Why are Poles in other countries called "Plastic Poles"?

You are right. One can be proud of what HE accomplished. What he is and all the rest is purely an accident of birth. Like inheriting big bucks.

There is no such thing as COLLECTIVE pride as there is no such thing as collective responsibility. That is the kind of crap the black race baiters are trying to push now on the people who never had a slave.

Claiming that I am Polish never got me a free cup of coffee. If anything, it was "dumb Polack" jokes. Thanks, no. I earned a lot more because I switched to 100% English everywhere - home included - and became fluent enough to be promoted to the position where I was paid annual bonuses.

If there was an erase-your-past button, I would press it right now and be better off for it.

That is probably the biggest mistake people do when trying to speak in a foreign language. Never ever try to translate from your native language when speaking. One should conceive utterances directly in the foreign language without any help from the mother tongue.

For example, when speaking or writing in English, I myself forget about my Polish completely. Of course, I do make mistakes, but thinking in Polish first, then translating into English would have brought even more mistakes on me. The mistakes I make may arise from improper usage or shortages in vocabulary (or grammar) or whatever, but resorting to Polish would not help.

It is a matter of training to use the language correctly. The best training is, of course, being immersed in a foreign environment. But even without that, you should constantly train yourself in thinking in a foreign language with as little or no help from your mother tongue as possible. This goal is achievable as my own case proves, the case of a man who has been living for many many years immersed in a non-English language speaking environment and having almost none oral contact with English

@Rich Mazur

Of course nationality is basically a lottery. Nonetheless i believe a person should be proud of rheir roots, their culture, traditions and seek ro pass it onto their kids and have their kids pass it onto theirs and so forth - for all cultures. I may not like a lot of the things Muslims do and their ideologies but I totally understand and respect the fact they want to pass it onto their offspring. Without a distinct identity, culture, etc theres nothing to hold onto and we become just mindless consumers without any real culture or traditions - and i don't mean Hallmark holidays.

Without our roots there's little that makes us unique and a huge part of our identity is gone. That is precisely what the globalists want. They want our cultural identity gone especially for white European hetero christians. Without an identity and culture we have nothing to pass onto our descendants except material goods which is temporary mass produced crap anyone can buy. A cultural identity never dies and you can't assign a monetary value to it.

@Ziemowit
Yeah I know. Thing is it's very difficult to switch off since it's like automatic especially in an English speaking country. It messes up the grammar and vocab since a lot of things don't exactly translate. But yes everytime i go to Poland I always come back with more vocab, grammar rules, etc. I've found that while in Poland I won't "think" in English but instead will think in Polish, albeit fill gaps in English.

Also it's been ages since I was in a polish language school so I forgot all the conjugations and the things like mianownik, dopelniacz, wolacz, etc. I think if I stayed in Poland for like a full 1-2 years I'd be speaking/writing/reading almost as well as a native pole. I guess I'll find out soon enough. I just gotta figure out now what I'll do for money in Poland.

That's a good tip though for learning.

"Forgetting" one's native tongue when speaking or writing in another language is nigh unto impossible, save for those true
bilinguals who literally grew up side by side with a second language along with their first language aka language spoken
at home, in classroom instruction at school!

While there are lots of people who claim to be "fluent" bilinguals in English, particularly in The Netherlands or the Scandinavian countries
(excluding of course Finland), from my experience over many years, both abroad as well as in even the advanced ESL-classroom, this is
normally not the case. Admittedly, a few will come close to their goal, and yet, unless they fit the above criteria for total bilingualism, it remains

most often a laudable, yet unattainable, dream:-)

I was referring to Polish small cities, as you well know.
In interesting places, nice places, like the mountains, or Tri City, the prices are so stupid for property I could find similar in UK seaside towns for a small premium.

You said Poland is cheap as to wages. I say you are wrong
Whole Polish families who have upped sticks for the UK and sold up do NOT return. Only those who went over on a wing and a prayer or to earn for their family return.

You get your "news" from the nationalist PIS machine.

Do catch up. I have lived here in Poland for 30 years now.
So unlike you in Norway/ America/wherever, I have paid into the system here, and am fully entitled to have a voice. I have nothing against you, as you state you are Polish born.

