Language / Cholera, cholerny, cholernie... [9]

Thanks for this post. I grew up in a German Polish household in Australia and German was literally the mother-tongue, except the expletives were always in Polish. I remember hearing things like 'Cholerna Jasna' since I was quite small but never imagined the literal meaning. Who'd have thought - Bright Cholera!

Language / A typical quality of book translation from English to Polish? [28]

I think it very much depends on the quality of the translator.

I have started a publishing company with a focus on Polish (and other European books). Our first Polish book is The Comédienne (Komendiantka) by Wladyslav Reymont.

We updated and re-edited the text. We found outdated spelling, unused neologisms and clumsy idioms that we attribute to a translator who was not a native English speaker. We made changes like; (‘gaiety’ for ‘gaety’), (‘mechanic for mechanician’) and (‘discarded’ for ‘thrown into the discard’). There were over 300 such items in the book. This is a pity because it is such a great story and window into our Polish heritage.

What I did find interesting is the number of works by great Polish writers that have never been translated into English. There are French and German translations but I don't understand why they have never made it into English. Once we get established we would like to commission some translations to see if there is a market for them.