Is the term 'Polak' derogatory??

My name's Sean, not Scot ;)

Dunno what are you driveling about, what does word angol have to do with word polak? Go get a cup a tea, relax, think it over and then come back..

Same as these; Limey , Pommie, Pohm, Crumpet-Stuffer, Feb, Fog Horn, Fog-Breather, Jeeves, Tea-wop, Teabag, Chinless Wonder etc. only this one is in Polish.

And what do these words have to do with the word polak?

Are you dense? Czy strugasz inteligenta wielkomiejskiego co potocznej mowy nie rozumie.

You haven't answred my question, moreover you're trying to add some insults too. Go get a cold beer and read the above several times.

I guess there’s really nothing to explain to those pretending to be some kind of a Big City Intellectual who does not grasp the meaning of slang, or see how the word “Angol” is sometimes used as derogatory for Brit as “Polak” for Pole in English or pretending that perhaps it’s not used that way. You really must lead a sheltered life.

You haven't read my previous comments it seems where I'd stated that Polak might be derogatory only in certain situations and uttered in a certain tone of voice. But beside that it's just a normal Polish word for the word Pole. Angol on the other hand is a Polish derogatory word in EVERY situation - this word was created with the aim of being derogatory.

It's exactly if you were saying that "Englishman" is derogatory if being pronounced by a Pole, and of course it is not. You can make it sound derogatory when you'll say "Ty głupi ingliszmenie" but the word as it is won't be an insult.

You can't put the word Polak next to Limey, Pommy and so on because it's doesn't belong to the same bracket.

Having said that, I really don't know what you're on about. Comparing 2 words that have nothing to do with each other is just pursuing some kind of a delusion.

You don't know s**t.The common offensive term used in Poland before the WW II ,which some Poles still use is "parch"(Jew) or "parchy"(Jews).Look up "Parchy,szwaby,goje" by Jerzy Urbankiewicz.

The only meaning I know is this one for "parch":

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parch

and probably most people who use it perceive it as such... Has the new meaning originated from the derogatory word? Parch can be derogatory as it is a sign of an illness maybe that's way it was used as a derogatory word?

I on the other hand know that you haven't read my previous post or refuse to acknowledge it and deliberately try to misinform unsuspected readers who might not speak Polish fluently. Just because you have managed to convince yourself that


, does not make it so.

I.E.
"Wczoraj poznałem Angola, świetny facet." Or "Ten Angol to się zna na fachu."
And countless other examples that one can think off. This alone would make your statement


FALSE period.

Plain to see for anyone who's even semi fluent in Polish, I would go even further and argue that in both of the examples given above, the word "Angol" is used not only as a short form for someone British but also as a diminutive and a rather affectionate way to describe someone who is British, nothing derogatory about it. Contrary to your belief or your propaganda campaign whatever might be the case, that


When spoken by anyone from North America in fact it is ALWAYS derogatory, it was spread by the American Jew who propagated Polish Jokes eventually becoming synonymous with a word "Stupid" as in "You're such a Polak."

P.S. There's no need to put a Jewish spin on this and make it sound like "Angol" is such a dirty word used by an intolerant and the racist Pole while a Pole should not be offended when some Yank or some Red Sea Pedestrian uses the word "Polak" as there's nothing sinister meant by it, but we know better, don't we? B.S. if you ask me, In fact the truth is in total opposite to what you claim here.

I don't know but in my area(central PL) some people use "parchy" in regards to Jews and I know for sure from my grandparents (they lived in town with large jewish population in central PL ) it was common before the war.I would trace it from "parszywy" but I am only guessing here.

bollocks. Fullstop.


You're surely talking about the word "pollack". Hence don't get your knickers in a twist laddie.

Don't you worry about my knickers, you've just been given a wedgie and you know it.

Well,it more looks like "parch"(Jew) originated from "parch"(disease).This makes sense.Honestly I did not know (until now)word "parch" also means grzybica.

I live in Buffalo, NY, the largest population of Polish people in the United States live here. I am not polish, but alot of my friends and coworkers are. I understand that the term 'Polak, Polka, and Pole' are used in Europe, but here in Buffalo, if someone calls a Polish person a 'Polack,' it is a racist term. Its derogative, meaning dirty and stupid. Generally, when someone uses it, it used in the context that someone is dumb. For example, a girl says, "What is this paddle used for?" And, her coworker responds, " Oh Ashley, you polack, thats an icepick!"

I've heard Polish people use it to describe other Polish people they knew as polacks, to infer that they are stupid. It is kind of the same idea where, a black person can use the N-word, but its innapropriate for a non-black to use it.

I know semantics, context, and political correctness is all a strange social concept, especially in the United States.

Just my two cents. Sometimes its funny and sometimes its not to use it around here. It all depends on who you talk too. But, better be on the safe side and not use it, because its not kind to put someone down, even if you don't mean too.

