Is the UK referred to as the Islands in Polish media back home?

It's come to the attention that most immigrant Polish folks tend to refer to the UK and Ireland collectively as "The Islands"

I'm curious, is this something brought over from Poland? is the UK referred to as the Islands in Polish media back home?

I know technically the British Isles are islands, but in the traditional sense, people refer to islands that are much smaller geographical bodies such as the canary islands or the Caribbean :P

Do the Polish call Australia an Island as well?

In Polish, "England" is called "Anglia". I'm not aware of any other such appelation for England, other than "Wielka Brytania" or "Great Britain"-:)

The Polish media is full of references to "na Wyspach", i.e. in the UK/GB/British Isles, whatever you want to call it.

I see. Guess I forgot about that.
Cheers!

Where are these isles you speak of?

Norman Davies, The Isles: A History


- Amazon.com

When once touring in the UK as a teenager, I stopped off at a small hotel in the center of London. An older woman of I'd say approx. sixty-sixty plus, noticed my bags and my US passport, and so decided to strike up some much welcome conversation with this young stranger to her city. She asked how I liked London and I casually remarked how terribly excited I and our group were since none of us had ever been to Europe before. All of a sudden, her smile disappeared and her expression turned glacial: "Young man, you happen to be in England, NOT in Europe. Europe's the Continent!"

That rather promptly ended our discussion.

I thought you Poles refer to my country a Pakistan nowadays.

Yes - they have been using the term for many years.

Weirdo's.

Probably to do to the deep self shame and jealousy to the British nation. Superior Economically and Culturally, therefore emphasize the Island nature of the nation thus making Poland a greater Nation.

Keep taking your cars to Polish garages in the UK, sending your kids to Polish kindergarten and of course!!! watching Polish TV in the UK :)

Why would Poles be jealous of an Island filled with people that look like ugly ghosts?

Hmmm strange opinion.. not sure how to reply to that one...

So basically i look more like Casper than a Polish person ???? OK THEN :D

No such thing as an English Jew.

Coming from someone who is a dead ringer for Nosferatu!

May I ask why do you think it's offensive? I absolutely don't understand your reasoning. Why Poles allegedly should feel a "greater Nation"? Is there in the UK a negative connotation with the word island? In Poland there is not.

none of my polish friends refer to uk or ireland as the islands.jersey or guernsey yes, because they are small. maybe canary islands also. generally the term islands would be used when the islands are in fact small. thought you were from north wales? Off topic comment removed.

No, it's a continent.


What? Who taught you geography?!
Grenland is island as well as Madagaskar, Honshu (almost the same size as Great Britain... I wonder if Japanese have something against about saying they live on islands), New Zealand, Borneo, Baffin Island, Sumatra, New Guinea etc.


maybe there is a problem with translation. Wyspa means island, isle, no matter if it's small or big. And Great Britain is an island. What's wrong with that? I really don't get it!

Put your emoticon tongue back in your mouth and get a clue. Great Britain is both "technically" and traditionally referred to as a group of islands and the Caribbean is the name of a sea.

According to wikipedia Great Britain is 9th world's largest island in the world and the largest island in Europe.


Believe me it's like saying na antypodach (on antipodes) instead of Australia. Na wyspach (brytyjskich) means on the (British) Isles and is common. Is that offensive?

I wonder if this is accurate for Poland. Would anyone with access to a globe be so kind as to figure out what region of the Earth is antipodal to Poland? The word is from the Greek meaning foot to foot.

Edit: Nevermind I figured it out. It is the area in, and around, the Falkland Islands, and not Australia

but it's a perfectly geographically accurate descriptiion, what's your problem? Actually it's an archipelago but that might be beyond you.


nasty Des, why, from what I have seen I could describe your country as being full of banjo playing inbreds and people that are so fat they can hardly walk. But I wouldn't, because that would be silly..;)

I was just trying to fight fire with fire, rozumiemnic. I know Britain isn't exclusively full of ugly pasty creeps. I just wanted to turn the tables on this forum's Polonophobic British posters.

hmmm....don't blame you really...it is a bit much.
plus I believe you visited the south coast...in which case you might have a point..;)

there really isnt anything wrong at all with you referring to uk as being an island. geographically you are correct. BUT although uk is as such an island, english people wouldnt regard it in the same way. islands are small....but yes uk is an island. guess everything gets lost in translation. australia ia a continent, but also an island.....from an english persons point of view, an island would only be somewhere small in size.( hope this helps)

You need to think up some new tactics then slap head.

Don't you think that perhaps it might be best just to ignore them?

I bet you had to look that up. The Antipodes of Poland are actually in the South Pacific. The Antipodes as a phrase are a way of referring to Australia and New Zealand in UK English.

And 'the islands are a way of referring to the British Isles in Polish. Google it, why dontcha? (in Polish of course).


Get a life.

Australia is only part of a continent,or was when I learned about this stuff in primary school, Australasia,includes New Zealand, Taz and some other rocks.

Oh,and, erm, most of Britains cultural myths centre around us being an island, whats the big deal now?

Strange thread. Personally, I find it a little bit baffling that the OP can find something pejorative in the name"wyspa", and the explanations don't really add up! I can only think that they find the term somehow a little overfamiliar and they're inferring a sort of colonial attitude from the term. That's my best guess. As for me, I've written the word in my book and intend to tell everyone at work 'wracam na wyspach w piątek" :)

Hm, don't Brits refer to the rest of Europe as 'the continent'? So, from continental point of view, they are 'the isles'. What's strange or offensive in that?

Anyway, in Polish language there are a lot of such terms, because it's considered poor style to use the same term all over one article or piece of TV news, so they would probably use all the names they can think of, even 'Albion' etc. It gets quite kitschy sometimes and it's even laughed at, for example there is a legendary term for skiing 'białe szaleństwo' (white madness).

Nobody refers to Australia as an island in Poland, as it's considered a continent.


Who Cares what they are Superior at, if they live on an Island, surrounded by Wet, Cold Sea, full of Fish, Seaweed and other Stinky objects, ugh, Disgusting!