Food / What Polish foods and brands do you miss when you go to other countries? [216]

I really like chłodnik on hot days.
And at this time of the year also young cabbage with dill. And then yellow wax beans.
And you need to get it at a market and make sure it's seasonal.

Food / What Polish foods and brands do you miss when you go to other countries? [216]

Roughly one third to a half of the ingredients in bigos is meat/sausage so why would you serve it with meat?
I have never seen it served with meat.
At home we have it served on its own or with some bread.
I have had it served with potatoes once (on a youth camp years ago ) but I didn't like it.

Btw, it's summer so chłodnik is a better idea.

What I missed living abroad was these seasonal fruit and veggies that appear in summer like strawberries, czeresnie cherries, broad beans, new potatoes, regular cherries, plums.

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

@Lyzko
High cheekbones and slanting eyes in Poles are of Mongol origin in your humble opinion. Yet Judy Dench with such features looks stone English :)

img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5b9b124e26000033007efcb7.jpeg?ops=scalefit_960_noupscale

It's not antheads who despises Poles.

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

@antheads
What hundreds of years of raids? There were three in the 13th century. Were all women raped or a half of them and giving birth to half Mongol children affecting the looks of the country's population 800 years later?

There were far many more less distant in time invasions by other European nations. Didn't they rape?
Does olive skin come from Asia really?
As I said the admixture of Balkanic and even Jewish or Gypsy genes is more probable in this case. And other ethnicities.
@Lyzko
Northern Slavs? North Slavs are East and West Slavs (including Poles) as opposed to South Slavs.
Slavic people are the biggest group of all European peoples, btw.
As much as you despise us, try to imagine there are features typical for Slavs not only influenced by other nations, languages or cuisines.
I don't see the epicanthic fold here on everyday basis and surprisingly enough I see Polish people every day but I know. ..you know such people in the US. ..

Is Judy Dench with her face features of Mongol origin, too?

Any source confirming that Mongol admixture in Poles? Except for urban myths.

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

It's funny when people think that Poles have Mongol or Tatar genes - just because Mongols tried to conquer Poland in the 13th century. As for the Tatar population, it has never been that big either. Dark eyes usually come from Balkanic genes like Wolochians.

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

Polish people are a mixture of lots of different peoples who have immigrated and lived here for centuries: Slavic, Germanic, Baltic, Balkanian/Wolochians even Celtic peoples (Scottish migration) and many more.

As for your grandma, it might be possible to track her family so if you're really interested you may give it a try.

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

@Lenka
As for the grounddog, the line comes from a commercial from years ago. I can't remember what they advertised but I remember that guy in a silly hat saying that.

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

pl.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/krewni_i_znajomi_królika

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

Adolf and Alfons (pimp) are not very popular really. They weren't extremely popular I guess but still.

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

Lech was the legendarny founder of Poland. Lechites were one of the tribes that united to form Poland.

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

Ahhhh - with friends it makes more sense.

But it does come from 'rabbit' as in Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh.

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

It's mostly associated here with the car as well but it's still an old fashioned name :)

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

Mercedes is actually quite old fashioned; )
Vide the Count of Monte Christo :)

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

Rabbit as królik?
I can't think of anything. ...

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

Adrian is of Latin origin, Damian is of Greek origin and Robert is of Germanic origin. So they're not actually English names. ... You can find patron saints of these names are they're more or less popular all over Europe including Poland.

So is or was Edmund like (Edmund) Muniek Staszczyk. Ian is a form of John just like Polish Jan is. The name is of biblical origin and actually John is just a form of it too

They're definitely not frowned upon.
Some names are just popular and some are not, just like lots of boys named Olivier, Oskar or Marcel in Poland now.
As for other names you mentioned, you may also wonder why Mirosław isn't a popular name in Scotland just like Angus isn't in Poland.

Honestly speaking, some of the names you mentioned are totally new to me so I wonder how popular they are in English speaking countries.

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

My grandfathers' names were Jan and Franciszek - both names are often given to babies now. My great grandfathers were Antoni, Ignacy, Marian and Walenty . The last two are not used today but Antoni and Ignacy are. Surprisingly enough lots of names used in my family in the 19th century that are still popular like Łukasz, Wojciech, Szymon, Krzysztof, Michał, Stanisław or Maciej. Plus I have two Wawrzyniecs; ) but one was born in the 18th century; )

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

Adam, Robert, Daniel, Damian or Sebastian might not be originally Slavic but the're common in Poland and elsewhere in Europe. The same applies to lots of other Christian names.

