Language / Is fluency in Polish for an English speaker possible?! [30]

A little trick I learnt while teaching Polish is to recall the way many Americans pronounce such words as pity, buddy, Betty and daddy. In Polish the pronunciaton could be approximated not as pyti, badi, beti or syti but rather as pyri, bari, beri and syri. If you can pronounce those and similar words the American way, you'll be well on the way to mastering the trilled Polish 'r'.

Genealogy / Please help me trace my surname origin - Gurklis [9]

GURKLIS: Lithuanian for craw (a bird's gullet or crop -- where food is softened prior to digestion). Only 1 person with this surname in Poland.

History / Polabia back to Slavs? [113]

The Prussians were a Baltic people whom the Germans slaughtererd to a man. Adding insult to injury, the Krauts actually stole their victims' name to create their Preussen.

Sorry about the spelling. I beat my breast. My Wendish ain't that good!

History / Polabia back to Slavs? [113]

And the poor Bohemians and Wends would finally stop being landlocked and gain access to the sea via the Odra.

Genealogy / GORTATOWSKI, BIEGANSKI - Polish Ancestry and Documentation [4]

GORTATOWSKI: topo nick from Gortatowo; original etymology possibly German names Gort or Gothart

PISKAD£O: from word pisk (squeal), hernce squealer (in the sense of giving off squeals, not snitching)

BIEGAŃSKI: from biegać (to run); probably topo nick from Bieganin, Bieganów or similar.

Genealogy / My Parents Mr & Mrs E. Matysiak [3]

MATYSIAK: from Matyś (pet name of Mateusz) = Matty's boy

Language / chodźmy vs idźmy? [32]

The ambiguity of the verb chodzić can be illustrated by the following anecdote. In the middle of the night this bloke jumps out of bed and starts pacing the room. His wife asks him: 'What's wrong?' and he replies: 'I have an urge for sex.' So she says (in Polish): 'No to chodź!' To which he replies: 'Przecież chodzę'.

News / EU presidency to cost Poland 110 million euro [33]

Merged:

What do you think of Polish EU Presidency 2011?

What do you think of the Polish EU Preisdency? Is it just a big PR/propaganda campaign and a waste of taxpayers' money or will it provide tangible benefits to the country, improve its image, attract investments and toruists, etc.?

Genealogy / Polish First Names: Adam, Jadwiga, Ewa - in English [17]

-ski names are adjectival in form, hence they msut agree with the person or thing they are describing.
Hence Adam Lewcyzński but Barbara Lewcyzńska.
The -ska is used for all females regarldess of martial status. A form for unmarried women was once widespread.
If dad was Baran his daughter would be Baranówna, Skarga = Skarżanka, Rylski = Rylszczanka, etc.
For Lewczyński it would have been Lewczyńszczanka (quite a mouthful!).

Life / Marketing Speak or mumbo jumbo talk from Poland? [22]

What about fillers used to stall for time and help collect one's thoughts?
Let me put it this way...
This is how I see that problem...
It all depends how you approach it...
That's a good question, I'm glad you asked (but to himself the politician thinks: 'You bloody sod!)

In communist Poland someone interviewed on TV would often start with:
Jak na dzień dzisiejszy (As of today)...
Other intros might include:
Powiem tak (I'll say it this way)...
Od czego tu zacząć? (Where do I start?)
Przede wszystkim, należy podkreślić, że wszystko zależy od konkretnych uwarunkowań (First and foremost, it should be emphasised that it all depends on the specific conditions)...

Life / Marketing Speak or mumbo jumbo talk from Poland? [22]

You'll note that many are my own original creations and are hardly the bywords you hear in the media all day.

Life / Marketing Speak or mumbo jumbo talk from Poland? [22]

One category of mumbo-jumbo are neologisms, popularly referred to as buzz-words. These are the trendy 'in' terms, slogans and phrases which are widely accepted uncritically at face value but often do not stand up to analysis.

These include 'hate speech' (anyone who opposes what you stand for in forceful language can be accused of this). Another is 'you can be whatever you want to be.' Nice and catchy, but the NBA hasn't been accepting too many midgets these days.

And then there's 'consenting adults'. As long as they consent they are free to do anything and no-one has a right to criticise them. What if they drench a cat with petrol and set it ablaze? Another is 'anything goes'. Again sounds good, but if anything went then there'd be no need of parliaments, laws, rules, traffic regulations... There is also racist, fascist, bigot, anti-Semite, homophobe, etc. which are are rely defined but effectively used to silence opposing opinions regardless of whether they actually apply.

The reason these and similar buzz-words enjoy wide support is that few people stop to think them through and simply go with the flow and mindlessly repeat them.

