Off-Topic / What's your connection with Poland? Penpals. [554]

Born in Kalisz, lived here and there in Poland, from the very north to very south, and as Krakow is my favourite city I spent half of my life there.

Currently in Dublin.

Off-Topic / What's your connection with Poland? Penpals. [554]

Great.
I've been here for slightly over 2 ys now and haven't thought about moving out yet, which is a good sign because I generally move a lot.

I suppose I'm just a lucky person. Always with the right people, in the right places etc.

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

These are the initials of three Wise Men / biblical Magi: Kacper, Melchior and Baltazar ( K+M+B, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar), written with the blessed chalk above the door on the day of Epiphany (6th Jan). It is supposed to bring the good luck and Lord's blessings to the house.

Love / POLISH WOMEN ARE PROMISCUOUS? DISCUSS. [153]


You can learn a lot from material lust and the dark temptations. Putting them into some kind of dark chamber of your mind, to watch them suffer in chains of rules is like watching your children wither. It's part of you, worth to be accepted, embraced, experienced. The desire to hide them and curb them is usually the result of fear and diffidence. And fear is the mind killer, Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.


I recommend Lakoff & Mark on that. Our minds have been shaped - or rather mutilated - by metaphors ever since the day we were born. They determine the way we think in creepy, because almost uncounscioss and unnoticeable, way.


And again I read this kind of generalization. I am abroad. I've been here a while. I knew one girl back in Poland who was sleeping with a guy who was not white (they've been together for about a year, did not work out) and I've met one here (they are getting married in March). Out of curiousity: how many of this "stupid Polish girls" have you met and where? I assume I must have been in wrong places all the time if I hadn't met any yet.

Language / Polish Swear Words [1242]

piździ jak w kieleckim na dworcu (na bahnhofie is from German and not so commonly used)

Most children would use it with no hesitation at all.

Language / Interesting Polish tongue twister. [69]


Konstantynopolitańczykówianeczka :D

Language / Polish Swear Words [1242]


And the answer is: children are using it without hesitation. It's very colloquial and presently does not implicate anything vulgar or indecent. The "polite" society does not use colloquial language at all or does it very rarely. It really depends on how touchy are the people you are talking to and to what extent they pose. Children are generally at ease with the informal language and their connotations are fascinating and flexible. Some adults tend to think that kids should not be addressed in informal way ‘cause it would derogate the status of the elders and children are supposed to know only the language which allows them to address others in respectful manner. If you are amongst old-fashioned people who identify respect / manners with elaborate, literary style – I would not use “piździ”. Otherwise you are fine, regardless of the fact if there are children present or not.


In Silesian, maybe.
That still means that is not as common as the first version which is used more or less everywhere in Poland.

Language / Polish Swear Words [1242]


Actually it is much older than "pizda", it simply changed its meaning with time. "Piździć" (and "pizgać" as well) used to mean "to grumble". Nothing to do with pussy, but I'm sure Mr. Freud would write a nice elaborate piece on this type of connotations :D

Language / Interesting Polish tongue twister. [69]


Chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie w Szczebrzeszynie,
W szczękach chrząszcza trzeszczy miąższ,
Czcza szczypawka czka w Szczecinie,
Chrząszcza szczudłem przechrzcił wąż.

And famous movie quote:
Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz, Chrząszczyrzewąszczyce powiat £ękołody.

I've just found a good one:
pl.wikiquote.org/wiki/%C5%81ama%C5%84ce_j%C4%99zykowe

Rozrewolweryzowany rewolwerowiec z rozrewolweryzowanym rewolwerem rozrewolweryzował rewolwer rozrewolweryzowanego rewolwerowca :D

History / Anyone know the name, if true... .... Polish Royal heir [40]

Sounds more like a romantic novel than true.

This guy might have been some inspiration:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duke_Michael_Alexandrovich_of_Russia

History / Poland and Britain started WW2 [307]


Poor guy.
First the blood-thirsty Czechs and not even a year later Poles...
Of course he had to protect the Vaterland.

