News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [534]


8 years have passed since the first post, a few things have changed, a few remained. E.g.,

1. The refusal to acknowledge the Polish spelling of Polish minority`s surnames and names of streets and settlements.
2. The refusal to solve the problem with land/property ownership.
3. The obstruction over the Możejki oil refinery owned by Poles who bought it for hard cash to save Lithuania from Russian domination.

No 3 has been solved, No 1 and 2 are still a problem, but Poles don`t press so much, they are patiently waiting for political changes in Lithuania after 2019 autumn elections.

rp.pl/Polityka/309139881-Polska-Litwa-Tylko-Pilsudski-jeszcze-dzieli.html

The economic cooperation is growing, both governments support each other in the European forum.


Yes, it seems that Poles have to give Lithuanians still more time to understand certain things. Lithuanian minority in Poland enjoys full right, including town names and surnames, so is it strange that Poles demand the same for their compatriots in Lithuania? It is so obvious that any discussion is a waste of time.

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

I won`t say now, let`s wait, I can only offer a hint, it is mostly used when some negotiations (any kind) are involved.

Here`s an easier one:
To shoot a bull.

History / What proportion of the Polish population collaborated with the Nazis? [125]

[moved from]

The media smelled another scandal. Israeli Prime Minister, interviewed by journalists, allegedly mentioned Poles who collaborated with Germans during Holocaust. PiS once tried to introduce a ban on saying such things but had to withdraw under American and Jewish pressure.

I read one funny comment about PiS: they invested so much in that conference only to be shitted all over the head and they are so happy about it. :)

Another comment: child, you should respect yourself, because if not, nobody will respect you.

PiS are pathetic losers.
wyborcza.pl/7,75399,24462763,netanjahu-o-kolaborujacych-polakach-katastrofa-dyplomatyczna.html

News / Poland and USA vs Iran and the EU [38]



Guys, what do you mean by sharing nuclear stuff with Poland? Nuclear countries don`t share it with anybody. Besides, to my best knowledge, Poland has signed the non-proliferation treaty.

If you mean locating rockets in Poland, that wouldn`t be the wisest thing to do .

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


Yes, exactly. Those English equivalents are also worth bearing in mind.

(do sth according to) Krakow deal

News / Poland and USA vs Iran and the EU [38]


I don`t understand why you are explaining it all. :)

Yes, you were negative about the WE/EU and that was obvious. That is why I mentioned the USA-Saudi Arabian alliance in which Saudis are rogue guys made good because they are "American."

The conclusion was: let the EU decide who is a good rogue guy for them.

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

No, it is still one meaning, but it applies both to sb saying sth stupid or doing sth stupid, so two situations are possible.

Today we were doing a chapter about culture and one exercise reminded me about this:

You xylophone!

News / Poland and USA vs Iran and the EU [38]

Breaking news from today

Well, actually, the conference didn`t attract intensive coverage in world`s agencies. Hardly anybody was interested.

Mike Pence declared Iran as the main threat in the region and strongly attacked Western European countries for their stance on Iran.
theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/14/us-and-israel-say-confrontation-with-iran-needed-for-peace

An American journalist suggested that Polish Jews fought against German and Polish regimes in Ghetto Rising 1943.
pap.pl/en/news/news%2C404819%2Cpolish-embassy-usa-reacts-journalists-words-ghetto-uprising.html

Polish mainstream off-state media still critisize the idea, compare it to events organised in communist Poland under Soviet guidance etc.
wyborcza.pl/7,75399,24458763,konferencja-bliskowschodnia-jak-kongres-obroncow-pokoju-we-wroclawiu.html#nowaZajawkaGlownaMT#S.DT-K.C-P.1-B.2-L.2.maly

Most readers` comments are positive towards Iran, a country which has never had a conflict with Poland; let me quote one of them:

ateistazkrakowa 14.02.2019, 12:51
@jerjar
Dear Iranian Friends,
we knew that you think about STRONG ANSWER.
Our country is not against you.
wyborcza.pl/7,75399,24456704,wielki-atak-samobojczy-w-iranie-w-zwiazku-z-warszawska-konferencja.html

That`s all.


Funny you are repeating such arguments. After all, the USA is in a strategic alliance with Saudi Arabia where the human rights are abused more cruelly than in Iran. So, for the USA, it is simply a matter of "nasty guys must be OUR guys", that`s enough.

If that`s the case, Europe can decide about its partnerships as it wishes. Sorry, double standard approach is just not fair.

