UK, Ireland / British people more intelligent than the Poles? [53]

Brits are brainy, but not as brainy as the Poles, according to Professor Richard Lynn of the University of Ulster.

Average adult IQ in Europe:

1. Germany and the Netherlands: 107
2. Poland: 106
3. Sweden: 104
4. Italy: 102
5. Austria and Switzerland: 101
6. Britain: 100
...France and Romania: 94
...Serbia (lowest): 89

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-381057/European-IQ-map-proves-Brits-brain y.html

Lynn published his research in 2006 and didn't take into account a large influx of Poles to Britain. The question is: has the influx od brainy Poles improved the British IQ score or not?

Language / Mushroom: pieczarka vs grzyb [24]

Zupa pieczarkowa is usually made from cultivated agaricus mushrooms. Zupa grzybowa is usually made from wild mushrooms. Every pieczarkowa is grzybowa, but not every grzybowa is pieczarkowa.

UK, Ireland / British people more intelligent than the Poles? [53]

Since you know the answer, why do you ask the question?

Language / Polish/Ukrainian words similarities [209]

@ Vlad:

-->Which Polish towns/villages those students are from and why did they choose to study in Ukraine?
Does Poland even recognize Ukrainian diplomas?

Ukrainian diplomas are recognized by Poland and vice versa by governmental agreements. 600 Poles study in Lviv alone. Main reason: money, nice city and people. 6000 Ukrainians study in Poland and their number tripled in the last few years. Quarter of all foreign students in Poland are from Ukraine. Source:

..w.edukacjawpolsce.pl/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=arti cle&sid=604

As to similarities and differences between Russians and Poles, I'd put them this way:

1. Genetically, Poles and especially south Russians are very close, almost identical. North Russians are more Finnic.
2. Linguistically, Polish and Russian languages are very close. If you wrote Russian in Polish alphabet, most Poles would understand it easily (say 80% of it) without prior knowledge of Russian. However, a Pole who never studied Russian would likely not understand spoken Russian easily because of different melody, accents, etc.

3. The biggest differences are cultural (Rome versus Bizantium thing) and political (Polish democracy and distrast of all governmental powers versus Russian permanent experience of absolutist, totalitarian and authoritarian regimes only.

Language / Polish/Ukrainian words similarities [209]


Don't have scientific sources at hand to answer you. But the differences among Poles are not as great as between south and north Russians. Poles are pretty much mixed up. But because of ethnic cleansing one may guess that western Poles (originally from eastern Poland) are the closest to south Russians. North-east Poles are closer to Balts (extinct Old Prussians). North Poles are closer to Scandinavians, Germans, Dutch, Scots. Incidentally, neolithic Swedes were closer to present day Poles than to present day Swedes. Vikings were latecomers to Scandinavia, just as Russians were latecomers to North Russia.

Language / Polish/Ukrainian words similarities [209]


Maybe. Maybe I'm biased because I studied Russian in school. I can no longer speak it, but I can read Russian newspapers without much difficulty. I gave you a link to a text in Polish. Can you read it?

Language / Polish/Ukrainian words similarities [209]


Poles are not close to Italians, but are close to Hungarians and even Austrians. This is because Hungarians and Austrians are to a large degree magyarized and germanized Slavs.

Language / Polish/Ukrainian words similarities [209]


The link stopped working. Sorry. How about Pan Tadeusz by Mickiewicz, the best known book in Polish:

Litwo! Ojczyzno moja! ty jesteś jak zdrowie.
Ile cię trzeba cenić, ten tylko się dowie,
Kto cię stracił. Dziś piękność twą w całej ozdobie
Widzę i opisuję, bo tęsknię po tobie.

Литва! О родина! Ты — как здоровье. Тот
Тебя воистину оценит и поймет,
Кто потерял тебя. Теперь живописую
Тебя во всей красе, затем, что я тоскую.

Isn't it more than 60% similar. 70%?

Language / Polish/Ukrainian words similarities [209]


I agree. Genetic research is useful in explaining migrations in prehistory. Today, genetic closeness of nations is meaningless. There are no pure races or ethnic groups in Europe or Americas. To whom are Americans genetically close? As a nation of immigrants - to everyone.

Language / Polish/Ukrainian words similarities [209]

I read Polish newspapers and I watch Polish films and I have never encountered anything of this sort. Any examples? Poles don't like Russia as a state, but have nothing against Russians. The only problem that Poles have with Ukraine is Ukrainian nationalism of the Bandera sort and that's it.


I have never met a Pole claiming that Polish people are Germanics. It's absurd. Don't base your opinions on some comments by trolls on this or other forums. Most commentators here are not Polish. Not that it matters because some trolls here are Polish, and some foreigners who live in Poland and comment here have pretty good understanding of Poles and Poland.


Poland is the best friend Ukraine has got in Europe today. It's in Polish geopolitical interest that Ukraine is a democratic and sovereign country as close to the European Union as possible. Ukraine back in Russian hands is a Polish nightmare.