Life / Marketing Speak or mumbo jumbo talk from Poland? [22]


Nothing ever really changes. The French have a good saying: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose,
The commie regime has come and gone, but only the costumes have changed: today's 'right views' are those of 'political correctness' and 'ideological diversion' is defined by the PC crowd as the alleged intolerance, bigotry and hate speech of those who oppose it.

Genealogy / Polish First Names: Adam, Jadwiga, Ewa - in English [17]

Since you asked about 'nicknames' and may have meant endearing diminutives, the ones for the first names you listed would include:
ADAM: Adaś, Adamek
JADWIGA: Jadwisia, Jadzia, Iga, Jagoda (the latter can be a name in its own right)
EWA: Ewunia, Ewusia, Ewka

Life / Homosexuality in Polish Culture [231]

10 (comandments) and 8 (beatitudes) - it's all there and tells you right from wrong. Or you can create your own selfish, libertine behaviour pattern and do only what feels good, is profitable, convenient or fun and to hell with the rest. You'll be in very large company.

Life / Homosexuality in Polish Culture [231]

One can seee that the image of Satan quoting biblical passages is more than just a metaphor.
Some on PF are bending the Good Book's itnerpretation to suit their own designs.
The only time the Prince of Peace even suggested violent punishment for a sinner was the passage where someone scandalising the innocents should have a millstone tied round his neck and be cast into the sea.

All the deviates who are constantly flaunting their dissolute promiscuity in people's faces and forcing their skewed anti-values on others seem to be the prime target of those remarks.

Another passage says (my paraphrase): If your brother (meaning fellow-man) acts improperly, call him to order. If he ignores you, bring along a witness to your admonition. And if he still proves incorrigible, then you may disown him.

Po polsku / Polska jest dyktaturą? [129]

PRL-owski reżim też zaprzeczał, jakoby byli w Polsce więźniowie polityczni. Siedzieli, bo złamali konkretne prawo. Stare porzekadło głosi (czy aby nie mądrość Józefa Wissarionowicza?): masz człowieka, przepis (na niego) się znajdzie; masz przepis, człowiek się znajdzie.

Polityka jest sztuką skuteczności. Na wszystko odpowiednią podkładkę się znajdzie.
Sądy są niezawisłe, ale sędzia też człowiek i wie, kto jest u władzy.

Mądre słowa, które dają do myślenia! Powinni je wziąć sobie do serca wszyscy ci PF-owscy chrono-szowiniści, którzy fanatycznie wierzą, że wzystko, co obecnie jest na topie i na fali, modne, poprawno-polityczne hasełka, sloganiki i buzz-wordy wyrażają jedynie słuszne i normatywne podejście do życia i świata. Sami kiedyś będą się dziwić własnej śmieszności.

Life / Homosexuality in Polish Culture [231]

Read the article. If you don't know Polish, use an online translator.
Chcieć to móc. (That's your first bit of homework!)

In that case, your link is removed.

Life / Homosexuality in Polish Culture [231]

An interesting article on the 'rainbow revolution' for those who read Polish is found in the latest issue of Uważam Rze. 'Equality parades are moving along like triumphant marches. That is not how discriminated people look. Homosexuals are not fighting for equal rights, they are after everything,' the article maintains.

USA, Canada / Poles in Philadelphia [9]

Hopefully most of the non-Polsih customers of Czerw's sausage sdhop don't know what czerw means in Polish.

Life / Homosexuality in Polish Culture [231]

The homophiles and homohpobes can sling mud at each other until they drop, but the fact remains that closted homosexuals live longer and are on average healthier than their outed sexually active counterparts. Don't believe it? Do some research.

Genealogy / Does anyone know of the Mical family from Laka, Galicia? [2]

MICA£: probably derived from 1st name Mikołaj (Nicholas); more than 1/2 of the nearly 900 Micałs live in the Rzeszów area of former Galicja, where £ąka is located.

Life / Political correctness in Poland [210]

Who is to pontificate what is and what is not pejorative? I for one do not regard Cygan as pejorative. Are we to change the title of the Strauss operetta to 'Roma Baron'?

Po polsku / Polska jest dyktaturą? [129]

On miał na myśli, że nowy platforemrski rząd wycofał się z poparcia dla geotermii, choć odnawialna energia jest dziś na topie. Ponadto platformerska min. oświaty sprawiła, że uniwersytet Rydzyka w Toruniu nei dostał funduszy unijnych...

Life / Political correctness in Poland [210]

Lefties believe you can solve problems by changing their names, hence PC (poltiical correctnerss). The perpetually inebriated Jacek Kuroń used to be described as 'trzeźwy inaczej' (differently sober). You can call a fool 'differently intelligent' or 'intellectrually challenged', but that doesn't make him any brighter.

The PC gang is free to call anything however they want, the problem is they insist that everyone else use their hare-brained terminology.