Classifieds / Dating company in Poland [5]


That's true. The real Polish men have been fighting with dinosaurs for quite a long time now.


What revolution!? Don't you know that every revolution devours its own children after some time?

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]

Ha, ha, ha, in fact my intention was to write "high-quality paper" or "quality paper" in order to contrast this kind of press with the tabloid press of which "Fakt" is the biggest one. Helas, I don't know how this "biggest quality" went through.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]



No, it is not. The communist way of doing things is to have control over everything which in this case would mean control over all the media. But this is not the case in Poland. The state-controlled media are in minority today in Poland and the ones which really matter are public TV channels including TVP1 and TVP2. Other broadcasters are independent and have often been anti-PiS just to recall TVN which is a very big channel. There is no major press title that would be state-controlled with the biggest quality newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza being strongly anti-PiS.

I think it is fair that the government should have some channels of information to be able to present their views to the public in the face of the fact that most of them may be well against them.

News / Poland's election winning party: PIS proclamations [229]


It is imortant to say that on your picture Beata Szydło is not drinking beer. She only pretends she is. What she is drinking is camel urine and the hidden messsage behind it is: this is exactly what you are going to drink when sharia law is enforced in Poland! (for details see the discussion in the Off-topic bin of the 4th January).

The majority of voters shared her idea behind this message and as a result PiS won the parliamentary election.

News / Poland's election winning party: PIS proclamations [229]

This was a private visit. For a private visit you may want to invite people you like to have a beer with. The two men talked a little about the situation in Europe over a beer. It is just like you and me: we may also have a talk on politics over a beer, but we don't need to invite Beata Szydło to join us.

I am not saying that Jarosław K. doesn't like Beata Szydło. But the obvious reason might be, for example, that he knows that Beata does not drink beer.


"The deluded demostrating masses" - that was a good one.
"... their marches in the freezing cold" - that one is even better.

I suggest to leave the whole thing at this point. Sounds quite hilarious and is truly excellent as a conclusion.

Food / Where to go for the best steak in Warsaw? [77]


Even if one travels more, they may still do their shopping in the shops of the kind of Biedronka or Lidl.


There is no such thing as Polska A or Polska B. There is only "InPolska".

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]


Who is to decide that a demonstration will be pointless, futile and costly? Those whom this demonstration is against? Or those who should keep order and provide protection? Or those who will cover the sanitation costs after it's all over? Please, tick the appropriate ...

History / Rajmund Kaczyński not in PZPR [43]


This is indeed the essence of the views that these "democrats" hold. We an call that


, yes, but be prepared to watch this show for ever.

History / Rajmund Kaczyński not in PZPR [43]


In the latest book on Jarosław Kaczyński its author says that Kaczyński senior was in fact "cut off" from the upbringing of his sons and the relations between father and sons were not that easy at all. Mother Jadwiga Kaczyńska played the decisive role in the life of the children. Since the ... could not find anything interesting in the political sense against Mrs Kaczyńska, they singled out Rajmund and always cry about him like ageing aunts who never married. As simple as that.

News / Polish university professor who plotted to assassinate the former president jailed [14]


The whole affaire is rather mysterious. Even the mainstream media report that he renounced his plans a month before he was caught. Evidently he was preparing something, but then he stopped it, yet he was arrested and accused of still doing it. All this was at a time when one of the secret services was contemplated to be dissolved, so catching him and revealing his plot was a very good excuse for this service to continue their existence.

Po polsku / Polska jest dyktaturą? [129]


"Polska dyktaturą" to oczywiście bzdura. Najlepszym dowodem są zmiany większości parlamentarnej w wyniku wyborów. Prasa krajowa nie używa takich określeń jak "dyktatura" w odniesieniu do przyszłego kierunku wydarzeń. Co najwyżej mówi się o możliwości rządów autokratycznych w stylu Wiktora Orbana. Ale od rządów autokratycznych do dyktatury to jeszcze bardzo daleka droga. Nie sądzę, aby Jarosław Kaczyński kiedykolwiek dążył do dyktatury.

