Genealogy / Ropa, Gorlice, Poland - Walanto, Piechowicz, Sintowa, Lidowska, Sinta [3]

DUDYCZ: From duda (bagpipe); a bagpiper might might have been nicknamed duda and when he fathered a son -- instant Dudycz (Ukrainian influrence visible)..

LABOJSKI, £ABOJSKI(?): Nothing with that spelling. Maybe it was something like £abosiński or Labiński from the word laba (loafing, laying about, being idle).

MA£USZOWICZ: Two hypotheses: 1) someone named Małomir had the pet name of Małusz, When he fathered a son, the offspring got called Małuszowicz; 2) Someone from the village of Małuszów was called Małusz by outsiders, When he fathered a son, the newborn got dubbed Małuszowicz.

Genealogy / Jackowski, Wieckowski - Ancestors Search in Mława Poland [19]

WIĘCKOWSKI: Probably originated either as a toponymic tag for someone from Więckowo or a patronymic nick indicating for the son of Więcek (Więcław, Więcesław, Więczysław).

NOTE: The Old Polish first names Więcław, Więcesław and Więczysław (Wenceslaus in English) under Czech influence have been largely been displaced by Wacław.

Genealogy / Trying to extend the family tree ( Surnames Janowska and Brys ) [4]

JANOWSKI: Toponymic tag identifying someone from Janów or Janowo (numerous such localities in Poland); less likely a patronymic nick equivalent to English Johns or Johnson.

BRYŚ: Probably a toponymic nick from such places as Bryski or Bryszki; possibly also derived from Brykcjusz , an old, no longer encountered first name.

For more information on these and other Polish surnames please contact me.

Genealogy / Powązki Cemetery, Warsaw Poland [11]

P£ACHCIŃSKI: probably originated as a toponymic tag to identify someone hailing from the viłlage of Płachty.(Canvaston, Coverton).

Genealogy / Richert, Bonkoska from Jasień, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship [8]

RICHERT: Polonised version of German name Reichart

BONKOSKA: Possibly derived from a hypocoristic form of the first name Bonifacy, including Bonuś, Bonik, Boniek, Bonko, Bonkuś, etc.; or toponmyic tag from villages such as Bąków, Bąki, etc.

ROSSO£: variant spelling of Polish word rosół (broth); possible toponmyic soruce Rosołówka.

Genealogy / Need to find out the birth date of my Grandfather Konstanty Klimowski [5]

KLIMOWSKI: root= Kliment (dialectal for first name Klemens); toponymic nick from places like Klimy and Klimówka (Eng. Clemville)

CYMAŃSKI: Polonised verison of German name Ziman (variant of Simon); probably a patronymic tag (Eng. Simonson).

Language / Idiom used in frustration/anger, sounds like "je nie kochamy"? [4]


Jeny kochany is a mild euphemistic curse used instead of Jezu kochany (dearJesus). Taking the Lord's name in vain was once a serious misdeed and/or faux pas, so similar-sounding formulations were concocted instead.

Other common Polish euphemisms include: ja pierniczę (pierdolę), kurczę (kurwa), mam to w nosie (w dupie); pocałuj mnie tam, gdzie słońce nie świeci (w dupę), etc.

English is full of such euphemisms: Gosh instead of God, geez (Jesus), blimey (God blind me), cripes (Christ), goldarnit (God dammit), son of a gun (son of a *****), etc.

Love / Wedding - bridesmaid for Polish friend; what things will remind her of home (customs traditions)? [6]

There are many different Polish wedding customs but the five most time-honoured ones are:
1. PARENTAL BLESSING: The groom comes to the home of the bride before the ceremony where the couple kneel before their parents who bestow a blessing on the them and sprinkle them with holy water. (That puts paid to the English notion that the groom may not see the bride before the ceremony.)

2. BREAD & SALT WELCOME: At the home or banquet hall where the wedding dinner is being held, the newlyweds are welcomed by the bride's mother or both her parents with bread and salt - a symbol of bounty, well-being and preservation from corruption. (If parents are no longer living or absent, another female relative or close friend, usually older than the bride and groom, can do the honours.)

3. BITTER VODKA: During the wedding dinner wedding guests time and again begin chanting 'gorzko, gorzko' (bitter, bitter), a sign for the bride and groom to kiss. It means the vodka has turned bitter and they must sweetened it with a kiss. BTW gorzko is roughly pronounced; GUSH-caw!

