look at the map, read a little on the dynamics of land and large bodies of water you'll understand why we don't get -30C in Niagara.

These are the averages fort the area:

Winter -6.50C (avg)
Summer 25.76C (avg)
Spring 7.29C (avg)
Hot days (30°C or above) 13.67

and finally, those legendary days with -30C:

Cold days (-20°C or less) 0.88 days :)

Not quite the the 3 months you claimed, huh?

USA, Canada / Moved back from Canada to Poland:). Here are the reasons why. [868]


The coldest −33C was recorded on January 10, 1859 and −31.3C on January 4, 1981. I think you didn't live in Toronto then.

The coldest month on record in Toronto averaged at -12C.


As shown above, there may be some good reasons for that :)

Other than the above though, great thread and I have been reading it with pleasure since you started it.

Life / Queues in Poland - everyone in line is sandwiched [44]


Sadly, I think you're right.
Oh, the blessings of the Western cultures.

Life / Queues in Poland - everyone in line is sandwiched [44]


That's understandable:

Language / The Future of Polish Language [179]


Let's start with the keyboard.
This is the Icelandic one:



I hope you can look close and find the differences, including some characters that are present in one but not in the other (no scary stuff will jump at you from the screen while you concentrate on analyzing the keyboard layouts)

Now let's look at the Icelandic and OE:

Modern Icelandic

Faðir vor, þú sem er á himnum.
Helgist þitt nafn, til komi þitt ríki,
verði þinn vilji svo á jörðu sem á himni.

Old Norse:

Faþer vár es ert í himenríki, verði nafn þitt hæilagt
Til kome ríke þitt, værði vili þin
sva a iarðu sem í himnum.

OE (circa 1000 AD)

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum
si þin nama gehalgod
tobecume þin rice

They are certainly similar. So is Polish and English. It's just a question of the degree of the similarities. Still, all three above are different languages.

And yes, I too, had to study old Germanic texts at one time. The stress, of course, was on Old English and the cannon was the usual Caedmon, Bede, and Cynewulf


So you caught the drift after all.
Not that I like the changes that have been taking place lately in Polish or English, but this is how languages work. They change.

To that effect, English appears to be a victim of its own success when it comes to the rapid pace of the changes. The development of the new communication technologies is certainly a major factor too. I was dismayed to learn, a few weeks ago, about a younger linguist in the local university who distributed her notes that included all kinds of lol, btwc u and such. All I can say to that is WTF.

Love / Fell in love; I need to go back to Poland for 2 months - what to say at work (UK) [50]


There is an inspiring quote for most solution to a problem.

It's better to have loved and lost (a job?) than to have never loved at all.

Language / The Future of Polish Language [179]


żona, białogłowa, niewiasta

USA, Canada / Polish Food - 40 flavors of pierogies in the US [113]

no

News / Upping the speed limit in Poland [92]


he saves on rent so he can afford a better car :)

News / Upping the speed limit in Poland [92]

As for guns, under communism few men did not have to learn how to use them.

Language / The Future of Polish Language [179]


look at the url, kbd is OE.


I think you missed my drift.

Language / The Future of Polish Language [179]


"Some years" doesn't even begin to describe the length of the time. The language has been deteriorating for nearly 2000 years, and that's only the times for which some historic records exist. Even the very name of the good ole' Anglisc has gone bad. It is still possible to get the right computer keyboard to write proper Anglisc but it's a rarity. And even then, it's just a mix of the proper Anglisc and the current, bastardized version ;)

Life / Poles don't know how to celebrate the Polish Independence Day? [57]



I'd say you are the retard here, or at least a complete failure of the educational system that shaped what you call your brain.

For about 10 million members of US Polonia cast about 35K votes. Of those 70% or 245000 were for Kaczynski. That is 0.00000245% of US Polonia, and for you it reflects what the remaining 99.99999755% think?

History / "Lithuania! My fatherland, you are like health.." [37]


That's better.


Who is "us"? I quoted native speakers of American English. Are you speaking for yourself or some small group of people?


I spent 8 years living, studying and working in the US and I said some along the lines of the above and more. It is a free country after all, is it not? The sad thing is that your political views appear to have distracted you from the topic I though were were discussing, and that was not politics.


I am going to far? Why? Because I quote Americans? I thought we were talking about the English usage in the US? Was I wrong?


Simply put, the sentence is illogical.


