UK, Ireland / "Strange " English language.. [264]


In the factory you used to work at maybe or in the Walmart where you buy your Pop Tarts and aerosol cheese.

In the countryside shall is quite common especially among older people and whom is certainly still correct.


As above, older, rural, educated. Most people not so much. Shall remains mostly in the fixed phrase "shall we?" and other formulaic contexts like the Remembrance Sunday text (they shall not grow old as we grow old).

Travel / Kielce and the area - amazing Polish Pocket Knives live there [105]


Same here. Those look smart though.

I tend to like the old-fashioned ones, not changed much from the PRL era however in Warsaw most I've gone now. There's just a few left. My favourite is the one that has donate just saying "Bar Kawowy" close to Metro Ratusz just by "Gruba Kaśka". It's in an 70s concrete pavilion unchanged for half a century and has a nice atmosphere.

I like places like that. In Kielce I've eaten a few times in a basement cafe under the market. Hearty food and of the past.

There's a newish chain in northern England (an Ulster firm, a lot of the staff have NI accents) called Bob & Bert's. They aren't fancy like that (some are in shipping precincts) but the coffee is top notch and the food is amazing. A different menu from most. A Polish version would be really popular..

UK, Ireland / "Strange " English language.. [264]


In America some people still believe that's a rule. That and 'split infinitives'.

It was an eighteenth century grammarian's attempt to shoehorn a Germanic language into the structure of Latin which they believed to be superior to all other languages except Classical Greek.


Mostly across the Atlantic. To do with social mobility and a desire to speak 'properly' back in the day. That's where the books were published and that's where the speaking tutors got gigs.


As I mentioned, that was more of an American thing in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In Britain where the social structure differed and fewer sudden fortunes were made it was less of a thing. There a poor man could become rich but wasn't ever accepted in high society, his kids weren't really accepted either but his grandkids indistinguishable from the elite) were.


Evolution of language. Jane Austen never used the word "will".

UK, Ireland / "Strange " English language.. [264]


There are different 'types of people though, who probably wouldn't socialise much with each other, and those distinctions are certainly about social class.

Love / Date Guidelines Required [36]

It's a while since I've been however I've been a few times and it was all nice. As I remember they have a menu of the day which is good. They do a mixed starter (mezze) which is great on its own if there are two of you.

Love / Date Guidelines Required [36]


No, though I've passed it and it looks interesting. Lokanta on Nowogrodzka (a sort of mix between a restaurant, cafe and bar) is really nice and authentically Turkish..

Off-Topic / thinking of writting a book about myself [219]


When did you leave?

Love / Date Guidelines Required [36]


If only those glasses had a handle!

Having said that, you never really see the thin glass coffee glasses any more.

Love / Date Guidelines Required [36]


That's what I think too.

I'd say that the cafes in those photos are all quite smart. Warsaw has some very nice ones and new places all the time.

Love / Date Guidelines Required [36]


There's only a couple of us here and in my case I know Warsaw far better than most Poles.


Agreed; not a place for youngish people to go on a first date.


There's a fair few. Some nice ones south of Jerozolimskie, especially on Zurawia. They're cafe bars relly however all the above sell booze too.

There's a nice one (two in fact) in PKiN and some surprisingly nice ones in Zoliborz.

If he wants to impress there's a bar called Loreta (a bar but plenty of non-alcohol options) and there's also Havana in Zoliborz which is especially nice in the day time and has a big outside terrace. Havana isn't expensive but is very pleasant. Not waiter/ess service although plenty are.

As the weather gets better there's also some of the riverside ones and of course Hala Koszyki is superb.

Off-Topic / Eurovision - Today I will be ashamed to be Polish [580]


Wobbly internet here though I'll try and catch it tonight.


That guy's been all over the tabloid newspapers. I think he was in a talent show. The song's supposed to be OK however the singer is controversial; perhaps thats part of it all and why we like the contest.


That is a very Eurovision miid-scoreboard topic.

History / "How Poles Built Russia... [26]

There's plenty of that in r*SSia.

Perhaps Poles built it.

History / "How Poles Built Russia... [26]

Yes you are.

Whoever 'built' r*SSia should hang their wretched heads in shame.

History / "How Poles Built Russia... [26]


r*SSia needs fúcking.

Off-Topic / Let's talk about shoes [334]


Me too.

I do wear heavy boots with a suit sometimes however that's due to the location I work in. They have to be comfortable since I'm on my feet a lot and not with big heels.

Generally I prefer very flat soles due to being taller than average, basically the opposite of 'Putin shoes'.

Off-Topic / Let's talk about shoes [334]


I've not been in one of those for years. It used to be a family firm but isn't now.

TK Maxx are quite good for shoes. I bought two pairs there recently. This is one pair, first time on today. The other pair are heavy black boots. The brand name is "Guess".

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Classifieds / Apartment for sale Warsaw [11]

Looking at the pics I don't think it would cost much; the flat is small. New kitchen units and a bathroom, perhaps the electrics too. The floor looks stained however that's normal in homes that have been trashed.

Classifieds / Apartment for sale Warsaw [11]


The flat in question is certainly for sale at that price. On more than one online portal, and what she says fits in with what I heard in real life when I was back home.

It's a case of probably yes, possibly otherwise, however the details do fit reality and as far as I know the names fit too. And Deepak has indeed vanished from here.

