Cultural disparities shown through Polish and English languages

A few weeks ago while getting a shopping cart at Biedronka I noticed a dead bird lying next to the carts. Inside, I told an employee that there was a 'zdechły ptak' there at which point she sighed "who am I going to get to clean that up?" When I was leaving she had drafted a young male trainee with a metal dustpan to do the dirty work...

But weirdly when I check google 'martwy ptak' is about 5 times more common than 'zdechły ptak' but 'ptak zdechł' is about 5 times more common than 'ptak umarł'

Is there a reason for this weirdness?

I think that since dogs (and cats) often live in homes and are quasi family members 'zdychać' sounds a bit... impersonal? uncaring? while for other animals it doesn't sound so brutal....

so it doesn't matter to you whether you 'umrzesz' or 'zdechniesz'?

Polish is a more grammatically precise language then English, even German!
It's aspectual system whereby one verb might be paired with several different forms
depending on duration of action is in fact more exact than tense use, since the Polish
verb allows for greater leeway in terms of repetition vs. one-time occurance.

English: I go/walk to school [every day] aka I attend school [and get there on foot].

Polish: Chodze do szkoly.

English: I happen to be walking/going [towards] school, but not to class.

Polish: Ide do szkoly.

English:I will be walking/going on foot, to school.....

Polish: Pojde do szkoly.

In English, walk or go is used in each of the above sentences, whereas Polish uses a different
verb in each instance. More challenging, yet far more specific and direct, therefore, more comprehensible
for Polish native speakers.

Other verbs in Polish are much more of a challenge to explain to foreigners, such as "umrzec" vs. "umierac"
As far as I know, we only die once since one's own death never occurs repeatedly LOL

Yes. Poles are addicted to injecting feelings into every word and sentence. Umarl is neutral. Zdechl is hateful.
Noga is neutral. Nozka is affectionate.

I hate Polish. Too emotional. This distinction is not trivial as it filters into politics and everything else.

Now the morons are spending billions getting ready for an attack by Russia that will never happen.

We are so romantic!

Poles definitely ARE emotional, and proud of it, I must say!
Ran across a biography of silent film star Pola Negri (Apolonia Chalupiec)
who lived some fifty years longer in the US than in her native Poland, yet
apparently never got used to the W.A.S.P. model of sucking it up or stowing
one's emotions if one feels so moved.

Among the Poles I've known and taught, in Poland, there is no shame in tears
openly expressed, for either men or women.

Not true. Always advantageous to be bi/multilingual. I wish I could speak Polish better than I do.



You must go to a doctor implies a sense of urgency, that something could be seriously wrong. I wouldn't say to someone that they must go to a doctor if they had, for example, a rash on their arm.


What a misery you are.

I couldn't agree more, Feniks! He's simply a lost cause.

My primary language is English. I need Polish like I need Japanese.
If you want mine, it's on sale this week. 20 bucks and it's all yours.


Men are supposed to protect or get even, not sob.

When the cops get a call from a sobbing man because he found his wife dead when he came home, they know instantly that he is guilty. From now on, it's just a matter of evidence.

What are those advantages?

@Rich, for the umpteenth time, you need Polish when dealing with
monolingual Poles, I don't care how handsome your are or how pretty she is;
sign language and approximating go only so far, unless you want to sound
like a caveman.

Hey, Lyzko, for the umpteenth time, I don't speak Polish anywhere. Poland included. Unless I am desperate.
Like when I need to take a shlt...

That is insulting.

Most,younger Poles, can speak English, German or French.

@Lyzko

You are a narrow minded bigot.

When I was in Poland in 2017, I stopped asking "Do you speak English" the day I arrived.


If you want to insult him, at least use a hyphen. You just gave the professor a heart attack.

Coz you prefered to speak to younger generation. The older one would make a different impression on you.

A symptom of narcissism is when a person feels compelled to intrude into conversations in which they have no contribution except to attempt to refocus the topic to themselves.

They cannot stand attention paid to anyone or anything else.
The topic is cultural disparities as reflected in different languages....
There are lots of interesting contrasts between Polish and English
-diminutives (highly expressive in Polish, kind of meh in English)
-impersonal constructions (varied and interesting in Polish, kind of meh in English)
-agency (expressive in English, not so much in Polish)

cultural attitudes toward elaborate and plain language respectively (and how this is tied to grammar)

Personal attitudes about the need or not to speak Polish are not the topic here and it would be nice if people ignored the intrustion.

@Milo, I speak from present-day experience!
Just recently called a company in Kielce and
as it was on behalf of a colleague, requested that
someone who knows English come on the phone.
I asked all this of course in Polish and the woman who
answered explained that nobody was in the office who spoke
English.

Therefore, I had to interpret for the gentleman in our office and
he was not happy about using an intermediary!

Granted, in tourism, fashion, perhaps higher ed., English is more common.
Apparently though, not in the construction trade:-)

In Polish, all plants that you keep at home are called flowers. Even flowerets - kwiatki. Water the flowerets, please!
It shows a more affectionate approach of Poles and Polesses to nature.

Pawel, not that kind of injecting.

I guess you mean sth indecent now. Please, stop talking dirty coz you offend decent Poles and Polesses in the forum. We are cultural people, different from vulgar Am Polonia.

Cultural individuals differ from the vulgar American Polonia, as some are and some are not, across both sides of the ocean. Yet, vulgarity emanates from within, akin to a cadaver flower: it's easy on the eyes and seemingly cultured, but upon closer inspection, it reeks like decaying flesh and lies in wait like a coiled cobra, poised to strike. By the way, it reminds me of someone; being semi-cultured, I refrain from pointing fingers.

What is it???


As Ptak, you don`t possess fingers so you can`t point them. Ha!!!

Do your own homework. It is very attractive and beautiful to look at from a distance, but on close inspection, it can kill you with the smell of a ripe cadaver.

Aaaaaah, you mean the corpse flower??? Why didn`t you say it from the start??

Because I thought I was dealing with a Renaissance man, not some limited dupek. So, Cadaver Flover, it is.

Te, ciulu, use appropriate English names instead of your lousy inventions. Didn`t they teach you the language while in 40 years` emigration???

Te ciulu?. The refined language of cultured Pole, as opposed to crude PolAM.

His civil language is exhausted, and Pawian returns to the familiar vulgar language of the Kielce region. Well, blame his DNA for the misfortune. and the drinking water

Vulgar is not a problem. Being a gender-confused male cvnt is.

Not Kielce but Silesia, ciulu! I am using this language after realising my cultural utterances are lost on you coz you don`t understand them. Ha!!!!


Of course not. The difference is that Ptak uses vulgar language with pleasure and satisfaction while I always feel reluctant as a cultural Pole. But sometimes it is the only way to pass the message to Ptak.