PolishForums LIVE  /  Archives [3]    
   
Posts by teflcat  

Joined: 29 May 2011 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 21 Sep 2012
Threads: Total: 5 / In This Archive: 4
Posts: Total: 1024 / In This Archive: 811

Displayed posts: 815 / page 16 of 28
sort: Latest first   Oldest first   |
teflcat   
23 Nov 2011
UK, Ireland / Tale of a Polish Family on Isle of Man [43]

Therefore, I suppose he paid for the flights himself, as any working parent would.

Yes, I shouldn't have implied that the flights were paid for by the welfare services. It is possible that the parents paid.

Isle of Man is not a place for charity...It is a tax haven....It is also a very insular place, meaning the native residents don't take to foreigners unless they are rich, and can make money from them.

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.
teflcat   
23 Nov 2011
UK, Ireland / Tale of a Polish Family on Isle of Man [43]

"Adam took 58 flights to and from Liverpool to see his family." From the newspaper story.

Who paid for those? Tragic story and all that but there must be limits.
teflcat   
23 Nov 2011
News / Priests are paid by the Gov't in Poland. [86]

Yep, eventually crumbling away.

Quite the opposite. In the eleven years I've lived here I've seen a very noticeable change in attitudes to both priests and the RC Church. Attendances are falling, and for good reason. I talk to a lot of people about changes in Polish society on a regular basis, and the subject of political, greedy or out-of-touch clergy comes up often.

what are you taking part in RCC ceremonies if you hold such opinions about RCC and you are mocking priests ?

I took part in a baptism at the request of dear friends. Should I stay away from weddings and funerals?
teflcat   
23 Nov 2011
News / Priests are paid by the Gov't in Poland. [86]

the answer is obvious

The answer is not at all obvious to me. If you are going to insult somebody (twice), back it up properly.
teflcat   
23 Nov 2011
News / Priests are paid by the Gov't in Poland. [86]

Oh ? And you're asking why you I call you hypocrite? really ? :

Yes. I didn't get an answer last time and I don't expect one this time.
teflcat   
23 Nov 2011
News / Priests are paid by the Gov't in Poland. [86]

I don't mean to pour gasoline on the fire, but I noticed the phrase about the priest teaching 'religion' in schools and getting a salary paid by the state. Is the priest teaching comparative religion including the ideas of atheism and agnosticism? IMHO, that would be a public service. If he is promoting the values and the ideas of the Catholic church, then the Catholic church should be paying him.

Pour away ls. They are paid to indoctrinate children in the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. They have no obligation to do anything esle. If a parent does not wish their child to be indoctrinated, they can opt out. Wouldn't it be great if kids learned about other ways of explaining the world?
teflcat   
22 Nov 2011
Life / Some Polish dogs have a very miserable life [46]

A Chinese friend recommended "young dogs and old cats".

Summary: Old times, different priorities, different mentality. Now only individuals treat animals like that. So please don't judge people, but if you do then be sure you took all the circumstances.

I agree. Although it saddens me to see dogs chained up, we should try to understand the mentality of the oldies who do it. The old guy two houses down from us cooks hot food for his chained-up dog every day, but lives on sandwiches himself. It's not a lack of love; just (a bad) tradition.
teflcat   
21 Nov 2011
Life / Rules in Poland about Christening - can Church of England be godparent? [11]

When I stood Godfather the priest didn't ask for documents. The child's mother had told him I was a baptised Catholic (true) and that was enough. He did a nifty disappearing trick with the banknote I slipped him. As far as I know, the GPs should be RC, but you should be alright if you're willing to be economical with the truth. After all, priests are.
teflcat   
16 Nov 2011
Language / Province or Voivodeship [36]

Here, see for yourself:

I typed the dread word into their search engine and got nothing. Anyway, this is not the word. Tell you what, when I have time, I'll e-mail the EU and ask about it; straight from the top. Tonight is my last chance to chill out before five crazy workdays, so I might be a while updating my (not) pet subject. I know this may seem a very petty point to many PF users, but I think it's important because there is confusion amongst translators and offficial administrators. OK. Door locked, glass washed, cat in, and goodnight.
teflcat   
16 Nov 2011
Language / Province or Voivodeship [36]

Like it or not, this is the official EU terminology.

One swallow does not make a summer. One document on an EU website does not constitute

official EU terminology

I'm yet to be persuaded.
teflcat   
16 Nov 2011
Love / Does your Polish partner suffer from disposophobia [46]

Show a link to statistical data of any sort, supporting your claim, otherwise I say you just lie.

Why are Americans so aggressive? Perhaps I should have put, "In my opinion". I've also discussed this with a lot of Poles (I mean Polish people who live in Poland) and they all recognized the tendency not to throw away stuff as a national trait, especially among older people.
teflcat   
16 Nov 2011
Love / Does your Polish partner suffer from disposophobia [46]

Hoarders are, of course, to be found everywhere. At the risk of annoying people in America who think they know modern life in Poland, I'd say that there is a higher proportion of hoarders here than elsewhere. My mother-in-law used to use a forty-year-old washing machine which gave her electric shocks until we just had a new one delivered and finally persuaded her to get the scrap metal guy around to take it away, along with half a ton of other crap. She got nearly 200 PLN for it all and was delighted.

It's more about not wasting anything, rather than just hoarding for some anally-retentive reason.