As to others, I wouldn't sneer, only Polonia who are as Polish as I am Irish force me to it.
Pathetic, as Roz said

@Lyzko
Oh dear, so I've failed your 'intelligence test'. What should I do now? Should I cry?
The thing is that it's quite the opposite -I'm bright enough to see you through :)

As for positive stereotypes: the French are great lovers. I could come up with some more. Including some positive stereotypes about Poles. But it's not worth it. For a person who keeps moaning about how prejudiced people are towards Jews, you're far too prejudiced and critical towards others (except for Germans which is interesting. ..)

@Polish Americans
I have a question. I can understand that if your parents are Polish or Irish, you can consider yourself Polish /Irish American. But what if you're -let's say -third or fourth generation immigrants. I mean how likely is it that all of your ancestors came from one country. I can imagine some married within their Polonia community but at some point there must have been a non-Polish spouse etc.

I don't know. My paternal grandparents came from a different region of Poland. Apart from some great dishes my grandma made, I really see no connection with that place. I have been there several times. I like finding new things about my ancestors but that's all. They apparently were from different parts of the country. And they and their family members would migrate somewhere else -mainly for work, I believe or after the war but that's a different story.

Also I think that living in a different country for a while changes your perspective. And I'm not talking about it in a negative sense. You gain some new experiences but at the same time you lose something that was close enough. Silly as it may seem I remember an All Saints' Day spent abroad. It was so odd not to be able to visit my relatives' graves.

And btw not all Polish surnames end with ski - lots don't and they sound perfectly Polish.

Heritage is a wonderful thing, and to be cherished. My granparents were Scotttish, Irish/English. But that doesn't make me Scottish. In fact, my father was Scottish, but I was born in England of an English mother. When I was a boy I liked to think of myself as Scottish, but then I grew up, and realised I could never be so.

Therefore I am English. Try telling the logic of where you were born to polonia, who were given all these credits, including a Polish passport , simply to buy their allegiance. Now that Poland is part of the EU, polonia is superfluous and they should be cut loose. For their own psychological well being, as well as that of real Poles.

Please observe reader: I capitalise "Pole", but polonia is a certain word which I used before ( but can't now due to censorship)

I don't hold it against you, kaprys, as I hope you don't hold it against me for being who and what I am (..whatever that is)!

:-)

So many posts, so many versions...

In Russia, term 'Plastic Pole' is understood by many people as a foreign citizen of polish origin that have no links to Poland other than plastic of "Karta Polaka". ;) And for countries that are not eligible for this document - just someone of polish origin who do not share any real interests with Poles living in Poland.

Plastic as opposed to "Plaster" Pole, yes?

In Poland, such a term has been unheard of. It seem to be a purely American (Aglo-Saxon) "invention" and I am more than surprised that it is known in Russia as well.

Did anyone heard of the term "wasserpolacken" or "wasserpolen"? The term started to be applied by the Prussians to the Polish autochtonous population of Lower Silesia, including those working as raftsmen or in fishery (hence the suffix "wasser"), after the annexation of Silesia in 1741. In 1852, a German journalist used this term in reference to Polish peasants from the nearby villages who were bringing planks, coal and grain to market places in Breslau.

Boy, haven't heard "Wasserpolacken" in umpteen years:-)

Its flexibility. Plastic Poles becoming flexible regarding definition of what is Polish in them.

yeh it's a Brit invention coined to describe the kind of Irish people that were born in the UK, but ham up the Irishness. ( as 'Plastic Paddy')

Let me tell you frankly. I likes to work with plastic Poles. They are more interesting then regular Poles. They are how to tell you, somehow, westernized and with that more backward. That makes them great challenge in works. Its like with little children. Must set them on the right path.

Nonetheless i believe a person should be proud of rheir roots, their culture, traditions and seek ro pass it onto their kids and have their kids pass it onto theirs and so forth - for all cultures.

Agree with the second part of this sentence, not with the first one. How can one be proud of something in which one played no role?? And by definition, no one is responssible for where they were born; one is responsible for what one becomes, and that can be a matter for being proud.

There was widespread corruption associated with the issuing of the Karta Polaka. I don't know if it was the same in Russia, but Ukraine was notorious for it.