Can anyone verify the meaning of this phrase , -- Chapchalapcha ( chop cha lap cha ) ? My mother used it to reference a state of dress where you looked like someone who had just thrown on whatever you had handy. I hadn't heard the phrase in years and I had to laugh when I heard an older person use it.
Resolving phonetic transcription made me laugh for a while :) and that word describe a looser, someone who is not able to handle life by himself. 'Sissy' would be good translation I think. Recently popularized by Roman Giertych, who called PO Party ciamciaramcia. Thanks for reminding that word!
How about: "do kroćset" (doh krotch-set)? I'm not even trying to translate it... ;)
'to multitude of hundreds'. Probably a short form of 'do kroćset diabłów'. It's rather ancient.
But my all-time favorite old-fashioned phrase is KRUCAFUKS. Spell it: "krootza-fookhz", with an accent on the second part.
Comes from 'crucifix'. I'd say it came from adopting the German habit of swearing by holy names, Himmelherrgottkruzifix etc. Krucafuks was, and maybe still is, popular with Górals, and I heard it in Silesia too. Some people use it still, I believe.
Jeny kochane! Oh dear! Jeny it's a made up word without real meaning, could be used instead of Oh, Ah, Aw Some people say it instead of Jezu kochany (Dear Jesus) as they don't like to overuse the Christ name.
There is "Pieronie" or "Pierunie" (literally meaning something along the lines of "You lightning") used in regional dialects, it could mean anything though, something like "You dog!" - you could use it to offend or to approve, paise. You could pretty much use it instead of "Wow" too. You can sometimes hear it used with some other words, like "Pieruńskie szczęście" - meaning great luck.
My uncle often used something I'd call a "gem of a phrase" - although it probably is still used in Silesia or Kaszuby regions (I'm not quite sure of how to write it, but here it goes) - "Nasermater" - which also could mean a lot. It can be used identically as "Cholera" - so, just a short "Damn!". It could be used in a phrase "On wszystko robi nasermater." ("He does everything poorly/carelessly"). I'd risk an assumption that most poles not only wouldn't be offended by the word, but also would have no idea what it means. :P But some, I'd guess at Kaszuby region, could actually regard it as a strong curse, since "sermater" means (I think!) "devil" or "evil spirit" there. So it'd be "Na sermater" then. ;)
Some of those may be *a bit* old fashioned, but none is harmless.
The difference is simple, literally nobody will be offended by "O jeny...", but you risk a broken nose by saying "Chujaj się" around the wrong people. ;)
Choroba = old-fashion English pox on you BTW choroba is a eupehmism for much stronger cholera. Psia krew & psia jucha Jeny kochany (euphemism for Jezus kochany) Oj rety = euphemism for oj rany (English zounds < God's wounds) NOTE: Invocaiton of the Deity or Blessed Mother were extmrely strong curses back when so they spawned a series of euphemisms in different in English i.a. gosh (God), good grief (good God), gee whiz (Jesus), cripes (Christ), bloody (by Our Lady) heck (hell), darn (damn)
My mother, God rest her soul, was from Kraków. When she came to America and raised me, a common exclamation she would make was something like, "Jesus, Mario, Shmento". Now, this is as close, phonetically, as I can come to what she would say when something confounded her. I was a little boy and later into young manhood when I would hear her say it. Fairly clear she was calling out to "Jesus" and the second word sure does sound like "Mary". The third word, I have no good clue. Does anyone know what, exactly, she said, and its precise meaning?