Life / Poles speaking English - examples [263]

The English "to yearn for" in Polish is "tesknic za", which is no doubt what Carter was trying to convey, I believe, when he expressed the common desires of Americans and Poles, "yearning for" freedom:-)

Perhaps I'm wrong.

Genealogy / What are common Polish character traits? [425]

It's not fancy, it's merely Yiddish-influenced English, as Maf said!

Genealogy / What are common Polish character traits? [425]

True, Maf!

Plenty of gentiles also used to say for instance, "So make like a nice guy and leave me alone..." or expressions of that sort.

Genealogy / What are common Polish character traits? [425]

"Know FROM" is acceptably correct US usage! What you Europeans learn
in British English, I wouldn't have a clue:-)

Life / Poles speaking English - examples [263]

Right, Maf!

Seymour was in fact originally a Russian/Ukrainian to English interpreter who was called in at the last minute to sub for the regular Polish interpreter.

As an interpreter and translator myself, I particularly remember the incident while studying the process of related language interference in college at the time:-)

Life / Poles speaking English - examples [263]

So do I, then again, I'm not a Polish native speaker. Neither was Mr. Seymour, apparently!

Genealogy / What are common Polish character traits? [425]

Well, here in the US, we know only from "deadbeat dads", never moms!
:-)

Life / Poles speaking English - examples [263]

Should also be a thread about Americans speaking Polish. The story of President Carter's interpreter naturally back in around '77 comes to mind, when the poor fella translated Carter's words literally, "I wish to reach out to the people of Poland...", coming out on the other end as "I lust after the Polish people.....".

The chap's name was David Seymour, as I recall, from NYU, and believe you me, that time Polish President Gierek was not amused by the gaff!

Genealogy / What are common Polish character traits? [425]

My first Polish primer was called "PRACOWITA MATKA", from around the late sixties or so. Here, the units and readings stressed the tough, self-reliant, yet diligent Polish mother, always hard at work for her family, and of course, the State!

Genealogy / What are common Polish character traits? [425]

True. The Poles, particularly under Communism, had a reputation as workers, not shirkers!
Many a time I can recall during a period not all that long ago, when many of the local cleaning women were typically older Poles, that they were known to be exceptionally clean and with their nose to the grindstone.

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

Just remembered one of the first idioms, idiomatic sayings, I ever learned: MADRY POLAK PO SZKODZIE = ONE'S ALWAYS
WISER AFTER THE FACT, or something to that effect:-)

Life / Polish Nursery Rhymes [253]

Fair enough, pawian.

Life / Polish Nursery Rhymes [253]

In the Masur, if I'm not mistaken, is near to where "Noz w wodzie" was filmed.

Life / Polish Nursery Rhymes [253]

No, byles harcierzem tez, pawian?
:-)
stick to the English, please

Life / Polish Nursery Rhymes [253]

I seem to remember a particular verse, and thought for a long while that it was some type of
children's verse:

"Lato, lato, lato czeka...."

Always knew it was a summer song, but it reminded me of something that moms might
sing to their kids on the first day of summer, a fun picknick, family time, or something of the like.
:-)

Genealogy / KUKULA ancestry [32]

More Hungarian originally, I'd guess.

History / Occupation of Eastern Poland in 1939 [98]

Thanks for that, TheOther! I could always use a good laughLOL

History / Occupation of Eastern Poland in 1939 [98]

Just look at the way in which East German textbooks taught (or didn't teach) the Holocaust!

Unless it has changed, I've read and have spoken with former East Germans, who reported that any mention of the
Jews as victims of Nazi genocide was nearly whitewashed, instead hailing those murdered Jews as "heroes of the
East German State who died as good Communists fighting the Faschist foe."

Not exactly the way it happened there, kids:-)

History / What do Poles owe to Germans? [451]

Sure. The Commies got duped twice, once by their own leaders, the second time by the new regime!
Either way, they got screwed big time. Obvious? It's as plain as the nose on your face.

History / What do Poles owe to Germans? [451]

'Course not.

It's stuff like this that gives coups a bad name!

History / What do Poles owe to Germans? [451]

Whom else would you quote, pawian?

Look, can't see what the big mystery is. I steal your wallet and then YOU are expected to compensate ME for YOUR theft??!
Think man!

Typo.
"I steal you wallet and then YOU'RE expected to compensate me for MY theft?"

History / What do Poles owe to Germans? [451]

Who?? Those who were directly responsible for the theft, of course!

History / What do Poles owe to Germans? [451]

I simply meant that it's more than merely "unfair", it's downright, yea criminally, unjust!
Seems to me more a shakedown than a mandate.

History / What do Poles owe to Germans? [451]

Not an answer, and you know it.

Life / Poland vs Hungary for an expat? [41]

Budapest though, when compared with either Polish cities I've visited namely one, or photos I've seen of Warsaw or Cracow, has a special charm, seemingly untouched by the bombings during WWII! Vienna was not that lucky.

Probably things have changed since the late '90's, but when I was there for my third visit since 1990, people noticing that I was a foreign tourist, would address me across the board only in German, rather than in English. I found this amusing, if at the same time completely understandable:-)

Life / Poland vs Hungary for an expat? [41]

Budapest is perhaps still the most physically beautiful capital city in Europe, including Paris, Prague, and Barcelona!
The Houses of Parliament (Az Orszaghaz) are truly breathtaking, as too the Hosok ter, nearly as majestic as Vienna's Heldenplatz:-)

History / What do Poles owe to Germans? [451]

That then remains the fault of the Polish government. Why then should ordinary Poles be forced to suffer for state-sanctioned failures?

Life / Tap Water quality in Poland [44]

Crazy stories, huh? Poor guy!

Life / Tap Water quality in Poland [44]

Heard of a dude who grew up during the Communist Era in a really polluted area, his body got so used to infected water,
the first drink of unpolluted water he ever drank was what finally killed him!

History / Do Polish people in general dislike Russia or Germany more? [369]

All part of Russian machismo, along with those polar-bear club guys who go skinny dipping buck naked in fifteen below in the dead of winter, do shots of Stolichnaya STRAIGHT, no chaser one after the other, stuff like that:-)