![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/08\/lazy-male-house.jpg\")
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To a Pole this is nothing special, and frankly, I doubt that anyone would give it more than a bored, passing glance. Gee, another old, crumbling house in an old, crumbling village. But to an English speaker, the name of this village, as shown on a sign on this house is unintentionally hilarious.<\/p>\n
Alas, in Polish \u0141azy Ma\u0142e<\/strong> (it’s plural, by the way) are not so exciting. In fact, they\u2019re not exciting at all. \u201c\u0141azy<\/strong>\u201d is an old Polish word for\u2026 hmm, yes, for what exactly? Oh yes, that place in the woods! You know, the place where the trees were all chopped down and the plot of land was turned into a field. That\u2019s a \u201c\u0142az<\/strong>\u201d (singular)<\/em>. Of course since it\u2019s an ancient word, nobody uses it anymore, and it survives exclusively for the benefit of making English people laugh.<\/p>\n The second word in the name \u2013 \u201cma\u0142e<\/strong>\u201d means “small” (plural, non-personal masculine)<\/em>.<\/p>\n Of course the whole name, as most Polish village names, is actually a plural noun and a plural adjective combo.<\/p>\n And while this noun might be archaic, the adjective is very much used these days.<\/p>\n<\/a>Because letters such as \u201c\u0141<\/strong>\u201d for example, don\u2019t exist in English, a name like \u201c\u0141azy Ma\u0142e<\/a><\/strong>\u201d becomes \u201cLazy Male\u201d. Now, who wants to live in the house of a Lazy Male, huh? An address such as Lazy Male 1 would probably elicit more than a few chuckles in the UK.<\/p>\n\n