History / Poland and Britain started WW2 [307]


Live together as in:
- we are taking over one of the main ports on your coast
and in exchange
- you will allow for a country to be split in two by exterritorial highway and rail track
- you will fight ZSRR commies with us?

Last time I checked after Beck's proposal issued in March 1939 there were no further negotiations. Unless of course Germany terminating in April the non-agression agreement from 1934 (and Fall Weiss) can be called "negotiations"... I'm sure in Walendy's mind it can.


He got enough from me to get one answer, but I think this may be it :D

History / Poland and Britain started WW2 [307]


That's actually my (and my family) city and the above only further proves the point that you have no idea what you are writing about.

History / Poland and Britain started WW2 [307]

A nice explanation here:
historum.com/european-history/36353-why-hitler-invaded-poland-first-instead-western-powers-he-planned-originally-4.html#post892349

History / Poland and Britain started WW2 [307]

Yes. For centuries, to be precise.

and

No.
(unless of course you want to follow old German rule that once you consider someone German on paper they are German - but even then you can hardly use the term "minority", not to even mention "tiny, tiny").

You know nothing about the region (Kashubia, FYI), people living there, their attitudes, mentality and history and yet you feel entitled to write some far fetched interpretations. I really don't feel obliged to answer any other of your questions here.

History / Poland and Britain started WW2 [307]


Lie. Simple as that: lie. Repeating this will not make it true :)

As for Kashubia - I highly recommed checking how far from the Old Town did the Freie Stadt Danzig go :D

Language / IS "MURZYN" word RACIST? [686]


Not exactly.
It stems from "Maur" - and "Maur", although used to describe Muslims (especially those from northern Africa), originally meant just "black".

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Maurus


That's quite close, however I would say "Murzyn" is used more often :)

Food / Pierogi recipe and filling from my grandmother [179]


That;s how I imagine quilts being made :)

Travel / Why does everyone seem to hate LOT Polish Airlines? [380]


Since 1970s the domestic flights have had their fair share of the market.
Also, as nowadays the rail connections become more and more expensive (and less and less reliable) Eurolot seems to be taking over.


I have always thought it happened only to Ryanair flights as they did not assign any seats to the passengers and everyone wanted to be the first one on board to get their window / aisle sea, whatever the preference was. Not to mention the fact that there is never enough space for everyone's luggage.

Why on earth this should happen to a flight that operates in a civilised manner (ie. allows people select their seats during booking / check in procedures) is beyond my comprehension.

Travel / Why does everyone seem to hate LOT Polish Airlines? [380]


Yes, for the last 3 months or so. For additional charge.
Before that the best you could do was buy "priority boarding". Which actually was quite a hillarious invention - at many airports you got into "priority queue" of 10-15 people, got through the gate as one of the first - and then ended up in a bus that was waiting for the rest of the passengers to take everyone to the plane somewhere at the far side of the airport. The whole thing was highly surreal.


I could and should say exactly the same about your post here :]

Language / Polish sayings [237]


Tak to jest na tym świecie?

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


dyktando.info.pl/index.php?go=17
:D

That actually reminded me of one of my early-education exercises...

Dżdżownica dżdżu życzyła
Żab żółtej żardynierze
Dżin drzemał odurzony
Po jeżynowym dżemie.
Oburzał się na drzemkę
Bosman żeglugi wielkiej
Rzekł: "Nie możesz wytrzymać?
Zawiąż sen na pętelkę!"

History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]


Put "some" and I can agree. That sort of quantification seems to be replaced by "all" in this topic which is simply not true.

True, there are some people who are antisemite, proclaim this loud and there are also other people who faciliate media access for this first group. Almost every place has its bunch of morons who use "Jew" as an insult and are sure there is a Jewish group at the centre of every conspiracy theory (from the fall of ancient Egypt to 9/11).

But there are also people who laugh out loud at these theories, people whose grandparents were the recipients of Yad Vashem medals and had trees planted in their honour in Jerusalem (and the group of Polish trees is the biggest one in the alley). People who do not care if the person they elect as their political representative is Jewish, Evangelical, black or gay. To them saying that "Poles are so negative towards the Jews" is simply an insult.


And your family is really not that unique in this approach.