News / Do Poles take Kaczynski seriously!? [199]

Many do, to the extent the erection of a monument for Lech Kaczyński has been recently announced in Toruń.

Life / Do men in Poland go to barber shops or hair salons ? [16]

OK. Good to know.

One of the neighboring towns is 3K, the other 10K. Two hair salons in total. Big number of pharmacies, though, at least 5, many more in the borough :D

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

"Magda Was A Punk Rocker"? Oi! ;-) Me, too.

All right, let me translate for you:

Piec, piecyk - a guitar or bass amplifier. The word meaning stove for one playing softer and blast-furnace for thrash-metal guitarists :-) Note: The bass amp is always referred to as "piec" unless we are talking on "pierdziawka", a small amp that "farts out" (English slang).

Paka or paczka - "package, pack" - a guitar cabinet/speaker enclosure, since it is crammed (packed) with loudspeakers.
Wzmak - an amplifier (amp in English slang)
Wiosło, wiosełko - "an oar or a paddle" - a guitar. English speaker would say "an axe".
Multiefekt - a digital guitar processor (derived directly from English)
Cyfra - "a digit" - any processor based on the digital technology. BTW, "tranziak" is a solid-state guitar amplifier (from transistor)

Beczki - "barrels" - drums, but not percussion. A drum set is coloquially called "perka".
Blachy - "metal sheets" - cymbals
Mechanizm stopy, stopa - "a foot" - simply anything related to the kick-drum
Centrala - the kick-drum, the bass drum. Few want to waste their energy to say "bęben taktowy"
(But hajhet, rajd, krasz, tomy, flortom, czajna, while Polish words such as gong, czynel, kociołki, półkocioł exist, too) - The above are just English names spoken the Polish way. Drummers are lazy b*stards!

Basia -"Betty" - the bass guitar, as in diminutive of Barbara
Klawisz - "a key of a keyboard" - any electronic instrument equipped with a keyboard, no reference to acoustic instruments such as piano.

Pałker - "stickman" - a drummer
Riff ;-) - some spell it "ryf" ;-)
Akord - "chord" - perfectly legal Polish word. Slang ones are "chwyt" (a grip) and "funkcja" (function)
Solówka - a solo part. As in "wyjść na solówkę"
Przejście, but also "bridż" - English call it "bridge", the part connecting the verse with the chorus in a song. Also drum fill-in.

I'm quite surprised so many Polish words are used in the local musical slang. "odsłuch", as you Magdalena could perfectly pick it up is called "a stage monitor" in English.

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

It would be rather funny to translate "Bridge on the River Kwai" not using the word "rzeka".

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]

They all look like the same! ;-)

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

Boletus, I'm somewhat lost now.

Shall we decline Polish last names ending with -o?
Such as Jędrzejko, Żyto? I would decline them. Often, people with such names demand their last name is not declined. Any advice?

gumishu, I don't know what you are doing, but ja jadę do Rostocku. :-)

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

Magdalena, Boletus,
Mr Jędrzejko is the one insisting his own name shall not be declined ;-)

gumishu,

Jeżdżę do Rostocku, Berlina, Kolonii, Hamburga, Frankfurtu nad Menem czy nad Odrą, do Drezna też, czasem zahaczę o Kilonię, pracowałem w Duisburgu, z Hannoveru zamawiałem książki, w Ratyzbonie nie byłem, w Norymberdze jadłem lody; niemniej w Solingen nie udało mi się trafić na koncert, moja przyjaciółka spędziła młodość w Monachium, nie mam pojęcia jak dojechać do Bremerhaven, wystawę van Gogha oglądałem oczywiście w Essen.

Diabeł za tym nie trafi,

Language / Why when spelling Polish names abroad, Polish letters are ignored? [68]

If anybody insists the name "Walesa" shall always be typed "Wałęsa", then I will defend my point as much as Gen. Jaruzelski used to defend the "Holy case of socialism!" ;-))))))

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

Try declining Miss Kupaga in the obsolete form with -ówna ;-)

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


Good!

I'm sure you know this one already?
youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dABo_DCIdpM

Life / Why are cars so expensive in Poland ? [23]

Buy a car in Norway or Denmark instead :-D

Language / The Case System - help? quick question [3]

First of all, the only allowed form of "God's Holy Spirit" in Polish is "Duch Święty", always with the right capitals and omitting the word "God's".