Language / Polish/Ukrainian words similarities [209]

@ Vlad:

Sorry, but you've got it all wrong. The films are by Jerzy Hoffman, the most pro-Ukrainian film director in Poland. His wife is Ukrainian, by the way. In With Fire and Sward, Hoffman portrays Polish lords savagely raping Ukraine. The film was very well received in Ukraine. In Battle of Warsaw 1920, he's anti-bolshevik, not anti-Russian. He also made Ukraine - The Birth of a Nation in 2008, a long and well-researched documentary based on Kuchma's book Ukraine is not Russia.

In the link "Polish radio hosts fired after insulting Ukrainian women" the point is he got fired. Insulting immigrants is common in Europe. Poles are constantly insultet by anti-immigration British press and no one gets fired. What else is new?

There are probably as many videos of Polish drunkards as Russian drunkards on youtube. Etc. Etc.


I think you're wrong, but not completely wrong. Ukraine is key to Putin's imperial ambitions. He can't rebuild the Russian Empire without Ukraine. However, Ukraine's constant problem is its inability to create a strong state. Historically, the coutry was a playground of stronger powers: Russia, Turkey, Poland. After gaining independence, Ukraine remains a weak state for two reasons. Economically, it's 3 times as poor as Russia and Poland and so it lacks economic influence. While Poland and Russia have political traditions of clearly defined national interests with which the political classes and the people can agree on Ukraine lacks such tradition and its politicians and the people still can't work out what Ukraine's interests are. Are they in the West, in the East or in between and how? I'm afraid nothing will change in Ukraine soon because Ukrainians are divided along cultural and political lines and they don't know what they want as one nation.

Language / Polish/Ukrainian words similarities [209]

@ Vlad:

The film With Fire and Sward is based on a historical fiction novel by Sienkiewicz. The book was designed as a pro-Polish propaganda enertainment to keep Polish spirits up when Poland was not on the map of Europe. In the book Poles are always the good guys and everybody else the bad guys, including Ukrainians. What Hoffman did he removed some of that bias and also showed the Ukrainian perspective. Most historical narratives are biased and so you will always have Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Soviets, Jews looking differently at Kmelnytsky uprising. Check this out:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohdan_Khmelnytsky#Khmelnytsky_in_Ukrainian_history


That's not correct. Wiśniowiecki is portayed as a brute burning Ukrainian villages. On the other hand, the film does not portray Polish and Jewish suffering to such extent, as far as I remember. Polish and Jewish losses were huge.


Because some of them were. They murdered tens of thousands of Poles and Jews.

Language / Polish/Ukrainian words similarities [209]


I'm pessimistic. There are two ways to unite a nation. One is to have a strong political and intellectual elite which, despite differences among themselves, can unite behind a common national interest and influence the people behind that cause. You don't have that and it takes generations to produce such elite. The other is to have a dictator like Lukashenko or Putin impose their own vision of a state, crushing all opposition to it along the way. I don't think you'd like a dictator, and you haven't created a strong and united intelligentia on a state-building mission yet. So it seems Ukraine is permanently doomed to what it is now: a failed state up for grabs. Sorry to say.

Language / Polish/Ukrainian words similarities [209]


There are some estimates based on historical research in Wikipedia:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmelnytsky_Uprising#Casualties


You can't erase history and you can't falsify history for long. If you want national reconciliation, it has to be based on truth, not on myths. Katyń, about Soviet crimes, was an important film for both Poles and Russians. A recent Polish film Pokłosie, about Polish crimes agains Jews, was important for Poles and Jews. I'd love to see a good film, true to history, about Kmelnytsky uprising, Volhynian slaughter of Poles (and Ukrainians) or Akcja Wisła, about ethnic cleansing of Ukrainians by Poles.


Mostly private money. The Polish goverment does not produce any fictional movies, but it supports cinematography to a small degree.


I don't believe in friendship between nations and between states. States have interests, not friends, and nations are abstractions devoid of human emotions. But film about friendship between a specific Ukrainian and a specific Pole, why not, if interesting as a film.


I don't know, but I think I understand your way of thinking. You'd rather get rid of bad history (forget it) and concentrate on building good relations based only on what's going on in the present. I don't think it's possible because history is alive in the heads of Ukrainians and Poles. And you can't stop teaching history because without history there is no identity. Without identity (national identity) there is no state. So the state has to teach history to perpetuate itself. Without Ukrainian history there would bo no Ukrainians and consequently no Ukraine as their nation-state. Acknowledging bad history and dealing with it honestly does not have to be an obstacle. Look at Germans who have dealt with their nasty history frankly and openly and now have the strongest state in Europe. Compared to Germans, Poles still have a long way to go in honest dealing with their history. But a lot shorter than Ukrainians :-)

Genealogy / Do you think all Slavs are white? [178]

Slavs are people speaking slavic languages. It's principally a linguistic characterization, not ethnic or racial.

History / What do Polish people think about Greeks ? [18]

Is it reasonable to ask what 38 million people think of 11 million people or what 11 million people think of 38 million people? No. But I can tell you what I think of Greek feta cheese. I like it.

