Archive for 'Vocabulary'
Poles and kombinowanie Posted by Anna on Oct 27, 2009
Today we will tackle something that is a bit controversial. Or maybe not, I guess it all depends on your point of view. But we’ll see. I really don’t like sweeping generalizations, though that doesn’t stop me in making them myself from time to time, to be perfectly honest. So most of the time when…
Readers Ask – I Answer: Counting Things in Polish Posted by Anna on Oct 22, 2009
I was going to stay in bed and marinate under the covers for one more day (yes, my cold has morphed into a full-blown bronchitis now) but a reader’s email made me crawl out to face the enemy. The email had that panicky and ominous tone making it sound as if the intergalactic victory of…
Przeziębienie – a common cold strikes again Posted by Anna on Oct 18, 2009
I’m so sorry this post is late, but I have a very good excuse – I’m sick. Totally and utterly sick. Not the new flu (thankfully), but the whole nine yards nevertheless: katar (runny nose), kaszel (cough), ból gardła (sore throat) and everything else that comes with it. In other words – przeziębienie (a common…
What do you call a person who lives in Bielsko-Biała? Posted by Anna on Oct 12, 2009
In his comment to the Bielsko-Biała post Mchl posed an interesting question: what do you call a person who lives in Bielsko-Biała? Yeah, indeed… An inhabitant of Gdańsk is called gdańszczanin (masculine; gdańszczanka – feminine). A person who lives in Warsaw? Warszawiak or warszawianin, if a male, and warszawianka, if a female. In Kraków? Krakowiak…
Polish Drivers License? Posted by Anna on Sep 5, 2009
So… a friend of mine (yes, I know, I know… I seem to have an awful lot of friends, but when I say “friend” I mean it in the American way, OK?) is moving to Poland. Why? She married a Polish dude (what a refreshing change from all those foreign dudes marrying Polish girls!) and…
Anna Goes Back to School – in Łódź Posted by Anna on Jul 24, 2009
I am really glad that so many of you share my opinion about Łódź. That city is a fascinating place, and if I could, I would very probably move there myself. I even like that fact that it’s so hard to get to. But if you are determined to get there, whatever you do, don’t…
Namedays Posted by Anna on Jun 18, 2009
Imieniny. I’m sure that anyone who has spent more than five minutes (ok, five days) in Poland is familiar, even if only vaguely, with this glorious occasion. The custom of celebrating namedays (imieniny) is not unique to Poland (some other countries do it, too), but I think only in Poland imieniny are taken so seriously…