Harmless old-fashioned Polish swear words/phrases

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Feb 18, 09, 21:38 #1

I am a published author writing about Polish-American immigrants in midwest America during the 20s and 30s. I would like to know some simple AND HARMLESS Polish swear words/phrases that an older man might use in anger. I remember my grandfather's, which is not that harmless.I can only spell it phonetically:"Pshaw-clef," which I think means, literally, "dog's blood." But it translates, certainly, into something more coarse.
Thank you!

DaveyThreads: 17 Posts: 436 Joined: Jun 29, 07 ♂	Feb 18, 09, 22:18 #2
Jadwiga: Pshaw-clef Psia krew

chiThreads: - Posts: 38 Joined: Jan 3, 09 ♀	Feb 18, 09, 22:38 #3
psia mać psia jucha psia dupa I also remember my grandfather saying something like: - jasny gwint - do diaska - cholera jasna - choina [ this was my grandfather's brother favourite - I liked it because he always said that instead of 'cholera' when children were around:-) ]

osiolThreads: 59 Posts: 4,714 Joined: Jul 25, 07 ♂	Edited by: osiol Feb 18, 09, 22:42 #4
Cholera There's an old chap at work whose swearword of choice seems to be cholera. He was off work today seeing the doctor. I imagine the doctor telling him that, no, he isn't actually suffering from cholera. He doesn't exhibit a particularly choleric character.

Polonius3Threads: 963 Posts: 4,552 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Feb 21, 09, 18:33 #5
Cholera was once considered quite rude so it was replaced by the euphemism choroba. Go figure. Just as do diaska replaced do diabła, regarded as a very strong oath.

WroclawThreads: 74 Posts: 7,276 Joined: Apr 1, 06 ♂ [Moderator]	Feb 21, 09, 18:52 #6
Polonius3: Cholera was once considered quite rude so it was replaced by the euphemism choroba. I still hear 'cholera' used

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,160 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Feb 21, 09, 18:54 #7
Cholera is very much used today. P3, you don't even live in Poland, do you?

SwiteziankaThreads: - Posts: 525 Joined: Jun 17, 08 ♀	Feb 22, 09, 10:37 #8
A niech to gęś kopnie! Motyla noga! Do jasnej anielki! Kurcze pieczone/blade!

PomorzankaThreads: 1 Posts: 39 Joined: Feb 18, 09 ♀	Feb 22, 09, 17:14 #9
- kurcze pióro (chicken's feather) - kurka wodna (water hen) - psia kość (dog's bone) - kuchnia (kitchen)

Polonius3Threads: 963 Posts: 4,552 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Feb 28, 09, 15:19 #10
Sorry, I misphrased things. I did not intend to suggest that choroba has replaced or displaced cholera which is very much alive. I wanted to say choroba was once used by those who felt cholera was too strong. Mea maxima culpa for my lack of clarity!

gosiaczekThreads: 3 Posts: 89 Joined: Nov 17, 07 ♀	Edited by: gosiaczek Feb 28, 09, 16:04 #11
I like this one: kurdzibąk (although I'm not sure if this should be spelled kurdzi bąk or kurdzibąk), means the same as kurcze pieczone, psia krew, and so on. do stu diabłów niech to piorun trzaśnie Davey: Jadwiga: Pshaw-clef Psia krew my grandma still uses this one

robbietravelcat	Jul 22, 10, 03:58 #12
Davey What does Pshaw-clef mean? This is so weird.... I never saw it spelled out before, I only heard it. My father used to say it a lot when he got angry, but he said "Pshaw-chef oletta.

skysoulmateThreads: 41 Posts: 3,039 Joined: Jan 10, 10 ♂	Edited by: skysoulmate Jul 22, 10, 04:05 #13
robbietravelcat: Davey What does Pshaw-clef mean? This is so weird.... I never saw it spelled out before, I only heard it. My father used to say it a lot when he got angry, but he said "Pshaw-chef oletta. Psia krew? "dog's blood" ~ damn it! Not sure about the last word? Never mind, just saw the first post explaining it...