Work / Salary and cost of living information - Krakow [257]

5000 zl before taxes is OK to live comfortably in Krakow. Small apartments rent for less than 2000, see here:

dom.gratka.pl/mieszkania/krakow/wynajem

Nice city, good night life, etc.. I say, go for it.

Life / Living Costs and life in Poznan? [70]


1. Poles eat the most fruits and vegetables in Europe, so there's planty to choose from for vegetarian dishes.

2. Food in Poland is the least expensive in EU (61% of the EU average, according to Eurostat).

History / What does "the second Apocalypse" mean? WW2? [5]


=Poland under Martial Law


=USA and UK betrayed Poland after World War II

Genealogy / Are Poles mixed with Mongols, Turks, and Tatars? [19]

Contrary to popular myths, recent genetic studies show that Poles as well as Russians have no significant Mongolian or Turkic admixture:

polishgenes.blogspot.com/2013/03/no-mongolian-admixture-in-poland.html

Genealogy / POLISH NOBILITY NAMES IN -SKIi [82]

NOKIELSKI: likely toponimic origin from several villages or the city of Nakło nad Notecią (Nakło on the river Noteć). Nokielski is someone from Nakło. Nakło means a turn of the river in old Polish. 117 men in Poland are named Nokielski and 123 women are named Nokielska (female version of Nokielski).

As you can see most live in Silesian and Opole Voivodeships. Several villages in that area are called Nakło:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nak%C5%82o_(disambiguation)

This suggests that your name is most likely associated with one of those villages, and not with the city of Nakło nad Notecią.

Life / The Polish work ethic - or the lack of it [23]

Average annual hours actually worked per worker (2012):

Poland: 1929
UK: 1654
France: 1479
Germany: 1397
Netherlands: 1381

Seems like Poles deserve more time off whenever they can get it.

stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DatasetCode=ANHRS

Life / Why Polish people are fat ? [81]

25% of Poles are obese. Same percentage as Germans, Irish and Slovaks. Brits are slightly more obese: 27%. 30% or more of Czechs and Americans are obese. Only 5-6% of Japanese and Chinese are fat.

cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2228rank.html?countryname=Poland&countrycode=pl&regionCode=eur&rank=56#pl

Life / Why Polish people are fat ? [81]


This is up to date. UN's FAO and WHO quote the same data, from the same year (no fresher statistics are available, I guess). What reason do you have to question their methodology?

Food / What's your favorite Polish beer? [870]

My favorite Polish beer used to be Tyskie. This year I tried Kasztelan unpasteurized. Very good:

Put Kasztelan beer in Google

Genealogy / Polish blood only makes up 1% of your "Polishness" [77]

There is no such thing as Polish blood or Polish genes.

News / More cars in Poland than America? [29]

Poland has more passenger cars per 1,000 people than America:

Poland: 451 (2012)
US: 423 (2012)

Also, passenger car ownership in Poland is growing while in the US it has been declining for many years.

The World Bank data: data.worldbank.org/indicator/IS.VEH.PCAR.P3

Americans have more cars per 1,000 people than Poles if commercial vehicles - such as trucks and taxicabs, registered to companies - are included.

In conclusion, Poland is a rising power, while the US is a decling power - with regard to passenger cars ;-))

News / More cars in Poland than America? [29]


Yes, because we like to stay rustic:

(put 'horse+carriage+poland' to google)

There are more mules in the U.S. than in Poland:

nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/mule_trips.htm

;-)

News / More cars in Poland than America? [29]


No. Pick up trucks and SUV's can be either commercial or passenger vehicles depending on their use. If a sedan belongs to a business and is registered for commercial use, then it becomes a commercial car.

Definition of passenger cars by the World Bank:

"Passenger cars refer to road motor vehicles, other than two-wheelers, intended for the carriage of passengers and designed to seat no more than nine people (including the driver)."

You have less passenger cars per 1,000 people than Poles. Face it. But you could perhaps change this - if you convince the Amish to trade their horses and buggies for cars ;-)

News / More cars in Poland than America? [29]


Same in Poland and everywhere else in Europe. So it doesn't affect the statistics by much.


Exactly. The cars used for commercial purposes aren't considered into the passeger car total in the U.S., Europe, Poland, and everywhere else. That's why in the category of passenger cars Poland is ahead of the U.S., but in the category of total car ownership (including commercial vehicles) the U.S. is ahead o Poland. Americans have more cars, but Poles have more passenger cars. Ownership of passenger cars in the U.S. is declining, while in Poland is growing.


It may not be unusual where you live. But it's something unheard of in New York City where 54% of housholds do not own a single car. In Manhattan 77%.


Sorry, but you must be joking. Have you ever been to Europe? Compared to EU American public transportation is dismal:

economist.com/node/18620944

New York City has relatively good public transportation - true. But subway sucks compared to most metros in Europe. It's old, noisy, expensive, breaks down constantly, and kills people (55 deaths last year).