I think it stems from documentation or rather the need to hang on to documentation for everything here. Any time I have decided not to hang on to a stupid sheet of paper because it seemed so trivial a thing to have documented, it has come back to bite me in the ass. I believe that has permeated into the thinking some people have with regards to other things in life.

Rings a bell. My missus never throws any document away, and I've been extremely glad of it on several occasions.
teflcat   
14 Nov 2011
Life / Multiracial Poles [154]

the white race

Sid. What is the white race?

whites comprise less than 15% of the world population, and have a right to continue to exist

Is anybody trying to exterminate you and your white brothers?
teflcat   
13 Nov 2011
Law / Taxation system in Poland? My company is cutting 38%!? [25]

I thought many expats working in poland know these things inside out and was expecting a generous answers!

The two people who would be most helpful to you have been suspended. Wait a few days and try again.
If I were you, I'd demand a breakdown of your deductions. 38% sounds steep.
teflcat   
12 Nov 2011
USA, Canada / Feminine surname endings in America? [48]

There is an increasing trend among Polish brides to keep their surname and to add that of their new husband. This can result in very long names. My wife was told by the bank that they couldn't get her full name on her cards and that she would have to choose one surname or the other. They relented when she pointed out that if she did that, the name on the card wouldn't be hers.

Another option, apart from the woman simply not changing anything, is for the husband to change his name to that of his wife, although I can't imagine that is done very often.
teflcat   
11 Nov 2011
Language / Province or Voivodeship [36]

Facebook? Wiki? Come on. Time for me to hit the hay. I'm always ready to stand corrected, but I'm still waiting to see an entry from a reputable source. Yawn. Night night.
teflcat   
11 Nov 2011
Language / Province or Voivodeship [36]

OED and Webster's recognise it as a valid English word

Link please.

However, the best way to find out would be to ask many native speakers off the cuff. If they weren't able to say or even have an inkling then I think you have your answer.

Exactly.
teflcat   
11 Nov 2011
Language / Province or Voivodeship [36]

it is used in EU documents.

Link please to official EU documents and I'll shut the FU. It's getting boring.

just because people have never heard of it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

What a weird thing to say.
teflcat   
11 Nov 2011
Language / Province or Voivodeship [36]

Voivodeship IS in OED, I remember seeing it,

Where?

But teflcat is right

Thanks for the support.

I could accept the article THE here

I wouldn't. Neither would OED.
The CIA doesn't use that awful word; the UK Foreign Office does not use it either. Wikipedia loves it! You choose.
Tortilla ripped his/her spurious quote from Wiki. I'm still standing. Come on Wiki fans.
teflcat   
11 Nov 2011
News / Polish Independence Day-Beware? [59]

The American Embassy in Warsaw has warned US citizens living in the capital that “local police anticipate demonstrations with the potential for violence” during Polish Independence Day marches today. thenews.pl
teflcat   
10 Nov 2011
Language / Province or Voivodeship [36]

I think you might need a bigger edition:

I have the biggest OED available apart from the full edition. It has only this entry with regards the word in question:
Vojvodina. A mainly Hungarian-speaking province of northern Serbia.

oed.com/view/Entry/224377

This does nothing in Google. Please send another link.

voivodeship, n.
1. The district or province governed by a voivode.

This quote is highly suspect. If it had come from the OED, it would read A district...
teflcat   
10 Nov 2011
Language / Province or Voivodeship [36]

Regardless of what embassies use - poznan.uw.gov.pl/c/portal/layout?p_l_id=PUB.1016.30 - they themselves use voivodeship.

So what? They're wrong. According to the Oxford English Dictionary there is no such word in the English language, and I'd rather take the OUD as my authority than a Polish website.
teflcat   
10 Nov 2011
Language / Province or Voivodeship [36]

Thread created by Moderator

vovoidships

This is not a word in English. Province is used by embassies, etc.

I was shocked to see a small wooden house for sale in my eastern village for 128,000 today. There's a large parcel of land with it (4000m2) but the house is ramshackle.
teflcat   
10 Nov 2011
News / Polish Independence Day-Beware? [59]

It's a disgrace and I hope the cops come down heavy handed on the bastąrds

I hope that in their morning briefing the officers are reminded of the sacrifices of the people of Warsaw in resisting and suffering Nazi atrocities. As for gratuitous Police brutality in dealing with these people; approved.
teflcat   
6 Nov 2011
Work / Advice to schools hiring native speakers [13]

Others stay longer, either because they are in relationships or they have lost their passport, or they hold the mistaken belief that they actually have a career.

Why do you feel that it's impossible to make a career in teaching here?

if they were real english teachers why cant they get good job in professional universities

It's not easy to get a uni job in Poland for various reasons. People help people they know, if you know what I mean. I freelanced for six years in the same uni before getting a staff post there.
teflcat   
5 Nov 2011
Work / Monthly income for family - Warsaw [71]

sufficient for a family with 3 children?

A lot of Warsaw families live well on 15K. It depends on the standard of living you expect to have. Private schools and childcare can be expensive. Would the kids go to an international school with English as the teaching medium? If so, that's going to be pricey. An aquaintance of mine spends 2000 on childcare for her young twins. If the kids go to a state school, and if you have time to look after the little one, you'll be able to live pretty well on the money. Not in luxury, but well. Good luck.
teflcat   
5 Nov 2011
UK, Ireland / What do you like about living in Britain? [134]

My brother was on exercise with the Royal Marines in Norway, and they had winter rations of 9000 calories a day, but they were all fit as butcher's dogs.