Mati
27 Mar 2015 #31
Samolot: samo (alone) lot (fly) so an airplane is "something that flies alone"
Samochód: samo (alone) chad (walk)
that's funny!!! :P
Samochód: samo (alone) chad (walk)
that's funny!!! :P
Funny/strange/deviant words in the Polish language
But Graeco-Roman compound commonly used in American for motorcar -- automobile -- means roughly the same as samochód: auto (self) mobile (movable), hence self-moving.
RMK34
28 May 2015 #33
yes, but not self-walking, which some people find funny
'Rower' (bicycle) is derived from name of a manufacturer of bicycles (Rover).
Which, in addition, no longer manufactures bicycles - it produces cars now :)
There is much more such cases in Polish. A commonly used word for a petrol station is in Polish "cepeen". There is also "stacja benzynowa". but "cepeen" is shorter. It comes from a company CPN (Centrala Produktów Naftowych - this is the same company, as now Orlen), which managed all the petrol stations in Poland in the PRL times.
Similarily a train station is often called "dworzec PKP", even if it has no longer anything in common with PKP, and a bus station - "dworzec PKS". You can say "dworzec kolejowy" or "dworzec autobusowy", but "dworzec PKP" and "dworzec PKS" are popular as they're shorter.
Sports shoes are called "adidasy", even if they are made by Nike or Puma.
But it's nothing unusual, English also has plenty of such words.
Here's another strange thing I noticed in Polish - words such as "biznesmen" to mean a businessman.
As somebody has already explained, it comes from the pronounciation - man is pronounced almost exactly the same as men, for a Polish person they are virtually undistinguishable.
But there is another strange thing. A sportsman is in Polish "sportowiec". It's ok - the core part "sport" with an ending indicating a person. But sportswoman is... "sportsmenka". It was difficult to make a female form from "sportowiec" ("sportowczyni"?), so the ending indicating a women was added to the English core. With a changed into e, but this is already explained.
On the other hand, businesswoman is in Polish often called just businesswomen, not "biznesmenka". Problably because among the business people the knowledge of English is much wider than among the whole nation.
It's also interesting that the words borrowed from other languages usually adapt Polish spelling (like this "biznesmen"), but there are exceptions. For example "weekend" - it's a word that has existed in Polish for many, many years and it has never adapted the Polish spelling - probably because "łikend" or "łykend" would look weird.
Another interesting example - "dealer". As a company, which is selling products of one manufacturer (especially cars) it is spelled like in English. But as a person who is illegally selling narcotic drugs - it is spelled "diler".
Doesn't tusz (as in wziąć tusz) exist in Polish anymore for shower?
Never heard it. I've only heard tusz in the meaning 'ink' (especially computer printers) and 'mascara'.
"Tusz" is generally ink in ball pens. In fountain pens it's called "atrament". Inkjet printer is in Polish "drukarka atramentowa", but ink for it is often called, as you have noticed, "tusz" :) Dot-matrix printer is "drukarka igłowa", literally "needle printer".
Mascara is "tusz do rzęs", but in advertisments it's also called like in English - "maskara".
How about phrases which can be read two ways:
Kamil Ślimak.
Zakopane na pokaz.
Kobyła ma mały bok.
Kamil Ślimak.
Zakopane na pokaz.
Kobyła ma mały bok.
Sveno
4 Feb 2026 #36
Is the word "chrobok" or "chrobak" the same as "robak" (a bug)? I've heard different versions of this word, but I didn't know the first two examples are actually used in Poland?
"chrobok" or "chrobak" the same as "robak" (a bug)
"chrobak" is an archaic form - it evolved into "robak" in literary Polish - however many dialects retained "chrobok" or "chrobak" (Polish dialects apart from a couple are dying out though) - I know a person whose surname is "Chrobok" (it's a person with Silesian background)
Sveno
17 Feb 2026 #38
Does the word "hejt" actually exist in the Polish dictionary? I read some article in Polish and it appears as if it was a Polish word. Obviously, it comes from the English word "hate," but how could Poles have adapted it as their own and in this weird spelling. Couldn't they come up with a better, but really Polish, word?
Does the word "hejt" actually exist in the Polish dictionary?
sjp.pwn.pl/sjp/hejt;5580544.html
Couldn't they come up with a better, but really Polish, word?
General words for hatred exist, esp the general nienawiść
sjp.pwn.pl/slowniki/nienawi%C5%9B%C4%87.html
but Polish generally prefers more narrow and monosemic lexification rather than broad polysemic lexification (like English does).
That is, the word hejt is mostly restricted to social media (and/or in real life, but originating in social media).
monosemic - single meaning
polysemic - multiple meanings
So English will take a word that already has clearly established usages and give it new meanings in different contexts... this can be confusing for native speakers at times (and even more so for non-native speakers).
Polish, once a new field of usage is established is more likely to want a new word for it.
Do Poles use the word "hejt" to refer to conservative values or only to progressive ones?
I've heard it used across the political spectrum, it's about medium/content not about political affiliation as such.
English is destroying the texture of Polish!
Sveno
19 Feb 2026 #42
What is the proper translation of "streaming" in Polish (eg. movie streaming)? Online translators suggest "przesyłanie strumieniowe," but doesn't it sound too technical and weird? I suspect most Poles know what "streaming" means, but won't they use the Polish version ("striming") - still, is looks weird, too.
"Przesyłanie strumieniowe" does sound OK. The Polish 'strumieniowanie' has the same meaning as 'streaming'. Both 'stream' and 'strumień' come from the same Indo-European root.