To satisfy your curiosity:
I have an accent. In the US they say it sounds kinda British, in Canada they think it sounds between Dutch and German.
I work for a government and I have to address large groups of people, and without a script prepared ahead of time. I am frequently asked by native Canadians to review written texts before they are posted in public. when I feel like it, I check those texts for grammar, style and lexical coherence. My educational backround is (among others) English Lit. and Linguistics in Poland, US (Vanderbilt) and Canada. Hope this helps.


Oh brother. Grow up.
In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security was created soon after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, as a means to centralize response to various threats. The term is rarely used by common United States citizens to refer to their country, which made the chosen name sound odd to many.[1]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motherland#Motherland

Go argue with them.

History / "Lithuania! My fatherland, you are like health.." [37]


I don't feel hurt at all and I hope you don;t feel hurt when I suggest that your statements about American usage are a little too categorical, i.e. not really reliable.

Also, it seems that a lot of issues are mixed in here. We are talking about a nearly 200 year old text in Polish, translated into English a few times before, and we now try to do it again in the context of the 2010. Add to this a few PC rules and we are in a deep linguistic crap.

In the end, Mickiewicz used the word "fatherland" and his only mistake was that he did not foresee that language would eventually be one of the victims of history. The translations use the word "country" and that is only because the poem's rhythm.


That will definitely depend on the context and on the parties of the conversation so I can neither agree nor disagree with that statement.


Again, Pan Tadeusz does not refer to today's America, nor was it written for it, even if the word "fatherland" was in fact a very frequently used word n America, especially in the context of the early American history and in reference to it. Just read some of the literature by and about the Pilgrims.

And the homeland?
Let's see what American have to say about the word. Some examples:

Ms. Lewis complained: "I wasn't alive during World War II, but I associate "the homeland" with Nazi propaganda. It's fascistic and offensive." She prefers "U.S" or "America."

"Homeland" does sound very Nazi-esque, and completely at odds with American usages.
Probably Cheney's idea.
Doesn't "Dept of Homeland Security" translate pretty closely to "Gestapo" or "Stasi?" Literally?

So are you still sure the word "homeland" what "you people" use?
Oh, see more examples for yourself.
reason.com/blog/2007/07/19/what-does-homeland-mean-to-you#commentcontainer
All good ole' Americans.


Read this sentence again. It's pretty weird.

Anyway, I made no such claims so your assumptions are baseless. I like the English language and I am a keen observer. Not being a native speaker actually may be giving me some advantages over you, since evidently I notice things that escape your attention.

History / "Lithuania! My fatherland, you are like health.." [37]


Fair enough. But "Pan Tadeusz" is not a British or American epic, so your "we" does not apply here.


Agreed again. And the fact is that native speakers of English use all of the above, depending on the context.

Both motherland and fatherland sound weird in the American context. Heck, some Americans even have a problem with the word homeland.


I'll gladly accept any valuable lessons you may have to offer - English or Polish. In this thread I haven't noticed any. Even your suggestion that the word "motherland" should be used doesn't seem to agree with actual translations into English, where the word "country" is used instead.


I am aware of these connotations. The word "fatherland" under various guises is actually the root of patriotism (patria - the land of the fathers). Also, in Polish the word "fatherland" (ojczyzna/ojcowizna) may also denote the concept of inheritance in a wider or narrower sense.

But literature is literature. "Pan Tadeusz" predates Hitler and in the end its author indeed made a mistake because he did not write a version for the American public. You know... the happy ending and such.

History / "Lithuania! My fatherland, you are like health.." [37]


Actually, both words are used.
You need to brush up you English skills.

Life / Tricks & Dodges (The Poles are nothing if not inventive) [26]

One trick, used when rotary phones were still in use, was to bypass the dial lock in some public phones (bars, cafes etc). Without the key one could dial a number simply by tapping the buttons where the receiver normally rested. The taps had to be fairly swift and the timing between them pretty consistent. Of course, the higher the number the harder it was to dial it but it was doable.

Life / Tricks & Dodges (The Poles are nothing if not inventive) [26]

Salt may be added to some cement (mortar) varieties so they can be used in freezing weather, but the amounts are not very high. I think it's about 1 pound of salt per 20 gallons of water or so. The amount of salt should be increased by one ounce for every degree below 32F (0 Celsius).

Rock salt added (in sufficient concentration) to foundation concrete will basically increase the foundation's porosity and permeability, thus fvcking it up.

Life / Tricks & Dodges (The Poles are nothing if not inventive) [26]

The desired results?
The whole idea is pretty silly but let's see.

There are too many variables to allow for a simple "yes" or "no".

- How deep close to the footing is the cuke embedded? If below the frost line then the cuke will not freeze. Period.

