Life / Are Poles suspicious of Facebook? [50]

If you consider that successful.

Ill-gotten gains benefit only the one who has the goods, and not those upon whom such gains are lavished.
Long ago, the super young and successful considered their youth as mere coincidence, their success as more of a burden to be nourished, above all, taken ultra-seriously.

The name Orson Welles comes to mind here; so young in his professional prime, and still, in comportment and demeanor, more like twenty-four going on almost fifty-four!

Zuckerberg, if you listen to him, any upcoming upstart nowadays sounds more like twenty-four going on fourteen....or lower.

History / How different would WW2 turned out if Poland accepted Hitler's offer [219]

We learned, sadly too late, yet nevertheless eventually, (everybody except Neville Chamberlain!) that you can't negotiate with Nazis!
Any offers from Hitler would most assuredly not have ended in anybody's favor, save the Fuehrer's.

Pretty much a foregone conclusion.

Life / Are Poles suspicious of Facebook? [50]

As with much ("anti-")social media nowadays, I consider Facebook, along with Twitter, to be a consummate waste of valuable time, both intellectual as well as social! Plain verbal flatulence, I call it.

Zuckerberg's a fraud and Assange can't be that far behind:-) When prodigy types start behaving like adults rather than children, I'll start to sit up and take notice.

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

My guess is that honesty is a quality considered of close physical proximity to the human body, at least in English, also in German, albeit from another part of the anatomy. As to the meaning aka origin of the Polish equivalent I have no clue, I'm afraid.

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

"Lies have short legs"

Yup, "Luegen haben kurze Beine" tracks the same in German.
Enjoy observing in language how idioms with like or same meaning are approached with
different images, e.g. "Straight from the SHOULDER" vs. "Prosto z MOSTU", literally, "Straight from the BRIDGE"
In German, "Frei von der LEBER weg", literally, "Straight from the LIVER".

Genealogy / KUKULA ancestry [32]

Quite similar then to the original German "Kuckuck", as in "Kuckucksuhr" or "cuckoo clock or the bird.
Interesting if in fact there is zero relation to "Kukkula":-) Most intriguing.

Language / Puns and language games in Polish adverts [33]

Naturally, I was referring in this case to the flavor of the language, not the beverage:-)

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

"If it smells at the bottom, it stinks at the top."

Genealogy / KUKULA ancestry [32]

Any further evidence in your research to indicate some connection whatsoever, however remote, between "Kukula" and the Finnish "Kukkula"?
I realize that certain double consonants in Polish, such as "kk", for instance "Mikke-Korwin" do exist. It's simply that again, I knew somebody named

"KukKula" who was from Finland, and the name just stuck with me:-)

Language / Puns and language games in Polish adverts [33]

I've always maintained as both a teacher and as a learner (both are mirror "opposites" of the same image, aren't they?) that
ad slogans are often among the most effective pedagogic tools in imparting the true flavor of any culture:-)

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [402]

There's a famous Metropolitan Opera tenor with precisely that surname:-)

Genealogy / KUKULA ancestry [32]

I know of Polish company in Greenpoint, Bklyn., "MIKULA PLUMBING"
Again, the only Kukula's I know of are Finns:-)

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]

One related statement meant to illustrate that for everything in life, there is cause and effect!

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]

Poland may well be better off than the US, as she takes a more proactive role in assuring a single law for the whole country!

Incidents of rape in Poland are undoubtedly lower than in the US:-)

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]

Betcha zloties to paczki you were a Phyllis Schaffy supporter way back when. Ya sure talk like one with such psychologically inflammatory
rhetoric about "baby killers", indicating you obviously were never a woman:-)

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]

It has everything to do, Rich, with pointless, unthinking double standards which contend it's mostly or only blacks who violate or gang-rape whites, whereas I'm only saying that in way too many (unreported!) instances, it's also the reverse as well.

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

Maf is correct regarding Polish modals. Indeed, often when Polish uses such verbs as "musiec", roughly "must" in English, we would probably use "should" or "ought to" instead.

As an applied linguist by training, I've found that (successful) language learning usually requires that the learner abandon preconceived notions of WHY something is, but rather accept WHAT that something is, and then attempt to internalize it.

Obviously, much more easily said than done:-)

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

Thanks, pawian:-)

My Polish students typically struggle with modal verbs, since, as you know being a native Polish speaker, our modals work a little differently.

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

Seems a straightforward enough test. Didn't notice any typos, if that's what you meant.

Po polsku / Katowice-gdzie mogę spotkać ludzie? [58]

Tak jest, kaprys! Tytul tej ksiazki zapomnialem:-)
Bardzo spodobala mi sie!

Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

You're correct, Delph!

The regular "irregularity" though of Polish orthography beats the "irregular" irregularity of English spelling by a country furlong:-)

Po polsku / Katowice-gdzie mogę spotkać ludzie? [58]

Czy znacie "Polski straszny jezyk" od Jana Miotka?

Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

Furthermore, what in English spelling/pronunciation could ever hope to prepare a Pole for orthographic nightmares such as "pflegm", "reign", and the like:-)

Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

Such an observation says far more about your insecurities than it does about me, Rich:-)
Once more, code-switching is as run of the mill for Poles as the "everybody on a first name basis" is in the US.
Language acquisition remains the most "childLIKE" (as opposed to "childISH") of human pursuits, as it forces us to rethink, almost
to relive, life in someone else's body, thinking, and cultural/linguistic environment.

Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

That's what makes language colorful, precise, above all, mesmerizing!

By the way, Polish spelling makes sooooo much more sense than English orthography, it's not funny.

Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

Exactly, Delph!

Rich is just being his obstreperous self today:-)

Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

Right on there, RubasznyRumcajs!

Hungarian I find less "involved" than its generally fearsome reputation.
Unlike say, Finnish, I eventually learned from my Hungarian tutor, only about half of the twenty-odd
cases in the language are actually used in daily communication. Writing of course, is always a different
story entirely:-)

Polish is very register-specific, as with many languages, and therefore particular attention must always
be paid to the relationship between the speaker and their interlocutor, in terms of age and social standing.

If you know someone relatively well, for instance, an "American-style 'friend' (European 'acquaintance'!),
"Ty" would be generally acceptable. Otherwise, "Pan", "Pani" is the safest way to go!

Food / Polish kishka [76]

The "bigoTs" I could do without, however the bigoS can't get enough of:-) S&D Deli, eh? Have to remember that!
lol

Po polsku / Katowice-gdzie mogę spotkać ludzie? [58]

Nie prawda!

Po polsku / Katowice-gdzie mogę spotkać ludzie? [58]

Swiadkow juz masz, kaprys.