Uptight Poles

What do you mean by Krakovians (your term sounds awful) in the second place?

Could you read whole posts, please?


Warsaw, Posnan, Cracow, Berlin, London. Warsawer, Posnaner, Cracower, Berliner, Londoner.

it's Cracovian. and Warsovian. also Varsovian.

actually, on second thought, Bz is right, Krakovian is correct, too

Why are C's and K's transposable when spelling the name of that city?

Whoever prefers the names of inhabitants of Polish cities derived from Latin roots, he or she is free to do that. I'll stick with the names derived from English city names. However, if you like the Latin names, that would be "Cracovian" since Kraków is Cracovia in Latin, same as Kalisz is Calisia.

Back on topic, what do you think about stereotypes saying that Cracowers are more uptight than Warsawers are, Posnaners have their specific sense of humour, and the people of TriCity are generaly easy-going?

Discuss.

It's like Korea and Corea :)

I find that Poles tend to be most uptight in administrative centres where they can't be natural but have to adopt anal behaviour. There is a certain convention involved there. A bit like the Japanese ramen restaurant I was at in Kitakyushu. Everyone was frowning quite visibly and tense. My then GF, Mayumi, told me that it is part of the feel of the place, they do it on purpose. Poles seem to be the same when waiting for documents or stamps.

I'm not an expert but "Cracower" sounds German to me. Too German infact. Cracovian or Krakovian are more English.


I don't think that such stereotype exist. Krakovians are more conservative, Varsovians bit more cosmopolitan and that's all.

that would be Krakauer, wouldn't it?

Come on, Seanus! Korea was not discovered and described in the Middle Ages ;-)

Besides, where was the letter K introduced to the Latin alphabet?

Yup, another Pole who cannot ask a direct question in AS ;) ;) Still time to edit :)

I think a lot of Poles are indifferent to the extent to which they cannot really be uptight. That's one thing I've noticed in different places.

Sounds similar written either way.

Which does not in the least change the fact the English name for Kraków is Cracow.

Let's not get uptight here as Brits would say Cracov and Americans Cracow (ow like they've been hurt, like they say Moscow).

Back to the central topic, please.

This is well off topic, guys. I'm watching uptight Poles on a Polish programme. It's quite funny.

No, talking about stereotypes related to uptight-ness (sorry!) of Poles from different part of Poland and of different countries of the world is certainly on topic, Seanus.

and by laid out you mean laid back...

that's the beauty of stereotypes, they don't apply to everyone, they don't even have to apply to most, and everyone is free to hold on to their own.

frankly, I don't see the Poles as uptight, per se. And I know many more Poles than just my husband, to dispel the assumptions. I think Poles are really fun, just very insecure and extremely given to self-defensiveness. I believe it comes from the history of the country, when the Polish people found themselves on the defensive much more frequently than on the offensive, and had to obsessively defend their language, culture, and traditions, even if it meant going "underground." Xenophobia is a self-defense mechanism. Also the fact that they see other nationalities that are more self-assured as naive and uncultured. I also see that the acceptable standards of politeness are lower than in some other countries, but perhaps as more people travel, they'll notice that being friendly does not mean compromising your position.

Of course! Bear in mind English is only my third language.


Are sure you are talking about the Poland's Poles?

Rubbish. So why when sitting on a bus or on a train, as happened yesterday, do Poles insist on playing crappy Eurotrash music and assume everyone else will enjoy it? No social boundaries at all!

I think this has more to do with the age of those blasting the music. Up to a certain age, the youths everywhere think that if you just listened to their music, you'll love it as much as they do. Nothing to do with being Polish, as much as you'd like to think.

We have same problem in England, mainly young blacks and pakis, so it's not a Polish thing.

It probably depends who you have next door. The Ruskies, 3 doors down, display exceedingly bad taste in music, from 4pm on a Friday to 6am on a Saturday. At least they did until the noise police got them.


So explain the Disco Polo phenomenon and why the Polish housewives feel the need to drown out their vacuum cleaners and pollute the sound waves. They should play Disco Polo 24 hrs a day to prisoners, they wouldn't feel the need to offend again.

nothing to explain. Just a type of music that annoys you.

what Russians has to do with Poles?


The percentage of ppl listening to disco polo i Poland is as high as ppl listening to country music in USA, that would by like 1%?