I would translate the phrase: "przez Ducha Świętego" or "z Ducha Świętego".

See the phrase from the Apostles' Creed:
"He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit"
or
"Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost"

The exact translation is:
'Który się począł z Ducha Świętego"

I see no need to re-translate prayers, when we are at it. These have been translated long time ago, and perfectly.

Love / Hot Polish girls in clubs - why don't they dance/talk with the most attractive men only? [148]

Excellent answer, JustysiaS.

To add to it, Polish chivalry requires civilized way of addressing ladies; and saying sorries even in the case the lady was not 100% right; one who forgets observing that deserves a small punch in his mug.

Life / Why are cars so expensive in Poland ? [23]

In Norway and Denmark, so-called "registration tax" may easily be equal to the value of the new car itself and is never depreciated... This often doubles the price of already expensive cars. In Poland, the fuel is almost the cheapest in the EU. Everything has to be put in the right perspective, everything balances.

Some story to cheer up Todiak. An article from the Norwegian press:

OBAMA'S TAX SHOCK
At the time of publishing this article, Norway was awaiting the state visit of President Barack Obama. The American President (the article reads) usually takes his limo to any country visited, and to act right -- he orders registering the limo in given country.

The Norwegian tax authority made tax calculation to register Obama's limousine:

1. Car weight tax (approx. 8 tonnes): 1,200,000 NOK
2. Engine power tax (approx. 450 HP): 600,000 NOK
3. Ecology tax (over 1 kilogram of CO2 per 1 km): 2,200,000 NOK
4. Scrapping tax: 1,300 NOK only
The total tax would be approximately NOK 4,000,000, equvalent to PLN 2,000,000 or USD 717,000 at that time

Just look to the ecological tax itself. One needs to remember all those ecological nonsense had been supported by the U.S. Pres. own party and advisors. Were Obama really charged with that tax, the U.S. tax-payer would certainly notice the cost of those silly ideas ;-)

Love / Hot Polish girls in clubs - why don't they dance/talk with the most attractive men only? [148]

Soon, my project Psychodance will release a song "Najlepsza baba to własna graba" or "The Best Maid Is Your Own Hand" ;-)

I promise dedicating it to FlaglessPole, jarnowa, Sokrates and the like :-D

Love / Hot Polish girls in clubs - why don't they dance/talk with the most attractive men only? [148]

Has anybody else dedicated a song to you? An original song? ;-)

Love / Hot Polish girls in clubs - why don't they dance/talk with the most attractive men only? [148]

Which part of these lyrics describes you the best, FlaglessPole?

You see, that jerk Roman is forty-some old
He was a bashful kid, of women a bit afraid
Neighbour's naked breast once peeped through the door
Gave him an antidote for his sexual dearth
(because)
The best maid is your own hand
Neither sulks or worse days
The best maid is your own hand
A moment of happiness at no cost!

;-)

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]


Have you also had time to visit the Kazimierz part of Kraków, the Jewish district?

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]

Add to it the respect of Polish men towards women, probably based on the cult of Mother Pole and I'm not joking now.

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

"Skąd wiedziałeś, że jestem żydowskiego pochodzenia, Antku? Nie, niestety jeszcze nie byłem w Krakowie, nawet w Kazimierzu Dolnym" and you are doing better and better Lyzko, at least trying!

The story goes like this: University students had to attend a Military Academy, and there was one in Kraków in 1987. During my service there, I was doing my best to get as many leaves from the barracks as possible. So I was getting leave to see the dentist, or I was rewarded for "excellent military conduct" because I knew you had to be firm, barking right answers to army officers loudly, saluting smartly and so on when you were impressed to the Army ;-) Kraków is magnificent but I really admired the Kazimierz quarter. I was going there whenever possible. Having the Army hat on helped. No problem to find a head cover when entering the Synagogue or the cemetery there ;-)

You gonna see that!

Love / Hot Polish girls in clubs - why don't they dance/talk with the most attractive men only? [148]

Flagless, it could be good lyrics if not the words for "Najlepsza baba" had been already written, the song had been recorded and now I'm making the mix and mastering ;-)

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]

I have given a second thought to Enga's questions.

Enga, it's not the matter of you being female boss at all. The matter is the cultural clash.