I find the term Polack very offensive. I let the person know right away the correct term to call a polish person , a pole. Calling polish people polacks is the equivalent of calling jewish people kikes in my opinion. I let them know that using that word around me is just asking for trouble.

Why's that? Are you a Polish or American? Sporting both eagles?

I just find the term degrading, I'm Polish and live in nyc.

This sounds like this could have been an anti-Polish skit from an anti-Polish Hollywood/TV show that was pushed hard in the 70's by Anti-Polish media Bigots. Maybe this is life imitating anti-Polish TV hate propaganda?

The Polish American Congress complained to CBS-TV about a skit in the show "Two and a Half Men" where the dialog of one of the female characters was "You don't have to tell me twice, I am NOT A POLACK". CBS-TV claimed they will take this dialog out in repeats of the show.

A couple weeks ago, Long Time Anti-Polish Bigot - Don Rickles - went on the CBS "Late Show" and made some disparaging remarks about Jews, Irish people and Polish people. But he didn't call Jews Kikes or Irish people Micks or Harps BUT HE DID refer to Poles as "POLACKS". The New York Polish American Congress Anti-Bigotry Committee has documented this.

Generally these types of anti-Polish slurs in the TV media are rare nowadays. BUT every so often Anti-Polish Bigots in Hollywood and the TV media want to see if they can bring back some Anti-Polish slurs here and there.

ShortHairThug,


Nope. In Chicago where I grew up, People of Polish origin either referred to themselves as Polocks, pollacks, however you want to spell it, or Polish. The term Pole was never used. The only derogatory term for Polish people that I know of was "DP" short for displaced person. In other words DP would stand for someone just off the boat.

Polish jokes come from established Polish people making fun of Polish people just "off the boat". Making fun of their ignorance about the "New World". Poles poking fun at other Poles. Polish people do have a sense of humor, though a bit different than the English or American. Other ethnic groups did the same thing.

Nigger is a low class black and is meant to be derogatory. Pollack or Polak is not a derogatory term.

Just out of curiosity, how often have you been called a polak?

I was under the impression that most Americans really don't care enough about Poles or Poland to actually use a slur against them.

That said, most of my friends are polaks and polkas...

convex


True, Americans are ambivalent about Poles. They're invisible. Most Americans couldn't find Poland on the World Map.

So if these Poles used the word "Polack" to call each other, I'm sure they didn't mean it in a deragatory way. But the way the Hollywood/TV media used the word "Polack", it definitely wasn't meant to be in a friendly way.

Speaking about Chicago, at Polish American Congress meetings and Polanaise dances, are most of the Poles calling each other "Polacks"? I doubt it. I've been to these functions in Chicago and I didn't hear Poles calling each other that. Granted these were more sophisticated Poles so they didn't feel the need to sound edgy or "cute" by calling others "Polacks"


I'm sure that happened to a certain degree. I've heard some Jews call other Jews "Kikes", I've heard some Irish people call other Irish people "Micks", I've heard Italians refer to Italians as "Wops" and "Guineas" but generally these are not the more sophisticated people saying this.

But if "Polish jokes", as in the subhuman intelligence jokes about Poles, came from some Poles trying to be edgy, then how did they become popular in the 1960's and 70's in many areas of the US that had NO Polish people? Why were the so called subhuman intelligence "Polish-jokes" that were told on national TV the same ones that were told the day after at water coolers and homes all around the US? Why were these media-Polish jokes also told in the parts of the US where there were no Polish people?

I was never called a polack , there were a couple times where someone was telling me something about polish people and referred to them as polacks, without realizing that I am a Pole.That's when I educate and give them a warning.

"...przejdziem Wisłę, przejdziem Wartę, będziem Polakami..."

IMHE (in my humble experience), as long as terms are not racial, they depend on the context heavily. Racial terms tend to be derogatory by definition.

I am a Polish-American who also grew up in Chicago. My large extended family and my PolAm friends never referred to ourselves as "Pollocks." That was very definitely a derogatory term. We just said we were Polish.


My family never made up Polish jokes, and we certainly never told them. The Polish jokes I heard were told by non-Poles and were insulting, degrading, and offensive. They were the "sub-human intelligence jokes about Poles", as MediaWatch put it.

So, in summary, please don't call me a Pollock, and please don't tell me any Polish jokes. And, in return, I will not use any ethnic slurs to address you or any other person or group, nor will I tell you offensive jokes about ANY ethnic group.

Some people spend half their life being "insulted".

Actually, it was only about 1/3 of my life. :-) Thankfully, telling Polish jokes seems to have gone out of style.

I believe that telling jokes about a person's ethnicity, race, physical characteristics, mental capabilities, or anything else unique to that person is an unusually cruel and thoughtless way to get a laugh. Every person was made with special characteristics unique to him or her. These should be celebrated, not ridiculed.