Genealogy / What is the Polish equivalent name to Walter? [22]


well it wasn't exactly the same sound.... in rough terms

l - similar to English l in words like light, lift (sometimes called the 'bright' or 'clear' l)

ł - similar to English l in small, tall, pill (sometimes called the 'dark' l)

If anyone ever heard the old 'Mowimy po polsku' tapes from the 1960s they still used the older pronunciation

the two English sounds are very different but English speakers don't hear the difference because where one occurs the other can't.

I'm pretty sure some Slavic languages still distinguish them the way Polish did... (not Czech, both sounds became l there) I think some Polish speakers in Lithuania still have the old pronunciation as well or used to until very recently

Does modern Irish have a similar distinction between 'broad' l (more like old ł) and 'slender' l more like l?

The same change (the 'hard' l (ł) sounding like an English 'w' also sometimes happens in colloquial Russian but it's still considered sub-standard there.

Work / Developmental Therapy in Poland [19]


Maybe that's Eastern (rusophone) influence? Where I am it's a _lot_ more restrained.... at least on the job - private socializing is a lot more.... elaborate.

Work / Developmental Therapy in Poland [19]


Along with all her other good advice, Atch is absolutely 100% correct here. Poland is very much a face to face (and/or bird in the hand) kind of place. Physical presence is nine tenths of the law.

Also, I'd add then while trotting around your qualifications, dress up! Polish people in certain settings place (like work usually) put a lot of stock in how... professional.... someone looks. Before going around you might want to hang around office buildings (more private than public) to get a feel for how professional women dress while on the job. Once you have an idea.... don't try to mimic the look exactly but move some in that direction.


Polish people generally approve of assertive people who know what they want and aren't afraid to say so out loud. Don't be humble or self-effacing in any interview, be calm, confident and sure of yourself.

Finally... (for now) interactions between adults and small children are (like almost everything else) culture specific. It won't be any good if you get hired and don't know how to interact with a Polish child...

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [669]

Wrong again! How do you do it? How does so much wrong fit in the head of one humble corvid?

Russian empire is a more proximate source of misery, whether Tsarist, Soviet of Putinesque....

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [669]


That's not a question that leads to any kind of good result.....


Relations are about as good now as they've ever been (and probably about as good as they can be for the time being).

The basis of their allieship is of course (well-founded) mistrust of Russia but... better than nuthin' (which is what they had before...)

History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]

Get to know some well enough for them to start talking about their families.... weird doesn't begin to describe it...

History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]


Russian women know what westerners want to hear....

A friend who grew up in the USSR said the source of much of Putin's popularity among women is that he's a fantasy figure for them displaying male competence which they are starved for in real life...

watch some Russian tv / movies that they make for themselves and you might be surprised...

Gogol - horror anthology (with a season long arc) featuring a fictionalized version of the famous writer. All the men are stupid and/or useless (the titular hero tends to faint when the going gets rough) and it ends up being a power struggle between two women....

Smalltown mysteries (mysteris of Miss Kirsanova) - set in the 19th century a young women routinely shows up the local law enforcement by solving crimes. the women are all strong and the mean are all stupid and/or useless or simps (used by the heroine).

the Artist - (Ukrainian but similar) A competent but frowsy female detective finds her life turned around by the manic pixie boy transfer (an actor in disguise who regular primps his make up before a mirror)

Pay attention to real Russians in real life and you'll notice it's very far from a patriarchy...

History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]


Shows how much you know. Beginning in the late 1960s Soviet (and Russian) masculinity entered a crisis mode from which they have yet to recover.... men drop like flies in Russia (from alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and a cultural feeling of uselessness...) there is a tremendous difference in lifespan...

patriarchal my @ss....

History / Why Poland is not Russia [260]


Probably not, but US officials are openly trying to goad him into it... The president trying to intimidate Ukraine with threats of Russian invasion is probably meant to discourage them from investigating past dealings by him and his dope-fiend crooked son...

Also, he's looking for a foreign policy 'win' before next year's mid-terms... if Russia doesn't invade he'll claim credit (and many will believe it or pretend to believe it):.

Off-Topic / Random Sports News [891]

Me either. I no longer understand why they even exist... the olympics used to be special... now they're a way for olympic bureaucrats to rake in bribes from the likes of Russia and China...

History / Why Poland is not Russia [260]


The possibility of military expansion... and a primitive feeling of conquest. That's all Crimea is for Russia (which has turned into a natural disaster due to catastrophic Russian mismanagement).

