Life / Do Polish people have a good ear for music? [90]

Do Poles have a good ear for music?

Well, Chopin aka Szopen, was only half-Polish, but if he's any indicator, an inordinate number of great (classical) pianists have been Polish:-)

Language / Short Polish<->English translations [1040]

Literally, "I'll knock on that. Maybe." This though is a literal translation and the verb "pukać" doubtless has other connotationsLOL

History / What are Poland's pagan roots? [62]

Crow, sorry to get off topic, but are you by any chance a follower of that Von Daenniken fella and his wild theories about interplanetary visitors in prehistoric times??? "The first Romans were Egyptians..."

Gotta puzzle out that one:-)

History / What are Poland's pagan roots? [62]

Yet sword or not, the roots of Christianity lie within Jewish ritual aka monotheism and the Holy Book as central to the Judeo-Christian ethic as the Koran to the Muslim!

You're being a contrarian once more, Crow. Get your facts straight, please:-)

History / What are Poland's pagan roots? [62]

The roots of Slavic aka "Proto-Slavic" culture are Christian, not pagan, and thus are derived from Judaic teachings. Like the ancient Teutons, the Slavs too were eventually , if also unwillingly, converted to Christianity from heathenism:-)))

History / What are Poland's pagan roots? [62]

Crow(bar),

The modern roots of Europe ARE Judeo-Christian, like them or not:-) Short-circuiting the "Judeo" in favor of the (infintiely more popular) "Christian" has been tried before..... by a certain little man with a mustache and a blustery way of speaking (remind you of anyone on the US scene??); it failed MISERABLY!!!

Get a grip. The present Polish government must acknowledge the Jewish roots of their country before they begin trying to rebuild a Catholic foundation on top of it.

Language / Niech będzie pochwalony Jezus Chrystus - a religious greeting? [39]

Many thanks (AGAIN!!!), Polonius:-) Have to re-read my older postsLOL

Language / Niech będzie pochwalony Jezus Chrystus - a religious greeting? [39]

Around Wielkanoc, I remember hearing Poles wishing one another "Wesołych Świąt Wielkanocnych!", or, prior to (after??) the day of, "Mokrego Śmigusa Dyngusa!", neither greeting being interchangable, as they don't both denote identical blessings, is that essentially right?

I repeat my question because I've experienced that many of our Polish neighbors are often too polite to correct my errors, and so I just want to make sure of the distinction:-)

Po polsku / Wielkimi krokami zbliża się... Dzień Przyjaźni Polsko-Węgierskiej [36]

Udvozlom, magyar! Witam, węgierze!

Tak, stosunki między Polską i Węgrzami byli od wielu lat bardzo dobre. Znam Węgry ale lepiej niż Polskę, przecież już w 1995 r. odwiedziałem na urlopie Budapeszt oraz Debrecen. Wtedy mówili najbardziej ludzi po niemiecku ze mną, bo oni nie znali angielski.

Zresztą powodzenia ze Twoim uczeniem się języka polskiego. Znam mało węgierski, tylko trochę czytam i mówić po węgiersku:-)

Po polsku / Wolności słowa w Polsce nie ma?? [93]

@kpc21,

więc Twojim zdaniem nie powinni być wolnością słowa opowiadać kłamstwa o Polsce, n.p. Polakach ws. Żydach przez Drugą Wojnę Światową.

Ale czy TO jest prawdziwą wolnością słowa czy zakazem wolności słowa?

Life / Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile? [512]

Poles abroad are, as with many nationalities, usually different AT HOME!!!

Indeed, coming from a country upon which centuries of both economic as well as cultural abuse had been heaped, as "second fiddle" to richer neighbors, surely a certain attitude, if you will, is bound to come out when in foreign lands:-)

Not that I'm giving the Poles as a group any excuses, but if one were female from a certain part of the world, and the immediate perception was that of either slut or drunkard or dumbell or both, well, I think that person would develop a bit of a crusty exterior also.

Life / Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile? [512]

The English though are somewhere in between:-) On the one hand, most swear by the modicum of civility and friendly "Cheers!" when processing my train ticket. On the other hand, many, like a lot of Poles, are singularly grump looking when asked to do something outside their job description.

Life / Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile? [512]

Northern and Northeastern Europeans particularly are often known for a bit of the dour in their demeanor, not exclusively the Poles BY ANY STRETCH:-)))!!

Yes, I also found on my first trip to Poland aka Szczecin in the mid-90's that it seemed the women especially, anywhere from eighteen to fifties, had such a pained look on their faces. Then again, this wasn't long after the collapse of Communism still fresh in everyone's mind, and so it wouldn't be fair to judge them on that basis now, would it?

The Germans were long known as sour pusses - in - residence throughout much of the continentLOL

In defense however of our Polish brethren, it must be said that we Yanks are all too frequently long on smiles, yet short on actions!

I'd frankly no end prefer a doughty dour European who gives straight answers to straight questions and doesn't bother with a lot of empty phrases such as "Yer the best!!!", "Hey, how are you today?" and such verbal diahhrea etc. ad nauseum....

