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Posts by Magdalena  

Joined: 15 Aug 2007 / Female ♀ 		Last Post: 27 Jan 2015
Threads: Total: 3 / In This Archive: 3
Posts: Total: 1827 / In This Archive: 1094 		From: North Sea coast, UK
Speaks Polish?: Yes
Interests: Reading, writing, listening, talking

Displayed posts: 1097 / page 18 of 37
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Magdalena   
12 Nov 2011
USA, Canada / Feminine surname endings in America? [48]

Byloby mnohem lépe, kdybych nemusela vědět.

Please keep to the language of the forum, which is English!
Magdalena   
2 Nov 2011
Language / A typical quality of book translation from English to Polish? [28]

Specifically for that book, the translator refuses to translate the Polish word "pupa", for reasons most Polish high school students will sympathise with.

So what did he do with "pupa" then? Just left it as it is? I wouldn't call that a minor slip-up! I would call that a reason not to publish the translation.

If it's a mass market book like the appalling Harry Potter farce, then a team of translators will do chunks at a time,

AFAIK, one person did the whole HP translation into Polish - dunno about the quality.
Magdalena   
25 Oct 2011
Life / WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION? [396]

a certain snobbishness, i.e. upper-class eccentricity, connected with using foreign, particularly French, words in English:

Yeah, for some reason Brits think it's embarrassing to show that they have studied a language or are erudite in any area.
Magdalena   
25 Oct 2011
Life / WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION? [396]

frequently do so at their own expense

But again, that's not the point. The point is, I can use any of these words including the native one, and so express exactly what I want to. And no, schadenfreude is NOT the same as malicious gloating - the fact that the word comes from German adds an extra layer of meaning, say what you might! ;-P
Magdalena   
25 Oct 2011
Life / WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION? [396]

You still don't get it, do you?
Words of foreign origin carry additional meaning / information.

E.g. when I am really, really blue, I can say:

Jestem załamana

Mam chandrę (Russian word, connotations: birches in an autumn mist, drink of choice: neat vodka)

Jestem w depresji (Latin medical term, clinical / medical connotations)

Dorwał mnie spleen (rarely used nowadays, English word, connotations: London fog, drink of choice: tea)
Magdalena   
25 Oct 2011
Life / WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION? [396]

can you give me examples of where other languages are used?

just off the top of my head, in informal spoken Polish:

ciao
manana (for some reason, it has come to mean "total mess" in Polish) ;-)
si, si
komsi, komsa
żetem
monamur
silwuple
selawi

;-)
Magdalena   
25 Oct 2011
Life / WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION? [396]

which is why i can't understand the resistance on this thread when i say that poles use WAY too much english nowadays

Please make the effort to realise that 1) English is not the only foreign language used by Poles in informal speech, and 2) it does no harm to Polish - 90% of these borrowings will disappear on their own, as new generations come up with something even MORE outrageous ;-p
Magdalena   
25 Oct 2011
Life / WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION? [396]

"za free" is one of the very few examples in this thread that I do agree is totally stupid. For two reasons - it's awkward; and, awkwardness aside, it's much too informal, almost as informal as "za friko" (I am sure the "friko" mentioned earlier comes from "free" as well).
Magdalena   
17 Oct 2011
Food / Anyone recommend a nice strong Polish tea(bag)? [11]

ZAS_YUNNAN_Herbata_czarna_lisciasta

This used to be my favourite brand. It might have gone to the dogs now, but it's worth checking out. BTW, it's loose leaf tea. A good rule of thumb is that loose leaf teas are much better / stronger tasting than teabags. That's my experience anyway. :-)
Magdalena   
17 Oct 2011
Study / The worst of Polish education. No wonder Polish universities are bottom of the list. [142]

can retake an exam multiple times.

AFAIR, it is three times - the last retake being in front of an independent panel of examiners - and if you fail them, you get a fail grade for each which stays in your files. Of course if you fail the last one, you're either out or have to retake the whole course or sometimes the whole year. Even if you do ultimately pass, all those extra fail grades have a rather nasty influence on your overall grade average; additionally, more often than not, you have to pay for the retakes. All this makes taking multiple retake exams rather less attractive than it might otherwise be. Nevertheless, it's a way out for someone who's had temporary problems and wants to get back on track.
Magdalena   
16 Oct 2011
Language / A list of steps/rules on how to translate English into Polish? [22]

You need to translate the meaning, not the words as such. That's the most important part.

This is very obvious in the case of idioms, e.g. "it's raining cats and dogs" - "leje jak z cebra".

If you don't understand the source text, you can't ever translate it. No way.
Magdalena   
12 Oct 2011
Life / WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION? [396]

Useful how? What sort of proof does it contain? I just wanna see all those new English words being introduced into Polish, is all. Sensible borrowings excluded, that is.

I told a Polish guy to say zwiastun and not trailer. Either you use one or the other.

It's my language and I can use both if I wish ;-p
Magdalena   
11 Oct 2011
Life / WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION? [396]

you have an entire 9 page thread dedicated to Poles overusing english in their daily vernacular.

and lots and lots of arguments to the opposite, which you choose to ignore.

it's also worth mentioning that it generally sounds twice as ridiculous when poles use english words because they decline them, making them sound extra ridiculous.

so what should they do then? declination of nouns is built into the system, and you can't speak Polish without it. I think you honestly don't know what you want. should Polish people change their grammar then to make you comfortable? or should they expel all borrowings and words of foreign origin, including place names and given names, and replace them with... what exactly?
Magdalena   
11 Oct 2011
Life / WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION? [396]

no, I don't have to.

Of course you do if you want to make a point. The examples quoted above are laughable. Every language acquires borrowings (English does as well, you know) and words such as szorty or lunch are not doing the Polish language any harm at all, quite apart from the fact that they have been used by Poles for ages. You are trying to tell me that there is a full-scale invasion of English on Polish going on RIGHT NOW. Well, I don't see it. Give me proof.
Magdalena   
10 Oct 2011
News / Poland Elections oct 2011/your feed back about RP Janusz Palikot? Poland is changing! [106]

have you fallen for Palikot Magda?

No - I just think he's interesting. And I am quite happy for him to have the 10% vote. I do hope he manages to stir things up a tad.

well what do you mean by well versed in politics?

Someone who reads more than one newspaper published in more than one country and is able to think for themselves into the bargain?