Genealogy / Bernatowicz surname - Could anybody identify where my grandfather could be from? Is he Polish? [42]


Even more amazing as the Soviets kept their borders rather closed after the Bolshevik Revolution.

As to your great father born in 1938/39, you may still find his birth record in the archives of Wrocław. They also have older records, but not always complete.

News / Reactions of Poles to Negative Publicity from the Foreign Press [56]

Then you are Jarosław Kaczyński in disguise ...

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]


No, you are not, quite the contrary You are an obsessive Brit Bully who can be used as an attack dog at those demonstrations ...

News / Reactions of Poles to Negative Publicity from the Foreign Press [56]


Thou shalt not use derogatory terms in reference to a political party.

- says one of the commandments of the PolishForums which you should observe.

News / Reactions of Poles to Negative Publicity from the Foreign Press [56]


This a good joke! Were they also angry when PO began the process first by appointing two judges against the constitutional rules? There was silence about it everywhere, the voice of the then opposition was completely ignored by the mainstream media, but when PiS has followed suit and stepped up this same path after having won the election, the thunderbolt heard from the very same media is so huge that even in Kielce no one can sleep peacefully at night because of the terrible sound over the Constitutional Tribunal.


And that is another joke! Did those people in Kielce not read the PiS electoral manifesto where the party made it bloody clear that it would tax the superstores as soon as they win and the PO was constantly repeating it would make the food prices rise? Can't people in Kielce read the press with understanding or can't they listen to their TV set with comprehension when it is on and Ewa Kopacz is speaking?

Po polsku / Polska jest dyktaturą? [129]


Ja nie kupuję w Tesco. Bardzo dobre produkty można dostać na targu i to w bardzo korzystnych cenach. Również Alma ma dobre jakościowo produkty.

Genealogy / Bernatowicz surname - Could anybody identify where my grandfather could be from? Is he Polish? [42]



This is quite likely. According to Polish authors writing on genealogy (Adam Boniecki or Kazimierz Rymut), the Germanic name Bernhardt (bern = bear) was the source for the Polish name "Biernat --> Bernat". This name (along with others such as Katarzyna or Jerzy) came into Polish in the Middle Ages through the Czech language together with Christianity. This Czech influence was the greatest in Silesia and Little Poland (Małopolska).

This is an interesting story, this union between your great grandfather and a Belarussian woman. I think it was quite rare for a native Breslauer to marry someone from Belarus (from the Soviet or the Polish part of it?) at that time, that is before the year 1939.

Was the exact form of your GGF's surname in Breslau "Bernatowicz" (with the Polish way of spelling the 'cz' sound) or is it the result of any official polonisation of slightly other original German form in Poland after the end of the WW II?

Mods should change the name in the title of this thread (separated by them from another thread) from "Bartkowiak" to "Bernatowicz" since Bartkowiak is only the nickname of the OP, but we are discussing the surname "Bernatowicz" here.

Language / Polish minority languages [13]


So what's your opinion on the origins of this language? The Flemish version of Dutch? The northern version of Dutch? The Frisian language? Does it have declensions just as Dutch used to have in the past and German does have to this very day?

Language / Polish minority languages [13]


Wilamowicean is dying out (or has died out already). Several young people still collect the remains of the language. The World War II has left its sad mark on the language since the German occupants jumped on the occasion and made those locals sign the volksliste. Thus after the war the locals were not treated particularly well by the Polish and eventually decided not to pass on the language onto the younger generations to save them any potential trouble in the future. Of course, you cannot exclude that the language would have died out without the influence of the war as well, but the process could have been much slower.

Genealogy / Bernatowicz surname - Could anybody identify where my grandfather could be from? Is he Polish? [42]




Actually, you do know that your father was from Breslau (Germany) where he was born in 1938 or 1939.