4. VEIL-REMOVAL CEREMONY: Towards the end of festivities the bride is seated at a central point (eg middle of the dance floor) as wedding guests gather round, and her veil is ceremoniously removed. Traditionally a wife's cap is placed on her head.

5. FOLLOW-UP: Follow-up festivities called poprawiny are held the day after the wedding (to use up the food and tipple left over from the wedding feast ).

Genealogy / Czugala / Bukowski. Father's side of family is Polish. [12]

BUKOWSKI: root-word "buk" (beech tree). A name of toponymic origin traceable to numerous localities called Bukowo, Buków, Bukówka and similar. Roughly translatable as Beechville, Beechly, Beechton, Beechfield, etc.

News / Does Poland have a social market economy? [6]


A very uncharitable and arrogant statement by a have against the have-nots. Did anyone ask to be born in a town where the sole employer got balcerised throwing everybody out of work? Such a one couldn't move to another town because the situation there was the same.

Balcerowicz hand-over of the economy to foreign capital was a sell-out from whcih Poland may never recover. Rather than helping create a native entrepreneurial class, he sold off Poland's industries at a fraction of their value.

News / Does Poland have a social market economy? [6]


A precursor was none other than the late Primate Stefan Wyszyński who already back in the 1930s had extensively researched and wirtten on the subject. It has been part and parcel of JP2's teachings and has been continued by his successors.

Why do so many Poles complain of the hearltessness of hte current economic system. If it were so social, its rapacious edge should have been blunted. Is Balcerowicz a social freemarketeer or a hard-nosed privateer?

News / 23 Shale Wells Drilled This Year Alone in Poland - 41 More to Go... [50]

Merged: Shale gas flowing in Lębork

The hole near the Lęborka in Pomerania in over a month is mined shale gas .

As reported by "Rzeczpospolita" , a success which approximates Poland to the industrial production of this raw material. From the newspaper that the borehole , which made ​​the company Lane Energy Poland , mined approx. 8,000 cubic meters of gas per day.

- This is very good news for the Polish and the European petroleum geology - says Piotr Wozniak, Deputy Minister of Environment and chief geologist of the country , which met on August 23 in the hole with engineers Lane Energy Poland .

Lane Enegry Poland has tapped a shale-oil deposit in hte Lębork area up on the Baltic coast. It is providing 8,000 cubic metres of oil per diem.

Could this be the start of something big that will liberate Poland from or at least lessen its dependence on Moscow?.

Life / What makes a man a Pole? what does it mean to be a Pole? [187]

No, it was in reply to someone asking about an oil-drilling tycoon robbing our planet of tis resources. Not too too many such people in Poland.

Life / What makes a man a Pole? what does it mean to be a Pole? [187]


Unbridled greed and the lack of ethical principles; catering exlcusively for 'me, myself and I' -- my profits, my advantage, my selfish interests is all that counts and to hell with the rest. Let them fend for themselves. Wherever such attitudes become prevalent, in a family, community or country, the resutls are always the same: widespread injustice and misery.

Life / What makes a man a Pole? what does it mean to be a Pole? [187]


Precisely, the pusuit of profit at all cost and to the detriment of others is evil. Producing kinder prn and selling heroin can produce large profits, so do you endorse such activity?

News / More cars in Poland than America? [29]


Infatuation wtih hulky-bulky vehicles is a long-standing American obsession. Back in the 1960s and '70s each year the cars were advertised as long, wider, lower and more powerful until they turned into incredibly oversized, befinned, fuel-guzzling monsters. Then downsizing began and American cars took an a more compact European look. But that didn't last long because vans, SUVs, all-terrain vehicles, hybrids and pickups began dominating the scene.

As in the age of the world's ugliest cars (esp. post-1959 GM and Chrysler products) and at present, if you watch the streams of vehicles on their way to work on an expressway you will usually see one scrawny motorist surrounded by two tonnes or more of excess steel and plastic, polluting the atmoshphere with an overiszed powerplant. If even half the cars were the size of the Chevy Aveo or Fiat 500, traffic jams would become a thing of the past and the atmosphere would be grateful for the lower emissions. Sure, if someone has to drives from NY to California twice a month or from Boston to Washington each week, a larger vehicle may be needed, but big cities are clogged with motorists or a single passenger travelling 10-20 km to and from work.