- Where is it embedded in relation to wall's center? Closer to the outside or to the inside of the foundation wall? In either case the flaw ill be caught when the forms are removed. If it's on the inside then it is inconsequential to the structural integrity of a standard foundation (about 30cm thick). If on the outside, the flaw will be covered by the exterior sealing and insulation. If it's below the frost line it will not freeze. If above the frost line then it will push towards the insulation and it will cause no harm as the soil has not compacted sufficiently, but the walls are hard, so the cuke will expand according to the principle of least resistance. It takes soild between 15 and 20 years to get compacted to pre-excavation density, but even then it is far softer than concrete.

- How big is the cuke? Smaller cukes will cause less structural issues as their smaller volume will cause smaller volume increase resulting from freezing (1:1.1 ratio, if I remember correctly). Bigger ones will be subject to higher hydrostatic pressure of concrete. At 6 feet (1.80cm) a 6 inch long, 2inch thick cuke will have to withstand a couple hundred of pounds of pressure. It will get squashed, cracked and the moisture from the cuke will be absorbed by the curing concrete. Not an ideal situation but far from cracking the foundation.

- Was the concrete vibrated as it should? If so then the cuke will likely migrate off center. If there was no vibration used then the cuke is the least of the problems.

Oh, and we cannot underestimate the power of anerobic bacteria bacteria that are likely to crack the cuke open before it has a chance to freeze.

Life / Tricks & Dodges (The Poles are nothing if not inventive) [26]


Absolute bullsshit. Nothing will freeze below the footing.

That's why building codes require certain minimum depth for the footing (the bottom of the foundation). That depth, for a given climatic area, is known to be below the frost line (strefa przemarzania/zamarzania). In Poland the typical minimum depth of the foundation (including the footing) is between 0.8 and 1.2 meters. Exceptions to that are sandy soil where the footing may be closer to the surface. Even then, the cucumber will do squat to the foundation. Instead it will expand into that sand.

This is a map of Poland's frost zones: budujemydom.pl/images/stories/artykuly/659d.jpg

News / 30 to 40 thousand abortions by Polish girls in foreign countries [142]



The math here just doesn't work.
10 to 15% of 80,000 to 200,000 is 8,000 to 30,000 of abortions in foreign countries.

In other words, the authors have only a vague idea what they are writing about.

UK, Ireland / The more subtle differences: Ireland/Britain v Poland [310]


I'm not sure about the self-made part.
Would you consider stealing the wealth of half the globe during the British Empire times a sign that the British are a self-made race? Or a race of thieves?

Love / Filipina married a Polish man, need more advice [90]


Yes, he is likely to have a reason - short term relationship with benefits.

News / Human Trafficking in and from Poland [80]


I don't know what lefties generally do. Perhaps if I were one I would.

Oh, and where does the government get the money from?
In my bood there is no such thing as "government money".

News / Human Trafficking in and from Poland [80]

If you weren't American perhaps you would have understood that. Instead you are seeing things, such as the alleged praise of socialism in my post. And that despite the fact that the US has made some of the largest socialist moves in financing gangsters and bums. Now, that's socialism.

Only the title of the tread is abut human trafficking. The attached quote is about a business that went sour. It happened to have been a prostitution business. Don't be such a socialist. Business is business and sometimes it don't go so well.

Life / Can you buy de-icer in Poland? [11]


Do any of them have cars?

What you call de-icer is a big name (and high price) for a couple of recipes konwn for decades.

- 3 parts vinegar to 1 part water and placed in a spray bottle, this will prevent ice from forming.

- for homemade window de-icer, use a solution of 1 part water to 2 parts rubbing alcohol. This can be isopropyl alcohol which is usually 70%, or methyl hydrate (aka methanol) often sold in 99.9% concentration. Add a few drops of dishwasher detergent and you got yourself some great de-icer. MH is deadly and can be also absorbed through skin so caution is advised.

Methyl hydrate was used by Warsaw Pact for deicing their vehicle windshields and visors in tanks.

News / Human Trafficking in and from Poland [80]


That may be true, but this particular case has nothing to do with human trafficking. It's about a stupid chick who got a bad business deal. I don't feel one bit sorry about her.

People I feel sorry about are kids who put a lot of time, effort and hopes into more, shall we call them clean, ways. They are called students who take various kinds of loans, get their degrees, often post graduate, and they end up living on basic subsistence level. If they can get a job at all. Now, that's real human trafficking.

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]

If words in a foreign language speak for themselves, then why do we have teachers of English in Poland, or in any pretty much any country? :D