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Polish filler words?


Polonius3 994 | 12,367
20 Aug 2010 #1
English has all kinds of these: er, um, ah, the classic 'well', and all kinds of: Let me see,
I'd say, It seems to me and the polticians' favourite at pressers: 'I'm glad you asked' (whilst thinking to himself: 'You dirty bastard!').

What are some of the better-known non-rude Polish ones?
ender 5 | 398
20 Aug 2010 #2
yyy; aha; oh; ale,ale,ale; cóż; mi się :-)
zetigrek
20 Aug 2010 #3
eee

nooo

normalnie
jablko - | 106
20 Aug 2010 #4
I HATE when people go 'yyyyy' and 'eeeee'
Seanus 15 | 19,674
20 Aug 2010 #5
The most common by far is 'po prostu' ;) When I listen to Polish females on talk shows, they can chalk up 30 in the space of a few mins.
pgtx 29 | 3,146
20 Aug 2010 #6
tak...?
i ten...
Olaf 6 | 955
20 Aug 2010 #7
"kurwa" is one of the most common and universal:)
zetigrek
20 Aug 2010 #8
The most common by far is 'po prostu' ;)

I used to have such problem ;)
Seanus 15 | 19,674
20 Aug 2010 #9
My mum used to tell me that I said 'basically' too much. Sometimes you just aren't aware until someone tells you about it.

Ten is very common too. Um, wiesz, no, ten.... :)
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367
20 Aug 2010 #10
What about:
Jak by tu powiedzieć...
Powiem tak...
Jak na stan dzisiejszy...
To zależy...
W pewnym sensie...
I tak, i nie...
Można tak do tego podejść, ale...
Owszem, ale
Naturalnie...
Oczywiście...
Ma się rozumieć...
O to się rozchodzi, że

There must be many other ways of filling in lulls and/or stalling for time in Polish.
We all know the vulgarities scumbags (even the suit and tie-wearing ones) use, but that is the stuff of another thread.
szarlotka 8 | 2,208
20 Aug 2010 #11
My mum used to tell me that I said 'basically' too much

Lol. Was that Monty Python sketch based on you then? Well basically I think it was.

Po Prostu - is that basically then? Literally its simply right?
Seanus 15 | 19,674
20 Aug 2010 #12
Basically, yeah :)
SzwedwPolsce 11 | 1,594
20 Aug 2010 #13
No, właśnie, dooookładnie, ooooo, uuuuuu, masakra (without any real meaning) etc.
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367
21 Aug 2010 #14
paranoja (spelling?) is also used to express a negative feeling, but has nothing to do with being paranoid (excessively anxious and apprehensive)....
BTW do you perceive the recent overuse of dokładnie as a carbon-copy translation of exactly, precisely, quite?
mafketis 37 | 10,894
21 Aug 2010 #15
"Paranoja" is pretty specific, and very close to "insane" (about a situation) in colloquial American usage.

They said I have to X, it's insane.

Mówią, że muszę X - paranoja.
Jimmu 2 | 156
1 Oct 2011 #16
What about 'o'? (sp?) It's a really short, almost explosive sound. I hear it a lot, but it doesn't seem to mean anything.

And on the English side, you forgot "y'know?"
Leopejo 4 | 120
2 Oct 2011 #17
Some people have an obsession with "nie?", used not as a question tag but as a filler in neuter intonation a couple of times per sentence.

Other people instead use the real question tag "prawda?", with stress and unusually long duration on the last syllable.
Pan Zuk Gnojowy 10 | 24
2 Oct 2011 #18
Since I've been in Poland, I have become completely obsessed with the word "no". I say it instinctively (incorrectly, at a guess) in almost every situation; 'Well' ' oops' 'pardon?' 'hey', so far my attempts to squeeze it into any given phrase haven't brought me too much negative attention, but there's plenty of time yet.

