I'm native Polish and I hate my own language.

Proletaryat leader, Tomasz Olejnik used to write perfect rock songs using the Polish language, just saying

A long way off 'perfect;...

OK.

Lyzko: Whom among us is ignorant. Him among us is ignorant.
Novichok: Who among us is ignorant. He among us is ignorant.

I asked which one is correct according to Webster or any other comparable dictionary.

More to the point, my wife and I were at a local kawiarnia around mid-center of Garfield, NJ last Saturday early afternoon, when we encountered a youngish Polish couple with their son.

Upon hearing them speaking Polish while I was on line, by chance the husband asked me if I was standing on line as well, at which point of course, I took the opportunity to answer him in Polish, at which he seemed delightfully surprised! He then politely but insistently responded in somewhat halting, heavily accented English, inquiring why I as an American speak Polish, to which I responded that I found it easier to converse with Polish speakers in their native language. He smiled, adding that he found it funny, but enjoyed letting me practice my Polish. I then couldn't resist gently replying that I hoped he enjoyed practicing his English with me as well. His expression gradually grew intense and said that his English was just fine, thank you, and that neither he nor his wife needed any practice whatsoever!

I smiled, paid for our coffees, and left, but not without a "Trzymaj sie, panie!"

You should quit your pathological family and move to a better, more cultural and educated environment. The moment you do it you will feel a great relief. Simple.

You're right, paw! Why this self-hating Polish bashing? By the way, figure that jerk I encountered in the coffee shop was just an oddity and untypical of the average, friendly Poles I've met and known-:)

Poles may be friendly but that does not change the fact that their language sucks. I tried it for 25 years. Didn't work.

That remains then YOUR problem, so don't the Polish language for your failures!

I'm native Polish and I hate my own language.

That makes two of us.

To be fair, he probably wasn't that interested in "practising" language when he was just out for a cuppa with his missus.

True enough, yet I guess I haven't ever quite given up on the idea of life as a two-way street. A comment on both, I suppose.

It is natural that when your original language is Yiddish, then learning Polish might pose a problem.

Nice riposte!

He just accused Jews of being too stupid to learn Polish in 25 years from birth - in Poland!!! - and to you, it's a nice riposte.

You two, geniuses, deserve each other.

Can't you even catch sarcasm in English yet or are being obtuse once again?

To be honest that sounds kind of rude...

On his part you mean. I agree.

Claiming sarcasm is a handy escape from lies.
Then so was my #44, professor, and every other post you found offensive or irritating. Noticed that "geniuses"? That was sarcasm. In reality, you both are embarrassing. For different reasons, but still embarrassing. Evasive meets Clown.

Relax, Paw knows you're not Jewish.

No, you weren`t stupid,. You just refused to learn it properly coz Yiddish was good enough for you and your family. In result, your knowledge of Polish has always been superficial, that is why you are so irritated today when you can`t understand our subtle metaphors in Polish threads.

No. On your part. Suggesting to someone in the US that they need/want 'practice' speaking English implies lots of things that polite people don't imply. For all you know he's a citizen (or a permanent resident with a green card).


The usual American expression is "waiting/standing in line" not 'on line'... is that a NYC area thing like 'lean off' (instead of 'dont' lean on')?

You may be partially right about the first part. But he did ask if I enjoyed practicing Polish. Tit for tat, right?

Speaking a foreign language is a very different thing from speaking the language of the country... would you ask someone living in Germany (with an accent) if they enjoyed practicing their German?

I might, only if pushed, that is-:)

Do you enjoy practicing your English on this forum?

I don't need to, neither do you.

Yes, greatly. :):) But only when I discuss history.

Good answer.

Another flippant comment from the class clown.


Good catch. This and other such missteps tell me that English is not his daily language.

I have been here since 1967 and never heard "on line" in a store. Not even "Are you standing in line?" because we instinctively avoid sounding like geeky, overly verbose English teachers. The question normal Americans ask is: Are you in here? Only a retard wouldn't know what that question means considering the locations of both the asker and the askee - next to the cash register and close to others and their carts.

Askee. Yes, I just made that word up.

You, of course. You are constantly trying to correct native Poles though they use perfect Polish here. It is funny you consider yourself such a linguist expert while your knack of the language is very superficial.


You always say so when you are at a loss of words. :):)