In the past, you had to give your child a Christian name (if you were Catholic). In certain parts of Poland they were even written in Latin in church books - so Michał was registered as Michael, Zofia - Sophia etc. Still they were called Michał or Zofia by their families.

As for names I have seen in the 19th century church books, it's quite surprising how many are still used today. Those who are really uncommon now are for sure Wawrzyniec and Salomea.

As for names from the last paragraph Alfred, Albert or Edmund are rare but used. Frank is Franciszek (Franek ) - very popular now.

Genealogy / Wladyslaw and the English equivalent [22]

I have seen Ladislaus only in church records written in Latin.
As for people who moved to the UK /US they'd rather have chosen to use a name like Walter indeed.

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

The thing is that old fashioned names are very popular in Poland now. You can hear names my grandparents and great grandparents used to have.

The ones that are laughed at are those that sort of function as an impersonification of certain features:
Janusz and Grazyna -middle aged and not so bright
Seba (Sebastian) and Karina - in their 20s or so living off the welfare.
Dzesika and Brajan (aka as Jessica and Brian ) - their kids.

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1186]

There are lots of kamienice which are in a terrible conditions but again it's mostly because of property issues.
Also I don't think it's the government who deals with mieszkania socjalne but samorządy and they don't have enough money.
And let's face it, it's not only a Polish problem. It happens elsewhere, too.

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1186]

@Dougpol1
Luckily, it's not for you to decide what parts of the past are to be preserved. Personally, I think it's great there are places we call skansen in Polish which show how people lived in the past.

Also, who knows? Perhaps one day they'll want to remake Billy Elliot in Bytom.

As for poverty stricken areas in Poland and elsewhere, I doubt we are the very last.

There are lots of places that have been renovated thanks to EU funds but the reality is that the funds don't cover all the costs.

Genealogy / Wladyslaw and the English equivalent [22]

I guess that's because the names sound similar but they're not equivalents just like Stanisław /Stanley or Stanisława /Stella.

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

I've heard both versions of the etymology of the saying (though my history teachee mentioned just but the previous) but if we're to translate it into English, why mix them?

@Chemikiem
Well done :)

Genealogy / Wladyslaw and the English equivalent [22]

It's a Slavic name.
Wlad from władać -to rule
Slaw from sława -fame.

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1186]

Oh, come on. Just as if there were none such blocks of flats in the UK. At least, here they get renovated but the thing is that it's because the residents partly pay for the renovation.

As for really shabby places where people don't give a damn about paying the rent, why should the renovation come from my taxes again? I'm not talking about those who are really poor that those who live off the welfare.

And mostly in such cases we don't talk about communist era blocks of flats but old townhouses with no known heirs. Or those who don't care.

And since I have lived in London I'm not going to buy this myth that everyone there lives in a cosy house or cottage with a lovely back garden.

There are blocks of flats, there are shabby terraced houses with rubbish in the garden(although there are some lovely ones for sure as well), there are travellers and the list goes on.

If you're priviliged enough to live in a lovely neighbourhood, good for you. There are such places in Poland, too.
As for old osiedla robotnicze, they need to be taken care of as well. Because they are part of the region's heritage. Like Nikiszowiec.

Genealogy / How to Find Birth Records in Poland? [16]

I'm sorry but I have just realised that I probably gave you wrong information. The town called Suchowola isn't in Lublin Voivodeship so that's not it. However, there are several other places called Suchowola including four villages in Lublin Voivodeship.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suchowola_(disambiguation)

Let me check if they have some centralised data base.

I'm not sure really. If your father was born in a village, the place doesn't have it's own USC but belongs to a town or city in the area.

Here's the email to the USC in Lublin.
usc@lublin.eu

Try your luck there.

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

@Chemikiem
You're right about sas and las :)

Now use it with the prepositions from pawian's translation.
It's an interesting saying as it has some historical background.

Genealogy / How to Find Birth Records in Poland? [16]

Try contacting the USC in Suchowola then. I don't know if they speak English but if he was born in Suchowola, they should have his records.

usc.suchowola@op.pl

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

@Chemikiem
Think about the Polish translation of Saxon as a noun - but the shorter one, the one that rhymes with the Polish word for forest (the word Saxon has two Polish translations)