'strumieniowanie' has the same meaning as 'streaming'
Online I see 'streaming' (presumably pronounced 'striming') and 'streamowanie'...(that hurts a little) with the adjective form 'streamingowy'....
I'd be confused hearing something is getting strumieniowane. At least AI (sztuczna inteligencja) sounds reasonable to me ;)
And yet, strumieniowanie is a polonized form used in professional language. The most formal and technical translation of the English term (used, for example, in official documents) would be transmisja strumieniowa. But, of course, in everyday use people would just say or write streaming.
In Polish there are quite a few examples where such duality exists. For instance, manicure/manikiur versus pielęgnacja dłoni.
In Polish there are quite a few examples where such duality exists. For instance, manicure/manikiur versus pielęgnacja dłoni.
Sveno
20 Mar 2026 #47
What's so funny about this translation: The old man and he can VS The old man and the sea.
What's so funny about this translation:
In Polish morze 'sea' and może 'he can' (other meanings as well) sound the same.
There's an old joke...
Did you hear that there's a sequel to "Stary czlowiek i morze"? "Stary człowiek i jeszcze może"! "old man and he still can..." (the implication is sexual function).
Stary czlowiek i morze"? "Stary człowiek i jeszcze może"! "
It doesn't work like that, the point is that you can also say "Stary człowiek i może" what sounds like
"Stary człowiek i morze" but it has a completely different meaning. Naturally there is a sexual undertone.
What is the proper translation of "streaming" in Polish
Streaming.
strumieniowe
Too close to the Polish name for pıss flaps.
Streaming.
Yip. We just stole the world without even adapting the spelling to the Polish language (it should be 'striming' if we did). So, basically, we have an English word which is fully inflected using Polish morphology: streamingowych, streamingową, streamingowymi etc. We do this sometimes :)
using Polish morphology: streamingowych,
"Jaki jest najlepszy serwis streamingowany gier w PL?"
streamingowany? yikes!
'striming'
Which just looks strangely bad.
We do this sometimes
@Tor
Indeed. Sometimes done well and sometimes done badly. I still haven't forgiven the entire Polish nation for "tipsy" (which means "slightly drunk" rather than "nail salon") or Poles working in the UK for "trainings" (which is simply not a word and is jarring to hear or see).
streamingowany?
It's 'streamingowy'.
"trainings"
That's what Poles do - you shouldn't give them linguistic advices. :)
'streamingowy'.
I used that last night after we'd set up Starlink. Say what you like about the appalling Musk creature however the satellite service does work well.
advices.
Same glaring mistake but far less common so less frequently irritatin. Anyway, you're just being naughty (and I like to play with the Polish language too sometimes and refuse to acknowledge that the word "pizdreczka" doesn't really exist.)
If I hear "trainings" I do what nurses do when patients' families use specific nursing terminology to them; i.e. pretend not to understand.
the word "pizdreczka" doesn't really exists
It doesn't until you remove the 'r' in the middle.
I have huge respect for any foreigner who achieves at least B2 level in Polish. It's almost impossible to master as a foreign language.
It's almost impossible to master as a foreign language.
The secret? Don't take lessons, and somehow end up with the people around you being people who don't speak English. The result will be "immigrant" Polish rather than "language school" Polish (i.e. the Polish equivalent of the way Ironside or Lenka write rather than the way Paulina and yourself write) however that outcome in life is far from a bad one.
I have huge respect for any foreigner who achieves at least B2 level in Polish
My OH is C2 however his first language is much closer. I passed a B2 exam and don't have any more energy for language tests since a huge chunk of my life involves writing them and sometimes you need a bit of variety.
When got the gig to translate a best selling novel from Polish to English several years ago every Polish literary translator in town screamed the place down since a non-Pole did it, and it was good money (plus a bit of professional prestige) just at the end of the covid lockdown. however the contract was given on the basis of a sample passage and the translators screaming loudest had all been contacted first and their translations had been seen by the publisher and author who hadn't found what they were looking for.
Language learning and indeed language in general are strange things. Some of the people who use language best are people that would surprise.
My OH is C2 however his first language is much closer.
Yes, it's a bit easier for native speakers of other Slavic languages.
I passed a B2 exam
*thumbs up*
I'm also impressed by the novel gig. During my doctoral studies I translated some academic stuff from English to Polish and quite a few technical manuals in electronic engineering, so I appreciate the difficulty (and it must have been way more complex with literary translation).
It's 'streamingowy'.
from google...
"Prowokator całe zdarzenie nagrywał, streamingując je także na żywo na swoim fanpage'u na Facebooku"
"Pierwszy polski legalny serwis streamingujący anime."
"Nasz partner muzyczny czyli system streamingujący WiMP wydał właśnie nową wersję aplikacji dla systemu iOS."
"Na jakich platformach może streamingować?"
"Wydarzenie będzie streamingowane na Facebooku."
That's.... depressing....
będzie streamingowane
Right - that's future neuter passive voice, so 'streamingowane' is correct; an adjective in masculine singular nominative would be 'streamingowy'; platforma is feminine, so 'platforma streamingowa' ('platforma streamingowana' wouldn't make sense).
fanpage'u na Facebooku
That's two borrowed words, and the adjective of Facebook is 'facebookowy/a/e/i' (as in 'profil facebookowy'). :)
That's.... depressing...
Not if you consider the alternatives - Twarzoksiąg? Profil Twarzoksięgowy? Now that would be depressing.