Language / The meaning of some Polish Diminutives [23]

There is no connection between the ending and the meaning.
The ending of diminutive form is depends on the word. For instance anything which ends in "szcz" may be added "yk" to form the diminutive, like:

płaszczyk, barszczyk, leszczyk, deszczyk, chrząszczyk

But you cannot add "yk" to "komputer" or "telefon", instead you use different endings:
komputer -> komputerek
telefon -> telefonik

In the same manner, you cannot add "ik" or "ek" to "szcz" ending nouns.

Genrally to form the diminutive you add, or change the ending of a noun in a way which depends on the ending of the noun. Sometimes more than one option is available and sometimes you can form a diminutive form of something which is already diminutive, like:

nos -> nosek -> noseczek
brocha -> broszka -> broszeczka

You also should know that your list is not full. And there are many irregular diminutives too. And you can also form diminutive adjectives (like maleńki or malutki for mały).

Law / Contracts for IT staff in Poland [12]

Yes it is a common practice in Poland. I have actually been working on such contract. The idea is that when you sign so called "umowa o dzieło" (a contract for a piece of work) it is assumed that your operating costs are 50% of the money you get. So out of each 10pln one earns only 5pln is taken as the base for counting income tax. This practice is legal as long as the work which was done was "creative" and is common in the IT.

Now about why do people mix the two contracts:
It is against the law not to pay social security for the permanent employees. For some reason which I don't remember and you should rather ask a lawyer about it - it is not possible to pay the social security with having just the "umowa o dzieło". That is why people sign two contracts with their employees. One is to cover their asses and pay social BS and the other is to minimize the taxes.

This is just an outline of the situation and you better ask someone who knows the law pretty well.

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


You are confusing some things :) you have put various forms of at least 3 different words in this list:
1) "dwa" which is a cardinal number, it is used in a similar way adjectives are (most cardinal numbers are, but "dwa" is an exception...)

2) "dwoje" which is a used only when talking about people (e.g. "dwoje dzieci"), it is used like a noun
3) "dwójka" which is a noun, it is name of the digit "2" - and by the way, you didn;t include the whole set of forms of this word :) (there also also: dwójek, dwójkom, dwójkach, dwójkami ...)

To add even more - "dwójka" is a diminutive for "dwója" - which means something like a "big" digit "2" :)