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Polish word for 'queue'


paul84
10 Apr 2012 #1
I guess we are running over the same old ground, but I am afraid our Polish friends are getting worse at queuing.

I flew out from Wroclaw airport in Poland last week, and what a sight. What a mad scramble for boarding. What a surprise, that the few English people were gasping with horror at the lost lambs attempting to form a 'queue'.

I think lessons should be introduced at school - and I am deadly serious. It is getting embarrassing.
pip 10 | 1,658
10 Apr 2012 #2
yes it is.
xzqbq7 2 | 100
10 Apr 2012 #3
lessons should be introduced at school

Maybe if you told them to 'get in line' instead of 'queue' it would work?

But seriously I don't understand the problem, doesn't everyone have an assigned seat at that time?
If they're rushing on board just let them, then you can board when it's empty. Of course I haven't seen it
but is it really that bad?
Grzegorz_ 51 | 6,148
10 Apr 2012 #4
that the few English people were gasping with horror

Personally I was gasping with horror when I saw English not washing their hands after walking out of toilet. I guess it's a matter of cultural difference then. Diversity.
cms 9 | 1,254
10 Apr 2012 #5
But seriously I don't understand the problem, doesn't everyone have an assigned seat at that time?

No, not on budget airlines.
mafketis 37 | 10,904
10 Apr 2012 #6
The mainstream word for line is kolejka.

One reason Polish people don't like waiting in line has to do with the communist past, when scenes like the one below (for toilet paper) were common.

Also, Polish people have never used lines for getting on public transport. Suck it up and deal.
ahem - | 3
10 Apr 2012 #7
Polish people don't like waiting in line

That's not really turn now is it?
Polish people will queue for anything and they seem to feckin love it
terri 1 | 1,663
10 Apr 2012 #8
The best thing is simply to tell them: 'Tu jest kolejka, prosze pana/pani.' (There is a queue here)
with a voice that could shudder a thousand ships and with a look that says 'I'm just waiting... bring it on'.
I notice the very same thing every time I'm in Krakow, but then again, it's every man for himself.
Trevek 26 | 1,700
10 Apr 2012 #9
Personally I was gasping with horror when I saw English not washing their hands after walking out of toilet. I guess it's a matter of cultural difference then. Diversity.

I'd be pretty shocked too, as it certainly isn't a cultural thing (I know hardly anyone who doesn't do it). Maybe it's that the state of some public toilets in Poland they thought it safer not to chance washing their hands.

As for queueing, my "favourite" is when there is a whole line of people and one person says, "I\ve just got a question..." and the assistant stops serving to deal with that one person!
isthatu2 4 | 2,694
10 Apr 2012 #10
I'd be pretty shocked too

me too, if I noticed some Polish weirdo hanging around in the mens toilets watching what British men do.......
Queueing in Poland,sod it,when in Rome, I just develope very sharp elbows.
At least the Poles are better than germans at this. generally Poles will see a queue and try to work their way to the front in a full on assault, germans meanwhile will see a queue and presume it is for the lower orders and walk straight past it with a sense of self importance :)
Magdalena 3 | 1,837
10 Apr 2012 #11
Maybe it's that the state of some public toilets in Poland they thought it safer not to chance washing their hands.

I know this is not the main topic here, but I hardly ever see anyone wash their hands after using the toilet in the UK. The most they do is put their fingers limply under running water for about 5 seconds and that's it.
mafketis 37 | 10,904
10 Apr 2012 #12
germans meanwhile will see a queue and presume it is for the lower orders and walk straight past it with a sense of self importance :)

If a Polish person accidentally bumps into you on the sidewalk they apologize. If an American bumps into you (and you're American) you both apologize. If a German person bumps into you they'll harumph about your nerve for getting in their way....
rybnik 18 | 1,454
10 Apr 2012 #13
One reason Polish people don't like waiting in line has to do with the communist past, when scenes like the one below (for toilet paper) were common.

Mafeketis you just brought me back. Wow! That pic says it all.

Also, Polish people have never used lines for getting on public transport. Suck it up and deal.

I didn't see it when I was back. Hmmm.
TheOther 6 | 3,667
10 Apr 2012 #14
germans meanwhile will see a queue and presume it is for the lower orders and walk straight past it with a sense of self importance

If a German person bumps into you they'll harumph about your nerve for getting in their way....

Sissies... :)
Specjalista 3 | 43
23 Apr 2012 #15
There is no such thing as a queue in Poland only trying to enable everybody to do whatever it is they are trying to do as quickly as possible without causing the process to slow down.

I love when a Pole pronounces the word queue for the first time :) quee ;)
boletus 30 | 1,361
23 Apr 2012 #16
There is no such thing as a queue in Poland

youtube.com/watch?v=F-Ak6oZYM64
- There is a queue here!
- I'm not blind!
- But perhaps deaf?! I say that there is a queue and you walk in and without ...I'm talking to you!
- Mister, why do you pat me so, are you a doctor!?
- You were not standing here!
- Mister, I tell you what - take a bus 125, exit at the Old Town Square; there is a column of Sigismund the Third, so go there and tell him: "You were not standing here!"
isthatu2 4 | 2,694
24 Apr 2012 #18
These days the Po;ish word for queue is opłata.


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