History / Why Poland is not Russia [260]


You do realize that abortion on demand was the only birth control available in the Soviet Union, don't you?

Do you have any idea how many abortions Soviet women had? (hint: a lot more than American women)


Poland is very used to the absolute worst side of the Russian state and no-nothings like vlad don't understand why Poland doesn't want to suck Putin's socks....

honestly....

History / Why Poland is not Russia [260]


Russia is a militarily aggressive expansionist state (and a majority of citizens would like to reconstruct their colonial empire).

Poland is none of those things...

Russians barely understand western ideas like the value of human life or the rights of the individual against the state or the rule of law (and many who do are flat out against them).

Poland has aspired to western values for centuries (achieving them is not a straightforward easy process but that's the goal).

Russia dreams of recreating the past.

Poland dreams of a better future.

How can such opposing ideas not come into conflict?

Genealogy / Polish Soldiers Dunblane, Scotland WW2 [16]


I don't know about the 1940s but Antoni... is not a popular name now (quite apart from a certain government figure I'd heard the name was unpopular years before he became famous).

That might narrow it down a bit (especially since middle names aren't really a big Polish thing either).

History / Why Poland is not Russia [260]


From what I can tell he was maybe ethnically Polish but culturally and linguistically more Russian... (I mostly think cultural and linguistic identification are better indicators than crude genetics).

Love / Are all beautiful Polish girls as crazy as this? [262]


I'm not sure about that but women don't get the same cultural restraint against using violence (since it's assumed they don't have violent natures) so when they give in... they don't hold back.

But still most women are not in a position to do serious damage to a male domestic partner.

Love / Are all beautiful Polish girls as crazy as this? [262]


Of course there are female serial killers... they're usually not sex-weirdos like Bundy or Gacy.

The most common types of female serial killers are 'angels of death' (work in a 'caring' profession such as nursing or elder care and kill vulnerable patients) or 'black widows' (middle aged or elderly women who poison a series of husbands and/or suitors). There are also women who kill their children (successively, there was a famous case in Australia a few years ago*)

There are also 'team killers' who work with a man.

General physical weakness (compared to men) means women who kill don't go on physical rampages or violent abductions. They usually choose those who are even weaker (elderly, frail, children) or use poison.

Women are human beings and a tiny minority have all the same dark, violent urgers that a tiny minority of men have. Fewer chances to carry them out doesn't mean they don't exist...

*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Folbigg

History / Why Poland is not Russia [260]


Hence the byzantine nationality laws.... and the fact that nationality was always listed on id's....


It would be nice if Russians cared when the Russian government killed civilians but.... they don't.

A friend who grew up in the USSR said that human life had little cultural value there (and still doesn't among ethnic Russians).

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [676]


I think Lenka was pointing to the fact that some Silesians are found on the Czech side of the border... Silesian and Czech, not Silesian and Polish...

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [676]


And his "Litwo Ojczyzno moja" had just about nothing to do with the modern country of Lietuva....

History / Why Poland is not Russia [260]


Well the Soviet system (and modern Russian state) are profoundly amoral, so that's kind of right...

History / Why Poland is not Russia [260]


Probably fewer than died because the USSR liked maintaining "despotism"....

Is it really a numbers game? (because no way no how can the worst famine in human history, and several others in communist countries, be laid at the door of the US....)

ya gonna looooose, sucka!

News / Dodgy PRL-holdover judiciary finally reformed [420]


I think he does... he's just dead set against such a system... his goal is pretty openly 'rule of party (leader)' instead of 'rule of law'. In this way, he's the most dangerous current person in government (since he also pretty openly is aiming to step into the 'party leader' role...

News / Dodgy PRL-holdover judiciary finally reformed [420]

Poland's politics are pretty horrible, but at least there are people trying to do better.

The US (and UK) have degraded into cynicism and greed, as is fighting of dying empires...

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]


Could have been worse.... can you imagine the devastation if he'd played 'Prez twe oczy zielone'?

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


you are repatriated (since you didn't make the choice yourself)

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


So you believe kurwizja polska?

History / Why did Hitler call Poles Half Jews? [98]


My explanation. He thought of Poles as a mongrel group... mostly for extermination but with some that could be salvaged and germanized (though things like the Lebensborn programs).

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


So for you Poland is a leech country?


Now you're in favor of kleptocratic corruption?

Polonia / What about the Poles living in Germany? [65]


Greenhausen Syndrome.... inflicting economic and social damage on a society in the name of the 'environment'....