{"id":561,"date":"2009-06-09T06:07:02","date_gmt":"2009-06-09T10:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=561"},"modified":"2009-06-09T06:07:02","modified_gmt":"2009-06-09T10:07:02","slug":"essential-phrases-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/essential-phrases-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential Phrases – part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Take any random phrasebook (any language will do) and look inside. You will see a whole bunch of very useful expressions that, no doubt, are essential to your survival in a foreign land.\u00a0 Phrases such as: \u201cWhere is the national museum?\u201d (Yeah right, like you are really going to understand the answer. A lot easier to look up the museum on google maps before you leave home)<\/em> or \u201cCan I have it in red, please?\u201d (at H&M you can find it yourself, and if you\u2019re the type who frequents high end stores, chances are the staff will speak some English, even in France)<\/em> or \u201cI\u2019d like to exchange these traveler\u2019s checks\u201d (just use a bank card, will you?).<\/em><\/p>\n

But one essential phrase is usually missing. It was included in some of the older editions of a certain phrasebook series, along with such useful sentences as: \u201cDo you smoke pot?\u201d and \u201cWhere can I buy drugs?\u201d but needless to say, those phrases disappeared from the book\u2019s subsequent printings.<\/p>\n

The phrase I am talking about here is \u201cWhere is the bathroom?\u201d<\/p>\n

I read somewhere it\u2019s one of the most useful phrases that one can (and should) learn in a foreign language. People with PhDs actually had to conduct proper scientific studies to determine that. But that\u2019s people with PhDs for you. They don\u2019t get out much (and I know what I\u2019m talking about, I\u2019m married to one). Because if they had, they would have known just how essential this question is without wasting a truckload of cash in research grants to figure it out.<\/p>\n

In English, the question is more or less straightforward. When you ask, \u201cwhere\u2019s the bathroom?\u201d you can be almost 100% sure you will be directed towards a place featuring a toilet bowl.
\nBut not so in Poland (and many other countries in the world).<\/p>\n

If you ask for \u201cbathroom\u201d \u2013 \u0142azienka<\/strong>, as in \u201cGdzie jest \u0142azienka?<\/strong>\u201d (Where\u2019s the bathroom) you may end up in a room with a bathtub and a sink, but not the porcelain stuff you so desperately wanted to use. Because it just so happens, that in most (not all, but in 2 out of 3) Polish flats, a bathroom and a toilet are two separate little kingdoms. One is for washing and baths, and the other \u2013 for the other stuff.<\/p>\n

So if you want to do the other stuff, ask for \u201cGdzie jest toaleta?<\/strong>\u201d (Where\u2019s the toilet?).<\/p>\n

In public places, if you ask for \u201c\u0142azienka<\/strong>\u201d chances are people will look at you funny. Poles are imprinted to think of \u201c\u0142azienka<\/strong>\u201d as a place where you either wash yourself, or do the wash (that\u2019s where most people have washing machines too \u2013 in their bathrooms).<\/p>\n

So, in public places, remember to ask \u201cGdzie jest toaleta?<\/strong>\u201d and get some small change ready. Yes, in many places in Poland you have to pay for the privilege of doing your business. The going rate seems to be 2,50PLN these days. Though I\u2019ve seen a 3PLN toilet too, somewhere in Warszawa<\/strong>, I think.<\/p>\n

If there are polite Polish euphemisms for the place, such as \u201crestrooms\u201d or \u201cladies\u2019 room\u201d in English, I can\u2019t think of any right now. I\u2019m sure that our awesome readers will chime in with something, but remember \u2013 I said \u201cpolite\u201d euphemisms. Because \u201cgdzie jest kibelek?<\/strong>\u201d (where\u2019s the loo), and the like, are not what I had in mind. OK?<\/p>\n

PS. Yes, you can also say “Gdzie jest WC?<\/strong>” but remember to say “WC” the Polish way – “voo-tse”<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Take any random phrasebook (any language will do) and look inside. You will see a whole bunch of very useful expressions that, no doubt, are essential to your survival in a foreign land.\u00a0 Phrases such as: \u201cWhere is the national museum?\u201d (Yeah right, like you are really going to understand the answer. A lot easier…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[7337,7560,7593,7614],"class_list":["post-561","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","category-vocabulary","tag-bathroom","tag-restroom","tag-toilet","tag-wc"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}