Language / "Cup of coffee" translated in Poland as Kubek kawy. Why not a mug? [70]


What's crude about a nice mug? There are some very good quality and tasteful ones (and some fairly nasty cups & saucers). Boleslawiec pottery have been making mugs for years.


No more popular with "the masses" than those of us who are truly among the global elite.

What do you use, Pol3? I tend to use a cup and saucer though do have some nice mugs at home for larger volumes or for tea.

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

Well, there have been some fairly surprising demographic changes since the 2004 Polish Deluge. Most people (except some of the denizens of the internet) seem to be fine with that...


Full story here:

thedailymash.co.uk/news/international/one-in-four-newborns-is-a-29-year-old-polish-bathroom-fitter-2015030696036

Language / "Cup of coffee" translated in Poland as Kubek kawy. Why not a mug? [70]

Espresso machines, very popular now, are changing that. Mugs are the normal way though, and glasses rare for obvious reasons.

Language / "Cup of coffee" translated in Poland as Kubek kawy. Why not a mug? [70]


That's just not true any more. Drinking coffee in a glass is rarer and rarer.

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]


The scale on which it goes on can't be blamed on Poles. They don't make companies' recruitment policies.

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]


The same would (and sometimes does) happen in Poland too.

News / Why no reprivatisation in Poland? Holocaust-era property ownership. [119]


Pretty well. It would involve stress and hardship for thousands and be a major upheaval.


The nationality of property owners (whether current or former) is an irrelevance. One big issue is that properties were confiscated post-war under a law which had very strict criteria. In many cases those criteria were not followed and if that can be proven, the original owners or their heirs can occaionally be successful in their claim.

Sooner or later a line has to be drawn, A religious body recently tried to claim for some land in Warsaw that was nationalised entirely legally long before the war.

Work / Job offer from company in Warsaw, EU Logistics. Is this a scam? [22]

scamguard.com/start-consultingcom/

The stuff in the above link in itself doesn't mean there's anything dodgy, but like the poster above, I wasn't inspired by their website. Emilii Plater 53, their Polish address, is a particularly expensive building though one company offers mailing addresses there rather than actually renting out space.

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

That's a very good assessment of the situation (and Edinburgh Guy does seem to be trolling for responses). Worth remembering that countless Scots have settled abroad over the centuries, sometimes with the approval and sometimes with the disapproval of the host population.

Language / "Cup of coffee" translated in Poland as Kubek kawy. Why not a mug? [70]

Mugs are popular enough as drinking vessels in PL and there may be transference from English. Languages do constantly evolve and for some kubek may well sound less pretentious than filiżanka.

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]


I'm not sure he is. Despite some of the things on here and other internet stuff, in real life I've only ever heard people saying good things.

Real Estate / Any good websites to look for accommodation / rentals in Poland? [8]


Good advice. I don't think he'll find a short term apartment for much less than 2500zl - in fact that is not expensive.

One leftfield solution is the hall of residence for the Music Academy which lets rooms outside term time. It's in a beautiful Eighteenth Century building just off the Rynek. There are other university halls available to visitors in summer of course however I have stayed at that one and recommend it.

Genealogy / If your ancestors were in the "Wehrmacht"... [217]

Spot on. Germany, especially the former West Germany and Berlin, has faced up to its past.

News / Why no reprivatisation in Poland? Holocaust-era property ownership. [119]

The law distinguishes between property taken illegally during the occupation, and property taken legally afterwards. Some of the former has been returned and less of the latter.

One problem is that the scale of the nationalisations would mean a dramatic upheaval and leave people suddenly not owning the home they've lived in for years.

Genealogy / If your ancestors were in the "Wehrmacht"... [217]

Rigorous investigation, eyewitness accounts and a photographic record, that's how. Also, the German government have acknowledged the murders of Polish citizens and others there.

The evidence is far from "thin" and there were many times more than 350 victims. The names of many of those murdered are known.

Language / How are names in Polish " nicknamed "? [10]


Yes. They are both Irish variants of Katherine, with Kathleen being an anglicised phonetic spelling.Untill the Caitlin spelling started to become fashionalble again a few decades ago (Australia has a bit to do with that) both were pronounced Kathleen.