f stopThreads: 28 Posts: 2,682 Joined: Dec 9, 09 ♀	Jul 22, 10, 05:13 #14
my fathers: jasna cholera and, of course, psia krew. Never heard my mother or any of my grandparents curse.

tow_stalinThreads: 2 Posts: 72 Joined: Jul 21, 10 ♂	Jul 22, 10, 08:44 #15
in southern poland very useful unharmless swear is: "ty pierunie" which means in enlglish: "you lightning". or "ty giździe", or even "ty ciućmoku" and even more even "ty ćmiylu". outcome is that, "W szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie" is not so hard to spell :)

catsoldierThreads: 75 Posts: 505 Joined: Sep 27, 09 ♂	Jul 24, 10, 18:08 #16
Some samples of Polish swearing and a funny video.

plk123Threads: 30 Posts: 6,410 Joined: Aug 29, 07 ♂	Jul 25, 10, 01:46 #17
kurde

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,160 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Jul 25, 10, 01:47 #18
Kurde, open your PM box, plk123 ;)

plk123Threads: 30 Posts: 6,410 Joined: Aug 29, 07 ♂	Jul 25, 10, 01:50 #19
you can email me, no? or give me some time so i can read all the bitchin' PMs i got. :D

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,160 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Edited by: Seanus Jul 25, 10, 01:51 #20
Well, if the Mods permit this to stay up til you finish work on it ;) ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AnwwMxJqvk&NR=1, I can't make out what is said here. Sth like 'if you need help, come to the pub??' (or come to papa??) Oh, spieprzyć is old and harmless despite the stem.

plk123Threads: 30 Posts: 6,410 Joined: Aug 29, 07 ♂	Jul 25, 10, 02:05 #21
Seanus: Oh, spieprzyć is old and harmless despite the stem. it's just over peppered. :) Seanus: I can't make out what is said here. Sth like 'if you need help, come to the pub??' (or come to papa??) i can't tell.. i don't have any head phones with me here. sorry

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,160 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Jul 25, 10, 02:10 #22
Over-peppered, LOL. Or screwed up ;) Then please listen without ;) ;)

plk123Threads: 30 Posts: 6,410 Joined: Aug 29, 07 ♂	Jul 25, 10, 02:16 #23
Seanus: Then please listen without ;) ;) i did and i can't tell one thing.. that's why i mentioned head phones.. those would help tremendously..

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,160 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Jul 25, 10, 02:28 #24
Aha, thanks for trying, kurde ;) ;)

tomzickThreads: - Posts: 1 Joined: Sep 27, 10 ♂	Sep 27, 10, 22:14 #25
I remember hearing a phrase used by the old Polish ladies in my neighborhood (Buffalo, NY) that sounded something like, "oh, helleda!" Does anyone know it, what it means, how to say it, how to spell it correctly? Jen-kooya! Tom

f stopThreads: 28 Posts: 2,682 Joined: Dec 9, 09 ♀	Edited by: f stop Sep 27, 10, 22:19 #26
O, Cholera - Oh, horrible bacterial infection

nunczkaThreads: 15 Posts: 572 Joined: Sep 13, 08 ♂	Sep 27, 10, 22:47 #27
Można uzyskać od uderzenia pioruna May you get struck by lightning.

noreenbThreads: 3 Posts: 952 Joined: Apr 22, 09 ♀	Sep 28, 10, 01:20 #28
"-Cholera jasna." or: "-Do jasnej cholery!" are my favourite. "Cholera mnie bierze" - "I can't stand it any longer" "Kurza twarz" (hen's face) is nice too. "Do diaska", "do diabła", and plenty others.

smp

Oct 21, 10, 14:24 #29

How about: "do kroćset" (doh krotch-set)? I'm not even trying to translate it... ;)

But my all-time favorite old-fashioned phrase is KRUCAFUKS. Spell it: "krootza-fookhz", with an accent on the second part. I don't know how to translate it (because it means totallty and absolutely nothing), but it reminds me of english "oh, bloody hell". Probably

To be perfectly clear - no one talks like that in Poland nowadays. But my grandpa probably used that phrase often. :)

alexw68	Oct 21, 10, 14:38 #30
Wife's grandad used to say 'do jasnej holendry' a lot...

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