{"id":428,"date":"2008-12-15T15:21:53","date_gmt":"2008-12-15T19:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=428"},"modified":"2008-12-15T15:21:53","modified_gmt":"2008-12-15T19:21:53","slug":"friends-will-be-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/friends-will-be-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Friends Will Be Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Basia<\/strong>\u2019s comment about the whole przyjaci\u00f3\u0142ka\/kole\u017canka<\/strong>\/relationship thing made me think. And she\u2019s right, it IS a very nuanced thing, indeed.<\/p>\n

In English I refer to approximately 1395 people as my \u201cfriends.\u201d Yet, when talking to a Pole, about 1390 of those people are not \u201cfriends\u201d (przyjaci\u00f3\u0142ki<\/strong>) but \u201ckole\u017canki\/koledzy<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cznajome\/znajomi<\/strong>\u201d or \u201ckumpelki\/kumple<\/strong>\u201d and so on. People that I could call \u201cprzyjaci\u00f3\u0142ki\/przyjaciele<\/strong>\u201d (friends) in Polish are maybe 5 on a good day.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been my impression that \u201cprzyja\u017a\u0144<\/strong>\u201d (friendship) is taken very seriously among Polish people. Friendship is not a word used lightly. To say that someone is your friend means you\u2019ve probably known him since kindergarten and you\u2019d give your last z\u0142oty<\/strong> for him, if needed.<\/p>\n

Everybody else that you know who does not fit into that category is called either a \u201ckolega<\/strong>\u201d or \u201ckole\u017canka<\/strong>.\u201d This is a problematic word, because depending on who you\u2019re talking about, it can be translated into English as either \u201cfriend\u201d or \u201ccolleague.\u201d Or even \u201cmate,\u201d \u201cpal,\u201d or if you know each other from school \u2013 \u201cclassmate.\u201d
\nBasically, it\u2019s the same as \u201cfriend\u201d but you\u2019ve met them later on in life and you\u2019d rather keep your last z\u0142oty<\/strong> than use it to bail your \u201ckolega<\/strong>\u201d out of trouble.<\/p>\n

And then you have \u201cznajomy<\/strong>.\u201d As a noun, it technically means \u201cacquaintance\u201d but it can come in all sorts of flavors, from a \u201ckolega<\/strong>\u201d with whom you lost touch to your favorite hairdresser. It’s a very broad word to describe all sorts of people who might not be close enough to be \u201ckoledzy<\/strong>\u201d or \u201ckole\u017canki<\/strong>.\u201d But what I\u2019ve also noticed is that older people sometimes feel silly to use \u201ckoledzy<\/strong>\u201d or \u201ckole\u017canki<\/strong>\u201d when talking about people they know and prefer to refer to them as \u201cznajomi<\/strong>.\u201d It really depends. For example, a man wouldn\u2019t be caught dead saying that a female co-worker is a \u201ckole\u017canka z pracy<\/strong>\u201d (a colleague from work.) He is more likely to say that she is a \u201cznajoma z pracy<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, where does a \u201ckumpel<\/strong>\u201d fit into all this? Sideways and from both ends, I guess. Anybody can be a \u201ckumpel<\/strong>.\u201d In everyday parlance it can be used to describe anyone from a BFF to someone you occasionally see at dog shows. Technically speaking, it\u2019s translated as \u201cpal,\u201d \u201cbuddy,\u201d \u201cmate\u201d and other sorts of goofy words. And needless to say, that this being Polish means there is a female version too \u2013 \u201ckumpela<\/strong>\u201d or \u201ckumpelka<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

It all looks and feels very intricate, but after a while you can easily determine to which category your friends belong.<\/p>\n

Next time we\u2019ll talk about relationships.
\nAnd here\u2019s the grammar\/vocabulary stuff: (I’ll add sound when I have a minute.)<\/em><\/p>\n