USA, Canada / Poles and Americans, what do you think, are we friends or enemies? [187]

Thnx Johnny ;)
I'd better take my own advice as I just got annoyed by that my-greatgrandparent-were-Polish poster ;)

USA, Canada / Poles and Americans, what do you think, are we friends or enemies? [187]

Honestly, guys ....
All of you need to chill out.
It's a vicious circle.
Tc ;)

USA, Canada / Poles and Americans, what do you think, are we friends or enemies? [187]

It's nice of you to say you'd rather the US left NATO just because you disagree with someone on the internet. Pffff. ...
As for the topic of the thread, I don't think Poles hate Americans. There are some both positive and negative stereotypes of Americans but that pretty much applies to all nations.

Language / Dziadzia / Babcia - help me with spelling/pronunciation [81]

One of my favourites:
We uczony sposob mianuje sie to po łacinie "pluralis majestaticus", czyli liczba mnogo majestatyczno. Dlo przikłodu to je tak: Kaj oma idom?

Anyway, I looked for other articles about it and some say oma had some perjorative meaning :S

Language / Dziadzia / Babcia - help me with spelling/pronunciation [81]

Then you should be alright.
As for dialects, I guess most Poles can understand some phrases but only those speaking or exposed to them on a everyday basis understand everything. I got perplexed by some Silesian phrases on several occasions myself but Silesians I have met spoke mostly Polish to me - you could just hear their Silesian accent. However, some just speak regular Polish.

Language / Dziadzia / Babcia - help me with spelling/pronunciation [81]

slask.onet.pl/starki-i-starziki-felieton-marka-szoltyska-po-slasku/xce89

It's the Silesian dialect. I'm not sure if they have standarised spelling rules. I have seen starzyk, too.
The article in the link above is pretty interesting - It's translated from Silesian into Polish below. I'm not sure how fluent you are but you can give it a try.

The article focuses on differences within the Silesian dialect -one of them is the way of referring to your grandparents. Three boys from the same neighbourhood called them dziadek- babcia, opa-oma or starzik- starka ;)

Language / Dziadzia / Babcia - help me with spelling/pronunciation [81]

@TEMPUSER
I know. We're talking about starzik and starka, though, for dziadek and babcia respectively.

History / 75th anniversay of Dr Janusz Korczak's death - a true Polish hero [26]

Then you should ask them why they did it.

Life / Why do so many Polish strive to be accepted by the West? [78]

Aren't you yourself biased against the West?
I was talking about the quality of life. The minimum wage in the UK lets you buy more than the minimum wage in Poland.

What is there about Russia or North Korea that we should aspire for?

Poles don't live in debt? I'm afraid I have a mortgage to pay. So do most of my friends. None of us spends our monthly wages on parties.

But well, I come from an average family. Perhaps you're simply richer ;)

Genealogy / Polish nobility (szlachta) in Kamieniec Podolski? [4]

It pretty much depends on who your family was. The Polish szlachta includes the magnates like the Czartoryski or Zamoyski families who were rich like kings as well as, so to speak, not so rich gentry.

You would have to research your family history to find out more.

History / 75th anniversay of Dr Janusz Korczak's death - a true Polish hero [26]

I actually read somewhere his two pen names Janusz and Janasz Korczak were accidently mixed. Not sure though. Among other pen names he used were Hen-Ryk and Ryk.

As for writers taking pen names, well they often did so that not to damage their reputation or whatever other reason.
As for assimilation, it's more worth noticing that Hersze became Henryk. Similarly Jankiel became Jan, Szaja-Szymon etc.

History / 75th anniversay of Dr Janusz Korczak's death - a true Polish hero [26]

He was scholarly enough as dr Goldszmit*. I doubt he was ashamed of his Jewish background.

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

More and more people smile in business as well. It's part of their training now.
And I can assure you people of other nations smile during social gatherings as well.
Anyway, you may have misunderstood my post. I don't like fake smiles. But I also hate it, when a shop assistant doesn't even bother to make an eye contact or ignore 'dzień dobry'. Luckily, I haven't met such for years.

Life / Why do so many Polish strive to be accepted by the West? [78]

@NoToForeigners
What kind of cooperation do you have in mind?
As for the trade, they keep coming up with new sanctions. Not to mention, we just need to be independent as far as their gas is concerned. Otherwise, we're screwed.

@Ktos
I used to live in the UK. I know what it's like. Even with the lowest wages, you live better than in Poland with the lowest wages. And I'm talking about Poland in the 2000s not during the Communist rule when even the toilet paper was one of the luxury goods.

You say I'm focusing on the bad sides of communism, what were the good sides? Everybody had a job? True. Still their standard of living was really bad unless you were a party member. If they went on strike, how did end? Gdańsk 1970 and the militia shooting at civilians who went on strike'cause they had no money to buy food for Christmas.

