Cultural disparities shown through Polish and English languages

Good one, paw!
Or conversely, how about the sign I saw when I was the first time in Poland outside a rest area: "BATHROBE FOR MENS, WOMENS, AND FOR PEOPLE FROM BOTH SEX!" "BathROBE" vs. "BathROOM" seemed to have eluded the poor fella:-) Many signs in Szczecin were in two languages, yet not one person I spoke to actually confessed to knowing any English LOL

But they meant bathrobes - not bathrooms. Can you rent a bathrobe to use it after taking a shower?

I would rather drink from a urinal than "rent a robe".

How often did it happen to you???

Never because I never had to rent a bathrobe. Yikes.

@Et tu, Pawian?! No need to justify their incorrect usage. What was clearly meant (in correct translation) was: "SAME SEX BATHROOMS", period. What's so hard to figure out about that?

There is no logical connection - you can try such a drink without renting a bathrobe.


OK, if you insist so much I am prone to yield.

Hard to believe really. One- the word bathroom is much better known to any person learning English. Two- access to dictionaries

Couldn't agree with you more. Bottom line and point of story; the English-language sign I accurately described and saw with my own eyes was miswritten and that obviously "bathROOM" aka "restroom" was logically the word which was meant in that context! Skirmish over and now we may return to the open field of personal exchange-:)

The idiocy of sugarcoating language on full display. That place is neither. It's a pissroom, sh*itroom, or purgeroom.
Just as we don't put pets to "sleep". They know how to do it very well without our help.
Or "passed on". The last time I saw a guy passing on he was in the left lane going 90.

It's all a question of public relations really. Yet why not simply come clean and admit the Polish sign was awfully written and ought to have been proofread by a native English speaker before being stenciled onto the bathROOM sign!

Dictionary would be enough

Of course.

I agree.

It was actually rather amusing when I read it! Foreign signage in English often is:-)
When once in Sweden, a country where nearly everyone and his grandma knowsEnglish, I caught glimpse of a notice at my favorite restaurant in Goteborg: "PLEASE DON'T HAVE CHILDREN AT THE BAR!" During the course of my before-dinner aperitive, I commented to the barkeep that in the States we usually have children at a hospitalLOL

He was clearly not amused, more clueless than insulted, in fact.

"PLEASE KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM THE BAR!" would have made more sense.
Frequently though, foreigners somehow respond better to slightly off or accented English than to correct usage, I've found. Says something, doesn't it.

Polish students have peculiar idea of free time. Most of them, when asked: What do you do in your free time? answer they do homework. They believe that free time begins when they leave school premises.

Hardly the oddest comment I've ever read.

What is the point of your comments?

Naturally, to each his own, Bobko. More to the point, what have either of your comments to do with mine?

I noticed the same thing and reacted in #74.

Fair enough, Rich. Thanks for the acknowledgement.

In another thread johhny said: pre-election stunt

I guess in Polish it is more or less similar to "election sausage" which today means various populist forms of gaining support in elections .

The term originated in 19th century occupied Lesser Poland region. At that time, candidates for deputies in the parliament, in order to gain the support of the social masses, organized picnics with free food and drink (mainly sausage and vodka).

The phenomenon of serving food at pre-election meetings, although to a lesser extent, also occurred during the Second Polish Republic and in the first years of the Third Republic .

Cultural disparities, yes there is something to it.
Let's take the English saying "fine feathers make fine birds"
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fine_feathers_make_fine_birds


In Polish there is no equivalent of this idom at all. Nothing even close to its meaning. It is completely alien to our way of thinking.

Instead we have the proverb "Nie szata zdobi człowieka" - It is not a robe that makes a man

In English, there's always "All that glitters is not gold."
However, you're right about that Korvinus, it's different.

There is one which might be a little close: jak Cię widzą, tak Cię piszą. As they see you, so they write about you.

Perhaps similar to the Italian, "Show me who you're seen with and I'll show you who you are."

The Polish language allows two verbs for dying: umierać is for people while zdychać has always been used for animals. But things are changing and certain celebrity language expert caused a huge scandal recently when he publicly critisized using the human term for animals. He is an incorrigible attention sicker.

As an aside, is that where zmarł comes from? Na przykład, on zmarł na atak serca.

Yes, zmarł/umarł is the past form of infinitive umierać. While the dog doesn`t die in Polish, it zdycha. But it sounds akward or even brutal to many pet owners including me and I have never used it. That language expert is a real attention sicker to stir the pond in such a way.

Cultural disparities shown through Polish and English languages
The greatest disparity is that everybody wants to speak English and nobody wants to speak Polish.

My Polish wife, myself, and my kids included.