That's quite a lot for a start. At that time there was only a very tiny Polish minority in Breslau. So what was his nationality and ethnicity? Was he a Polish citizan or a German one? Were his parents indigeneous to Breslau or were they just en passage in the city when he was born there? Where did he live before his death in 2003 and in particular during the WW II (Breslau was a German city until 1945)? Did he die in Wrocław or elsewhere in Poland? In other words you should ask yourself about his roots first.

Language / Polish Accusative Pronouns - Plural [30]


"£obuz" is definitely on the masculine side. You will always say "łobuz ukradł" and you will always say "te dwa łobuzy ukradły", but you will never say "te dwie łobuzy ukradły". If you wanted to say that "łobuzy" were girls or females, you would say "te dwie łobuzice ukradły kobiecie torebkę".

Genealogy / Bernatowicz surname - Could anybody identify where my grandfather could be from? Is he Polish? [42]


Likewise, Bernatowicz is a typical Armenian surname, but it also isn't an Armenian surname. If you read in Polish, I can give you a link to the site discussing the issue.


Large groups of Walloon and Flemish people settled in Silesia (gold-diggers of Złotoryja, for example), but it was as far back as in the Middle Ages. They had adopted German as their mother tongue pretty quickly. What year was your grandpa born in Wrocław (Breslau)?

Language / Polish Accusative Pronouns - Plural [30]


Never ever such a group will be described with "one". "One" in reference to people suggest the female character of the group very strongly.

You can use "one" in reference to children (dzieci) irrespective of their gender (males, females or mixed) as, for example, in "One (dzieci) były dzisiaj grzeczne".

Talking about boys (and boys are children and not adults) you will always say: "chłopcy (oni) byli grzeczni" and never "chłopcy (one) były grzeczne". But you will say "chłopaki były grzeczne" or "chłopaki poszły nad rzekę". The plural noun "chłopaki" is something special which evades the rule. A similar noun is "urwisy" which refers to boys or "łobuzy" which refers to boys or adult males (te łobuzy ukradły kobiecie torebkę). And to complicate things even further, I would always answer the question "Dokąd chłopaki poszły?" with either "Poszły nad rzekę" or "Oni poszli nad rzekę", but never with "one poszły nad rzekę" as in the latter case my interlocutor would instantly imagine girls rather than boys.

Genealogy / Bernatowicz surname - Could anybody identify where my grandfather could be from? Is he Polish? [42]



Bartkowiak is an Armenian surname, but Bartkowiak isn't an Armenian surname as well. If you read through some well-elaborated genealogical sites in Polish, you will quickly discover this.

Genealogy / Bernatowicz surname - Could anybody identify where my grandfather could be from? Is he Polish? [42]


I think you are right. The first thing I thought when I looked at his face was that he is Polish but with somethng distinctively "foreign" in his looks. The next thought was that he must have some German blood.


The 'Western European' link may be that he is indeed of Walloon origin rather than of German one.

By the way, I once met a black guy in London selling or giving away religious books. When I stopped to look through one of them without uttering a word, he suddenly said to me: "You are Polish". It was back then when there were very, very few Polish people in London or in the UK. - How did you know!? - I exclaimed. - By your eyes - he said.

Genealogy / Help with Polish ancestors names - Jagiello [6]


Then you suggest that my plumber looked similar to king Jagiełło? Indeed, he looked a bit like Jagiełło on this famous portrait of the king by Jan Matejko ...

Genealogy / Help with Polish ancestors names - Jagiello [6]

I doubt it, too. The dynasty died out, yet my plumber's surname was Jagiełło. Very strange.

Language / Genitive or accusative? Polish language issue. [12]


Don't forget the Latin "nihil novi" as in "nihil novi (genitive) sub sole (ablative)"

Language / Genitive or accusative? Polish language issue. [12]


A similar construction as 'nic dobrego' can be met in modern Dutch. Of course, Dutch people do not realize any longer that the genitive is used there as the case system ceased to exist in Dutch, nevertheless they still use phrases like: 'niets belangrijks', 'niets bijzonders' or 'iets lekkers'


That's exactly this.