Polish Katarzyna also has the same (French, I think), roots.

History / Why Is Lipsk nad Biebrzą Called "Lisko Orliscko"? [23]

Maybe the person just didn't know - that name could sadly be long forgotten. A shame, because it's and interesting story and that sort of rhyming nickname is something that I can easily imagine a speaker of Polish (especially from the east of the country) saying even now.

History / Why Is Lipsk nad Biebrzą Called "Lisko Orliscko"? [23]

It's a complicated one, however the Lisko Orlisko thing is intriguing. It does sound more like a description.

History / Why Is Lipsk nad Biebrzą Called "Lisko Orliscko"? [23]

I wouldn't call it evidence for anything (except perhaps circumstantial evidence) since oral history is notoriously faulty not least because in each re telling the context is different.

Life / Thoughts on "Ida" (Polish movie) [30]

Hard to see how that relates to Poland's latest Oscar winning film. Also quite a sweeping assumption that the people on Pol3's list weren't Poles.

Study / Free higher education in Poland? [8]

Even for Polish residents or citizens there are a number of conditions that many people don't meet. There are however schemes for people from the Ukraine (again there are conditions) at various universities. UKSW has or used to have something like that.

Life / Thoughts on "Ida" (Polish movie) [30]

Hmm. The danger is (as some here have tried) that post-war issues can be used to attempt to detract from the stories of suffering before that.

Life / Thoughts on "Ida" (Polish movie) [30]

Moczar was a foul man. Hard to see though how the excesses of the post-war Stalin years affect with a wartime story.

Real Estate / Risks of renting a room without a contract in Poland? [12]

If your landlord agrees, yes. After all, it's him who has to go down and register you. He can register you in any residential property he owns.

Life / Thoughts on "Ida" (Polish movie) [30]


So what. Unless you think every work of fiction should present politically opposing view? Queen Lear, anyone? Are there any war films that show a "one-sided" Polish "perspective" or do they all show the holocause from the point of views of others?


You seem to imply that a. they two points of view are mutually exclusive, and b. the "Polish perspective" and the Jewish one have no commonality.Not everyone in Poland shares your "perspective".


Do any films exist with a "one-sided Pole centred narrative"?


Really? All those awards, reviews and discussions must only have been a



Who said they did? Though some very bad things certainly did happen.

Language / Instrumental and byc - Polish grammar issue [46]

You can if you want - I know plenty of people who refer to their pets using those pronouns. A pig on a farm, a fish in a tank (unless you really want to) or a lizard in the zoo is a bit different.

Real Estate / Risks of renting a room without a contract in Poland? [12]

Yes, very much so. There would have to be a degree of trust there. And of course registration issues if you're non-EU or you are EU and really want one of those cards to let you vote, get credit in PL, etc.

Life / Thoughts on "Ida" (Polish movie) [30]


You seem to be suggesting that the narrative about Polish history is one-sided and the majority don't have a voice. They very much do have. Voice and I suspect what you're really saying is that you don't think any opposing views should be expressed. As a poster said early today, confronting all aspects of a country's history (and the history of Poland is not just the history of the Poles) is a sign of cultural maturity.


Not really, since events depicted in that film did sadly occur, however your fantasy about British guards at Auschwitz is just that. A fantasy. There's one significant difference however. Should such a film ever be made, it's so far from reality that nobody in the UK would care. No heated debate, no sh1tstorm, and most importantly, nobody offended.

I wonder why you think I haven't watched the film.

Life / Thoughts on "Ida" (Polish movie) [30]


Simplify? There were never more than 27 at a tine. How is that simplifying anything?


Not uncomfortable at all, especially since nothing like that ever happened - if it had, it would be very well discussed as the tiny number of collaborators were. In Poland, when that book of denunciation letters from Poles to the wartime occupiers (grassing up people in the resistance, denouncing people as Jewish etc) came out a few years ago, the publisher even censored the surnames!


The bad stories are very well documented by survivors. Why not use the search function here, or google some of the eye-witness accounts?

History / Why Is Lipsk nad Biebrzą Called "Lisko Orliscko"? [23]


I mentioned that one and it's very possible. The fact of rhyming makes it more likely.