Probably deserves its own thread, but my absolute favourite thing is the string of non-words used to end a telephone call.
'no hej' being the stock - root. elaborated with mad rapid fire combinations of:
pa
pa pa
no to pa
no to hej
sie ma hej! itd

I've heard some with ludicrously long strings fired out like valedictory machine gun volleys.
siemanko notohej pa.czesc.pa! hej!
gumishu 13 | 6,140
2 Oct 2011 #19
Some people have an obsession with "nie?", used not as a question tag but as a filler in neuter intonation a couple of times per sentence.

it was 'co nie' in my youth times, but yes already then it tended to evolve into just 'nie'

there is 'ten' - "no i ten, no, i on wtedy, ten, no poszedł do garażu, i wyciągnął ten, tego, no - kompresor? - no coś takiego w każdym razie, takie z kablem i rurkami ;)"

'ten' is used mostly when you seek words - 'nie' tends to be used when someone speaks fast - it seems such a short stop so that the listeners can actually follow phrases and sentences - it also marks that the speaker puts some emotional emphasis on what s/he is speaking

'po prostu' is very much like 'basically' in English
boletus 30 | 1,361
2 Oct 2011 #20
What are some of the better-known non-rude Polish ones?

Modern
Słuuchaj!
"Słuuchaj! Wczoraj po szkole spotkałam Aśkę i słuuchaj! co ona mi naopowiedziała!"

No raczej!
Bo wiesz, ...
Bo ja, proszę ciebie, ...
Prawdę mówiąc, ...
Generalnie rzecz biorąc, ...

Absolutnie, ..
W rzeczy samej, ..
Koniec świata, ...

Prawda?
Nieprawda?
Wiesz? (Wiesz? Nie wiem. :-))
Ten, tego, słowem... (Response: Który? Którego?)
Widzisz? (- widzisz? - nie widzę.- no, widzisz!(

From Marxist Era
właśnie, towarzysze, właśnie

From not so distant past
waśnie, waśnie (should be "właśnie")
panie ten, tego
uczciwszy uszy
uczciwszy uszy, upraszam pardonu

Encyklopdia staropolska, przysłowia osobiste - Zygmunt Gloger
pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyklopedia_staropolska/Przysłowia_osobiste

It was a national habit that almost every Pole, both a "szaraczek", magnate or peasant, had a favourite phrase, often repeated

Hetman Stanisław Potocki ( - 1667) - By overusing Latin expression "re vera" (verily, truly), he became known as Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki

In the same manner:
Karol Radziwiłł, wojewoda wileński (1744 - 1790) - "Panie kochanku"
Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł, father of "Panie Kochanku" - "Rybeńko".
Jan Klemens Branicki, Great Crown Hetman - (1689-1771) - "Moja panno"

Polish national characteristics was the same across all states and provinces of the Commonwealth. Both the governor of Kiev, like many a petty nobleman in Podlasie, Mazovia yeoman and Wielkopolska townsman, had the habit of repeating:

Uczciwszy uszy
Panie dobrodzieju
Ale, ale
Jak się zowie
Tandem tedy
Mospanie
Mościwy panie
Mopanie
Mosembeju
Mosztordzieju

Fragments from "Revenge" by Aleksander Fredro. Wise guy Cześnik dictates a letter to Dyndalski:
Bardzo proszę ... mocium panie ...
Mocium panie ... me wezwanie...
Mocium panie ... wziąć w sposobie,
Jako ufność ku osobie...
Lyzko
2 Oct 2011 #21
No, tylko, przecież, ależ are pretty common particles in Polish.

No, co słychać? = Well/So, what's up?

Tylko ostrożnie, Mieszku! = Just be careful there, Mitch!

To przecież niełatwie, samo uczyć się angielskiego. = That's not easy though, to learn English all by yourself.

Czy mogę wejść? - Ależ tak! = May I come in? Why sure!
gumishu 13 | 6,140
2 Oct 2011 #22
To przecież niełatwie, samemu/samej uczyć się angielskiego. = That's not easy though, to learn English all by yourself.

catsoldier 62 | 595
29 Feb 2012 #23
pa.czesc.pa! hej!

To add what I found recently:

Powodzenia hej and do zobaczenia hej when saying goodbye. Could I say do usłyszenia hej?
Pan Zuk Gnojowy 10 | 24
29 Feb 2012 #24
if you have any ambition at all you'll be able to fit them all in a rapid fire valediction 'masakra' topped off with a final 'pa' or 'cześć" and kicked off with a random "no, to", then hang up.

:)


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