The Polish are adaptive, flexible, ingenious. They also hate all bans and prohibition as well as unnecessary injunction. This is the nation saying "Nie na nas Polaków zakazy!" meaning "Nothing is forbidden to us, Poles".

You tell your team use appropriate tools. I can easily imagine what they are saying behind your back:
-- The boss told us to use such-and-such tool...
-- Give it a f*ng sh*t, does she want us finish before the Winter or what?

As long as they are a qualified team, they perfectly know their tools are right for the work to be done and changing the tools would only mean hassle to them. They know nobody would come and ask questions on the tools used, and if such inspector would even come, the boss is responsible to cover the workers.

This is how we do it in Poland.

A word on flexibility, adaptiveness, ingenuity:
I often fly to Norway on business by Norwegian.no. On one of the flights, I bought me a sandwich and asked the Norwegian flight attendant if she could pass me some salt. She said: "No salt, sorry".

Next time it was the Polish crew. When I asked for salt, the stewardess frowned for a fraction of a second and then... she passed a Bloody Mary set to me! So simple it was, goddam...

Life / Why are cars so expensive in Poland ? [23]

Buy me a pint of beer at an English pub (not a private club) for a pound thirty, The Hitman ;-)

Life / Uptight Poles [262]

First, I wanted to answer you sarcastically ItsAllAboutME then I thought I wouldn't go down to the level of your comment and I will tell you something seriously.

Have you ever wondered how it is the users of Apple computers or of the LINUX operating systems are so nervous about the PC/Windows? The answer is: The feel they must be doing SUM TIN WON themselves ;-) The PC/Windows users are simply not interested with other computers and operating systems, feeling quite comfortable.

Now, majority of Poles don't care about other religions. I've never heard Polish Catholics saying anything bad on Luteran, Protestants, Anglican, Buddhist, name some religions yourself. This dates back to the ancient "golden freedom" and the religious tolerance (the latter dating back to the Warsaw Confederation of 1573). On contrary, English intolerance against Catholic dates back to Henry VIII, about the same era. While I yet have to see some kind of anti-Anglican demonstration in Poland, the "Vicars & Tarts" parties seem to be one of English favourite pastimes. And that devilish Pope... Oh. The only exception I can see is declared antisemitism of part of Poles, which is amusing in the country in which there are almost no Jews. Still, there are lunatics in every country, and I would not say the listeners of Radio Maryja are representative to Poland; no, they are jeered at by most of the Polish youth. Have you ever heard of the "mohair berets"?

When it comes to gays, the Polish golden freedom is: "Live and let others live". That is, nobody would really say anything against gays if not the gays were loudly and visibly fighting for they rights. I'd say to gays: Love whomever you love but do it in privacy. No, gays must organize their Parades and advertise their way of life loudly. This is what most of us Poles hates.

What's the problem if a foreigner shows interest in Polish women? Polish women are the boss; they decide whom to choose, not Polish men. See how chauvinistic you are ItsAllAboutME? Don't pin that to the Poles. Read threads of jarnowa, oh poor, frustrated man. He is clearly told by Polish women they choose nice men, Polish and foreigners. He seems to know better whom they should choose. A wonderful example "supporting" your case.

Although Poles are absolutely not free of prejudices, shall we believe in all those conspiracy theories? Or, global warming, gosh, I felt the global warming couple days ago, with a snowfall in May, a snowfall to cover my blooming cherry tree.

Decidedly, the Polish are not free from faults. No nation is. However, you should think your pack of nonsense better.

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]


My English won't be any better, Lyzko ;-) I can promise that to you! ;-)

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]


Yes it has.

Love / Hot Polish girls in clubs - why don't they dance/talk with the most attractive men only? [148]

All this thread makes very little sense.
The Polish women say: "A man is not expected to be handsome. A man needs to be the man".
What they mean by "the man" is only clear to them.
Subject closed.

Food / Polish food at home or out? [57]


Strange... grilled meat should be poured with beer while roasting, but oil?!

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

Suknia would be dress, spódniczka would be skirt...

Oh, we ignorant men! ;-)
The grey part is called skirt
The grey part of the vessel is called "the skirt" ;-)

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

Underwear, yes. I write this before Magda corrects you ;-)

Last Halloween, my wife put the whole outfit of a Drag Queen onto me. From that day, I sympathize with the fair sex ;-)