Life / What makes a man a Pole? what does it mean to be a Pole? [187]


Never heard of the Kulturkampf, the Hakata, Drzymała's wagon, the school protest in Września? Back to Polish History 101!
The Austrian partition zone was the most permissive becuase the German element was in the minority. They had no choice.

Food / Any czernina fans on PF? [23]

Go to Poznań and enjoy czernina to your heart's content. Try Złota Kaczka, Hacienda, Bambaryla or Restauracja Graczyk.

Food / Any czernina fans on PF? [23]

Czernina, czarnina, jusznik, czarna polewka or whatever it's called is a great Polish delicacy. The trick is in the fina balancing of flavours which should be sweet, tart and winey with a nice fruity bouquet.

Smacznego!

Life / What makes a man a Pole? what does it mean to be a Pole? [187]


Don't blame God for human stupidity and greed. All these things exist because people are abusing their God-given free will. The most blame is on the movers and shakers -- the corporations, bankers, media and entertainment industry which are pandering to the big-money interests at the expense of our planet, our children and human lives.

News / PO-PiS again neck and neck [248]


It wasn't good enough for the Cynic Platform which comprised two basic fetaures: warm tap water for the rabble and a good place at the trough for the party elite. Nothing has changed since then desptie the string of scams, broken promises and nepotistic rule.

Sort yourself out Polonius, otherwise you'll get suspended

News / PO-PiS again neck and neck [248]


They did, but PO refused anyway. Although PiS won, they offered PO just as many cabinet. The PO-PiS coalition would have gone ahead if, as expected, there was PM from Kraków (Rokita) and a president from Kashubia (Tusk). That had been a foregone conclusion all along. But a double defeat threw the Platformers into shock. PO lost their marbles and went bonkers. The rest is history. Maybe you weren't in Poand at the time so you have to rely on hearsay rather than first-hand experience.

News / More cars in Poland than America? [29]

So either GUS got it wrong or didn't include all motor vehilces. The 797 per capita in the USA included vans, SUVs, pickups, all-terrain and commercial vehicles.

Life / What makes a man a Pole? what does it mean to be a Pole? [187]


I've heard of the foot fetish, but this is the first time I've heard of a passport fetish. I reckon that's how some people get their jollies off. Learn something new every day! The bureacrats will always try to force scraps of paper down your throat, but you don't have to like it, or worship it turn it into a fetish!!! Or try to strip Poland's gretaest composer of his national identity on the basis of some paper some tin-horn clerk did or did not issue. Who cares? So what? Big deal! A waste of breath. Picking one's nose would be more worthwhile than hitting the keyboard to type such twaddle!

Life / The changing RCC habits of Poles [70]


Another lie! The Polonian simply passed this along like many htings floating about the net these days. She was not the auhtor, but it is typical of what mayn americans whine about.

.

Life / What makes a man a Pole? what does it mean to be a Pole? [187]

Your wasting your breath on a know-all who claims to be an authority on everybody else's ethnic identity and/or nationality but, as far as I know, has never seen fit to identify his own. Is he a Scotsman, Brit, Anglo, Welshman, UK-er, Yank, Dane or Spaniard? Qui sait?

Life / What makes a man a Pole? what does it mean to be a Pole? [187]


Passports are often bureacratic lies which only heartless bureacratically-minded clerks take seriously. RU12?

News / More cars in Poland than America? [29]

I realise there's a lot of junkers on Poland's roads (average age is supposeldy 14 years!), but I couldn't believe Poland had more cars per capita than the USA. I think GUS got it wrong unless they excluded vans, SUVs and 4x4s and stuck to only passenger cars:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_vehicles_per_ca pita

1 San Marino 1,263 2010[1]
2 Monaco 863 2008
3 USA 797 2010[1]
4 Liechtenstein 750 2010[1]
5 Iceland 745 2010[1]
6 Luxembourg 739 2010[1]
7 New Zealand 712 2010[1]
8 Australia 695 2010[1]
9 Malta 693 2010[1]
10 Italy 679 2010[1]
11 Guam 677 2004[2]
12 Puerto Rico 635 2010[1]
13 Greece 624 2010[1]
14 Finland 612 2010[1]
15 Canada 607 2009[1]