Need help with a Polish word/spelling Basia

need help with a Polish word/spelling...more

Posted by ONHI on 7/7/2007, 10:52 pm
12.168.210.14

One of my children was nicknamed when she was a young child by my m-i-l who is now passed away. I never asked her how to spell it. It's pronounced Bah-skah. I thought it was spelled Baska or Baskah. She said it means "the boss" in Polish. She called her that in front of another relative and she said, "Oh, the boss!" I can't find it anywhere online with Polish/English translations. I don't know if it is "slang" or a true Polish word. I just want to spell it right. It's a special nickname and she is thinking of using it in a special way so we want to be able to spell it right.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Danell in Ohio, USA

Baśka or Basia. It is diminutive name. It comes from Barbara.

how do you say the word "understand" in Polish?

I understand is "Rozumiem".

The ending of the word depends on who it is said to

Infinitive 'to understand' - rozumieć - rozumiec. In present tense:
I - Ja rozumiem
You(S-Thou) - Ty rozumiesz
He - On rozumie
We - My rozumiemy
You(Pl) - Wy rozumiecie
They - Oni rozumieją

Imperative - Zrozum! Zrozumcie!

Maybe she said "Boska" which means God's and he is the boss.

Yes, it is "boska" which comes from the english word "boss". You will not find it in dictionaries because it's a Polish version of that word.

translate for me waga skala or wagaskala what does this means in english

Waga "Scales" is a PL coat of arms.

skala is also scale

In the future, you may want to sign up, create your own topic and possibly contribute :)

"Boska" by the way, is also used in the fixed phrase in Polish: " Matka Boska Czestochowa" = The Black Madonna of Tschenstochau (German spelling here --:) )

Marek

@ONHI

She said word "boska" and it can be americanized Polish word coming from "boss"

In Polish "boska" means "divine", that's why she called your child ( a girl) like that. It has nothing to do with Baska or Basia or Barbara

eg: Jestes boska (if a girl) / Jestes boski (if a boy).
and means: You are divine

...and the (non-idiomatic) expression: "Matko Boska!", "Ale Matko Boska!", both roughly equivalent to such exclamations as "Mother o' Mary!", "Saints preserve us!" etc.

Marek

I was looking for the spelling of a word and the actual meaning, and found this thread through google. What an awesome forum. So I don' know what ethnicity this word is, but I think it is a term of endearment or that it means child or baby. I have heard it in Russian, Polish and Jewish people, so I don't know where it originates and I am likely going to butcher it so please bare with me. My word is babushka, spelled with English phonetics, As in "My little Babushka". That's the best I can do. If I can get the original spelling, meaning and origin, I would appreciate it. Thank you for your time and help.

~ Mistie

Basia means Barbara in English.

Baska is used in the polish language to scold someone named Basia when she did something wrong and to indicate that you are angry with her.

e.g., "Baska, did you take that last cookie?"

Saying "Baska" instead of "Basia" tells the girl that she is in trouble.

Moving on:
"My word is babushka" - babushka is a head covering, like a scarf.
When the catholic church required head coverings on women the women would sometimes wear a babushka in church if they didn't have a hat handy.

A babushka is like a colorful large handkerchief. Women would tie the opposite ends under their chin.

How do you do a version of Baska for other names when you want to indicate that you are angry with them?

Are there grammar rules for this?

Michał
Wiesław, Wiesiek,
Czesław
Bartek
Anna
Joanna
Dorota
etc.

Negative diminutives: Michałek, Wiesiek, Czesiek, Anka, Joaśka, Aśka, Barteczek. These are only examples and there can be many other variants, because Polish language have large variety of diminutive forms (not only names). Michałek and Barteczek can be positive. Everything depends on context, intonation, therefore I don't think that there are any particular rules. Correct usage of diminutive forms depends on how advanced you are in language, this is case of "feling" language.

With some female names, the pet forms ending with -ka usually sound more crude than those ending with -ia or -a:
Baśka - Basia, Anka - Ania, Gośka - Gosia, Ulka - Ula, Maryśka - Marysia, etc.
If you usually call a girl Asia, you're more likely to call her Aśka when you're angry at her.
However some women don't like the -ia forms regarding them as too sweet or even childish and they prefer to be called by the -ka forms.

Still, Dorotka is sweeter than Dorota :)

Similar situation with the male names - Wiesio, Czesio, Michałek or Michaś, Bartuś are "sweeter" or more childish that Wiesiek, Czesiek, Michał or Bartek.

There is also -unia; -uniuś, -usiekending that can be intended as hiper, uber cute or very negative diminutive.
Asiunia, Bartuniuś, Bartusiek.
As I mentioned in post above there are lots of diminutive forms and most of them can be treated as either positive or negative. The most important thing is context.

Thanks Alligator and Strzyga

my nanna uses baska too. she also said it means the boss. I have been looking for spelling for ever and cannot find a single thing.