Life / Why do so many Polish strive to be accepted by the West? [78]

@Ktos
k... było zbędne.
Ja z jakiejś innej Polski chyba jestem, bo ideały jakieś inne mamy.

Do you remember the Communist times in Poland. I do remember the last years and it sucked a big time. Queuing for oranges at Christmas and queuing for anything else including the food stamps all year long. And what's so great about Russia now to strive to be like them?

Life / Why do so many Polish strive to be accepted by the West? [78]

Poland is Poland. No need to be westernised.
Historically more associated with the West than the East. The Latin alfabet and catholicism.
We still kept our identity, though.
As for identifying with Russians, well ... are for real? Just a similar language.
Ty jesteś w ogóle z Polski, Ktoś?

Law / Where can I check in Poland my company formation status and tax number NIP and REGON? [95]

m.krs-online.com.pl

History / 75th anniversay of Dr Janusz Korczak's death - a true Polish hero [26]

Writers back then used pen names. He first used Korczak when he took part in a literary contest organised by Kurier Warszawski. It was one of the requirements.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [401]

@kitty1124
Benisz is probably a polonised version of German Boehnisch or Behnisch. It was probably derived from Benjamin or Benedict.
There's also a Silesian family called Benisz with their own coat of arms. They were originally called Bieniasz, then Boehniasch.
Not sure about the Hungarians ;)
Anyway, there are loads of surnames that were used both by ethnic Poles and Jews.

Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]

Actually I read few first pages of this thread and it struck me how great the posts were.
As for me, well Poland is part of who I am - the customs, the traditions and the people. Not always perfect but of the same kind.

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

@Atch
You're absolutely right. It happens quite often to me, too.
Anyway; Poles do smile although they may seem rather cold and reserved compared to other nations.
There are some grumpy ones, too.
As for shop assistants and their 'welcoming' attitude, it was mocked by Laskowik and Smolen back in the seventies in a show called 'Z tyłu sklepu' (???)

History / 75th anniversay of Dr Janusz Korczak's death - a true Polish hero [26]

@Ktos
Korczak was:
- a published author
- a respected doctor
-innovative pedagogist
-a Polish doctor during the Polish-Bolshevik war
- involved in helping orphans of both Jewish and Polish origin before and during the war

You're right. I have no idea what you have achieved. But I doubt you have achieved much. If you had, you wouldn't spend your time spreading hate speech online. Your life would be too fulfilled.

And since Korczak was involved in setting up and running Nasz Dom for ethnic Poles your argument that he was concerned with Jewish children only is invalid.

@Lyzko
He didn't change his name to sound Polish. Korczak was his pen name.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [401]

As I pointed out before, people might have been called Polak as opposed to Litwin (Lithuanian) or Prus ( Prussian) or in any other circumstances that led them to use that surname. That's just a guess. I don't know how old the other two surnames are.

I have come across several Polaks in Poland and I somehow doubt they're all originally Jews.

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

@Ktos
I agree with the first three sentences of your post.
That's true.
And that's pretty much it.

And it's not like we never smile @everyoneelse

Life / Do you think that Polish people are rude? [951]

I'm afraid you keep talking about Polish Americans. And you keep looking down on Poles even though you claim you're interested in the history of Poland and its traditions.

Having read your posts, personally, I'm not surprised you don't get a warm welcome.

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

Yeah, long 'meat cues', constant drinking and smoking, horse drawn vehicles and valonki. Who wouldn't be miserable?

Life / Could i find people in Poland by their phone number or address? [25]

zywiec.naszemiasto.pl/firma/infokontakt-agencja-marketingowa-ryszard-piestrak,1059105,t,id.html

Life / Do you think that Polish people are rude? [951]

@time1865
Poles have a different mentality than Americans. What is acceptable in Poland may not be acceptable in the US, and the other way round. Just because you felt offended by someone's behaviour doesn't mean they meant to insult you.

Of course some people are just rude.
To rephrase what you said: Poles are not going to change to fit your ideal do why bother visiting Polish (American!!!!) communities.
I hope your Polish grandparents were lucky enough to meet more welcoming Americans than yourself.
That's coming from a Pole which may sound too harsh but despite saying 'God bless' your post was pretty harsh, too.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [401]

@Veritas1
Polak has been used as a surname since the 14th century so I doubt it's because of some foreign occupation. It suggests ethnicity so it might have been used as opposed to Litwin or Prus but I'm not sure.

Life / Polish Nursery Rhymes [253]

@LauraLopez
It's a 'patataj' so basically the bouncing part is to imitate horseriding.
Pan - (here) master
Sługa- servant

so ...

That's how the master rides after dinner.
A servant follows him with breakfast.
That's (how) the master (rides) (x3)
That's (how) the servant (rides) (x3)