News / Poland and USA vs Iran and the EU [38]


:) Does it mean Jews control Trump? :)


Here, I would rather point to PiS government than all Poland. :) I can be mistaken but I don`t remember previous governments to fawn on US so much.

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


According to pl.wiktionary.org/wiki/urwa%C4%87_si%C4%99_z_choinki, it means to display some strange unusual weird behaviour. In my understanding, one does sth stupid. First I thought of "freaking out," and then changed to "to go nuts."


Yes, of course, this is the full explanation, I was too succinct, as usual. :)

News / Poland and USA vs Iran and the EU [38]


Yes, that`s what I thought too. Trump is playing PiS government against the EU and they happily fall for that. Utter amateurs in politics and complete ignorants in history. One day they will again whine that Europeans don`t want to die for Danzig, but it will be too late.

News / Poland and USA vs Iran and the EU [38]

What is even more interesting, Americans themselves can`t reach agreement over Iran case. Former US President`s circles suggest that Trump administration is making a mistake with Iran and the conference is useless or even contradictory to American interests.

"If at the end of the day it looks like America is being isolated from its partners, then it's not as successful as you want it to be. Time and again, this administration had found itself drunk on its own Kool-Aid, isolated from our friends, and belatedly forced to scramble to save face," Price said, adding that not a single country in the EU endorsed Trump's pullout from the Iran nuclear deal.."

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


That was a very good thinking of yours indeed, I wasn`t so precise, I just meant they are similar in the cooperation context.


The first is to go nuts, the other is wasting time and energy for nothing. Are there more idiomatic English versions?


This suits this thread too - a shot of vodka with a jelly snack/appetiser.

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


I thought my "similar" sounded almost like "slightly different." :)

An easy one:to know sth like your own pocket.

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


This one means to desire sth and get ready to accomplish it. Suggests long preparations. It can be about tasty food but also many other things.


Yes, A similar one is a raven won`t peck out another raven`s eye.

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

Only partly, it involves preparing yourself for sth indeed, but without the danger/difficulty context,

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

Yes, good guess. Horses because Poles have always liked horses - winged hussars, Polish cavalry etc etc

Next -to sharpen one`s teeth for sth.

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


You would, if it had been translated a little different. Today I heard the phrase on the radio and started thinking about a new version: drown the worm.

And another one which I have always liked:to know each other like bald horses

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

To be nagging on sb in a nasty way/ to bother sb. :)

Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]

Yes, true, to some extent. But Ukraine or Belarus weren`t exactly places were East met West, were they? :)

Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]


Yes. Poles call it the "crossroads of cultures. "

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

I read these books as a starter, then I moved to Polish authors which had more modern style. Alfred Szklarski was one of my most fav authors - btw - born in Chicago, had a wonderful career, great Polish patriot..

Szklarski co-authored, with his wife Krystyna Szklarska, a trilogy about the Sioux titled Złoto Gór Czarnych (The Gold of the Black Hills). The books described hunting bisons, the beliefs, intertribal conflicts and the later native Americans' first contact with the white people as well as their fights. It is claimed that Szklarski's books about history and sufferings of the indigenous peoples of America were inspired by his own war experience as well as Polish people's tragic history and invaders' cruelty.

More:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Szklarski

another idiom:
to drill sb a hole in the stomach/belly

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

Aah, reminds me of books by K. May which I read as a boy. Do you mean the name which American natives had for white people`s guns? If that`s the case, then the idiom is not truly Polish but German, and even further, native American. :)

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


It is simple. Bug means a parasite, e..g., tapeworm, residing in your bowels. When you overflow it, you perform an action that our grannies resorted to to protect houses/rooms/beds from invasive insects - drown them in water. In case of the idiom - fire water.


Yes, be frugal, tightfisted.

Stick into the bottle is the same as make sb into a horse.

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


I prefer to use: written on the knee, which means sth has been made/prepared too hastily, without plan or consideration. Reminds me of PiS law makers. :)

As for other animal idioms:
to tear cats with sb

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


After all, this thread is also a good language exercise because I have to think how to translate this famous saying into good English.

Aaah, at last : there is a very similar English one: let the sleeping dogs lie.

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


Aaah, that is why I had no idea.


Well, it is not so simple. Even a Polish guy may need to take a while to guess correctly.


So did I, but it seems my account is blocked for posting photos and url links. I tried a few times but I can`t do it.

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

Yes, to dupe sb.

To get a cat- good one, again. To go crazy/mad.

It doesn't have arms or legs. Oops, I have no idea.

History / Why are Poles/Poland disliked by Germans? [140]


The same here, of course in opposite direction.

So far, so good.