Genealogy / Typical Polish Eye Color [77]

Suffice to add, however, that a healthy majority of Poles have, at the very least, "light" eyes, shall we say:-) Blue, light amber, or green, I've occasionally met Poles with dark brown eyes (though never black!), although they've maintained to me that they may be of Polish highlander aka góral origins, or possibly even Slovak.

Genealogy / Are all Poles blue eyed and blonde? [450]

@Mirten,

I'm of Pomeranian descent, but grew up with English and German here in the States:-)

Bavarian are ya! I was in Muenchen and Berlin, from Berlin I traveled on to Szczecin aka Stettin to you, where I German woman I knew was anxious to visit.

While stereotypes DO die hard, many are well grounded in fact, among them, that Poles are distinctly "Slavic" in appearance, particularly around the jaw and facial bone structure!

Genealogy / Are all Poles blue eyed and blonde? [450]

One issue at a time there, Mirten! The Poles whom I met were happy to speak German with me when last in Poland, as my Polish was at that time quite rusty and nobody within earshot spoke a syllable of comprehensible English:-)

Elderly Poles (I speak now about gentile Poles only) might indeed harbor residual animosity, however younger Poles definitely do not. Certain student-age types I met claimed to dislike German owing to her perceived "difficulty", while other spoke it far, far better than English, and were the first to say so!

Whereabouts in Germany are you from?

Language / Polish Sweet Phrases About Home [10]

Good to know. Thanks, Looker!

Genealogy / Are all Poles blue eyed and blonde? [450]

As far as the original Russians, we all know therefore that Rurik was actually a Swede! Or vice-versa.

Poles typically have high cheekbones, coarse, rather than fine hair, and often piercing cobalt-blue eyes. Radek Sikorski, for example, exemplifies this type, although Duda (with light brown eyes and hair) also cannot to my mind be mistaken for anyone other than a Pole, if for no other reason, his facial bone structure:-)

Language / Polish Sweet Phrases About Home [10]

Or how about "Gość w domu, Pan Bóg w domu"? Although this is perhaps more concerning hospitality rather than "home" itself:-)

Genealogy / Are all Poles blue eyed and blonde? [450]

Mirten

Poles have considerable "Germanic" ethnic background, more than many other Slavs, except perhaps for the Czechs. Some Poles appear Baltic, others more akin to darker-skinned Eastern neighbors:-)

Po polsku / Wolności słowa w Polsce nie ma?? [93]

@Wulkanie,

prawie każdego tygodnia jest artykuł w czasopismach oraz gazetach, n.p "Nowym Dzienniku", "W prostu" itd., gdzie okazują się zdjęcia studentów a innych ludzi protestujące przeciw PiS'a wszędzie w Polsce!!

Po polsku / Wolności słowa w Polsce nie ma?? [93]

@Uwaga, Panie Wulkanie!
Rząd Beaty Szydło zagroża wolnością słowa. Zgadzasz się z tym? Teraz wreszczie zrozumiesz?
:-)

Po polsku / Wolności słowa w Polsce nie ma?? [93]

Ludzie, w KAŻDYM kraju jest cenzura!!! Tylko co pisowano n.p. we "Wprostu", "Polityce" oraz "Do Rzeczy" wolnością słowa codziennie od rzędu Beaty Szydło zagroża.

Po polsku / Wolności słowa w Polsce nie ma?? [93]

Więc Twojim zdaniem zakazanie wolności słowa w Polsce nie jest gorziej niż w innych krajacj europejskich?

Po polsku / Wolności słowa w Polsce nie ma?? [93]

No, Szwecja? Rozmyślałem, że jest wcałkowita wolność słowa w krajach skandynawych!!
Nigdy nie to wiedziałem, Wulkanie:-)

Dziękuję za informację.

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

Language ease vs. difficulty's relative anyhow:-)

Language / How well do Polish people understand Slovak? [88]

You're probably right, cinku! I tried even reading a Czech newspaper a while ago and was nearly lost:-) Polish is similar, yet as we know, false friends lurk practically around every sentence turn, e.g. "pozor"/"pożar" etc....

Genealogy / Are Sorbs Polish? Does anyone know about Sorbish enthnicity? [62]

Sorbs didn't maintain Germanic birth.

They most certainly did, Crow! As to the rest of your comments in the same sentence, kindly keep your not so disguised Germanophobia to yourself:-)

Sorbs, like Kashubians, were native-born Slavs whose birthplace was between Lusatia and the present-day border between Poland and Germany. Most were bilingual German speakers who however suffered under the Nazis.

Genealogy / Are Sorbs Polish? Does anyone know about Sorbish enthnicity? [62]

The Sorbs, also known as the Wends, suffered as well under the Nazis. Whilst maintaining Germanic birth, they were nonetheless considered Slavs by Hitler, much as with the Catalonians under Franco! The latter were purely Spanish by birth, but, like the Basques, were thought to be of variant ethnicity and who similarly spoke a different language from Spanish.