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation [1756]


Yes.


Yes. Zarzucać is about eating.

They aren't the most delicate of sentences.

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation [1756]


A big thing in Polish cities where people don't generally have contents insurance.

Another gryps word is "Cadillac" (a single bed in a cell), and one of the better known ones is "kosa"; can you guess what it means?

Sometimes prisoners say "nie zarzucać, idę na krótko" or "nie zarzucać, idę na ostro". When do they say this?

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation [1756]


Sort of. More people who burgle the top floor flat in apartment buildings. The reason some top floor flats have a pająk over the window.


It can be, however the language is usually called gryps rather than grypsera by insiders nowadays. A very fast evolving language and with distinct variants from prison to prison.

UK, Ireland / "Strange " English language.. [264]


The name of that show and the hype around it in the Guardian put me off watching it so I saw the first series of Mandy first then watched it right away when I saw it was the same person. I'd say Mandy is a long way from Vicky Pollard, though yes, both have strong accents and few aspirations. Diane Morgan is a genius and we'll see a lot more of her in the future. Mandy/Cunk is more or less her real accent and something I like about her is that she refuses to compromise and soften it. She's a cousin of the actress Julie Goodyear (a veteran soap star) and I think another famous actor.

I'm wondering what to watch next. Everyone says Michaela Coel is superb but I found her show just OK. I really liked "This Country" (sadly very finished) and "People Just Do Nothing" (great but five series were enough) "Stath Sells Flats" was good albeit a bit dry and I'd like to see what Jamie Demetriou does next.

One of the best comedies I've seen was called "The Smoking Room". A bit like "The Office" but less naff and somehow tighter and more polished in a theatrical way. It was an absolute gem but didn't survive the smoking ban. Sadly the writer doesn't seem to have done much since.

Shows with Romesh Ranganathan in just leave me cold and the Scottish one "Two Doors Down" is neither here nor there. Diane Morgan is probably the best of it right now.

I missed pretty well the entirety of Gavin and Stacey so should maybe have a look at that.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smoking_Room

UK, Ireland / "Strange " English language.. [264]

@Mafkeris

Thinking about what you wrote, yes, there is a sort of class awareness however as I mentioned before, we've not had a revolution etc and democracy/workers rights came relatively early so as a society there are elements of both a class structure and classlessness.

Everything evolved organically and continues to do so. And yes, some TV shows do play on it because we enjoy it.

What did you think of Ghosts? I've seen reviews but didn't think I'd like it. Try Mandy (it's probably on pirate bay). Schlock and fun all in one. You'll probably both love it and hate it.

UK, Ireland / "Strange " English language.. [264]


In the countryside sometimes.


I've not seen the show however I'd guess that it was making fun of it and of course as I said, it's become a literary/dramatic device there.


There's certainly some working class solidarity, however that's much more in the North, in Wales and in Scotland, in industrial areas where people had to fight for what they got and still have to fight.

The term Middle Class can be slightly pejorative there; mostly about "kitsch" tastes, perceived materialism and types who across the Atlantic are now called 'Karens'.

It's still a very traditional society and one that delights in laughing at itself and the groups within it. Tribes (marketeers use this term nowadays) is probably more accurate than classes.

Classifieds / Apartment for sale Warsaw [11]


Cheap as chips.

I suspect that 6sqm difference is that sort of semi-hallway those flats have.

It would probably be best as an AirBnB or similar. 30sqm is too small even for a single person and the location is as central as it gets but not for everybody.

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation [1756]



Yes! Though more often nowadays it's just called gryps. At least it is in Warsaw; the language (and even the name for the language) varies from place to place.


Something fixed and immobile.

Edit. It's a metal grill fixed on the outside of a cell window.

Law / Gun control in Poland: should Polish people be allowed to own guns? [1070]

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UK, Ireland / "Strange " English language.. [264]


No, although I'm pointing out that what you describe as a "rigid class system" has more to do with Downton Abbey and Merchant Ivory films than any sort of reality.

It's true that we never had a revolution like France or lost two major wars like Germany (though both of those places very much have social classes) and nor do we have the delusion that exists among some Americans that they don't have social class, however it's not much of a a "system" and it isn't "rigid". If anything it's more of interest to marketing specialists than anyone else nowadays.

Literature isn't the best guide to day-to-day reality; class, money and societal conflict are something writers often use. They would have less to write about otherwise.

Remember, we invented Socialism, Universal Healthcare, Trade Unions, free compulsory education, the Welfare State and decolonisation. Our current Prime Minister is the son of two Indian pharmacists and our next one is the son of a factory worker and a nurse. But hey, we've apparently got a "rigid class system".

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation [1756]


No. A way of speaking used by a very specific group of people, all of them with chequered histories.

Think of a spider's web made of metal.


People always forget the Canadians and Indians.

UK, Ireland / "Strange " English language.. [264]


Hard to know what that means.


That's about a boys' public school, an untypical environment.

Literature so often used to be about the rich. Henry James for example. In very large part because it was written by those with the time, the education a;d the money to allow them to do it.

And it often (both then and now) mentions economic inequality and people's aspirations (as any country's literary corpus does) so would very obviously draw from social structures where appropriate. It's a literary hook.

The idea that there's a "rigid class system" is bizarre. How about saying instead that we have a higher literary output per capita than anywhere else on the planet.