"Poles" or "Polish people" - which is better to use?

It seems English ain't your name neither. : )) please learn how to pronounce by the way. I've never wanted to say that though yeah it seems most people (at least those one in this forum) in Poland are below Brits, China, India, Canada's etc. etc. etc. IQ/Knowledge

/pəʊl/ instead of /pɔːl/
oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/paul-les?q=Paul

And this is my last post.

At a £100 a paragraph I don't think that PF can afford you.

I don't mind being called a Pole or Polish , I don't see the difference, but i don't have a masters degree in English so technically I may be wrong.

Since the start of the significant influx of Poles to the British Isles from 2004, one may often encoutner the term "the Polish" by analogy to "the French" or "the Irish". I wonder if that is correct. One does not say "the German" (adjective) but "the Germans" (plural noun). The adjectival version seems to be used mainly with nationalities where the singular ends in -man: Frenchman and the French, Irishman and the Irish. Since there is no Polishman, neither should oen say "the Polish". Whaddya think?

Polanious, you blow me out of the water when it comes to the English or Polish language, I have forgotten what verbs adverbs let alone a adjective.

but I guess, and going on gut feel, the use "the Polish" would be a negative to me , Polishman also seems strange to me, or have I missed your point?

No, I said Polishman does NOT EXIST. I was trying to point out that nationalities such as Dutchman, Frenchman, Englishman, etc. have the Dutch, the French and the English. But the Polish, the Czech, the German, etc. are not used.

By accepting the derogatory name of Pollock we are reserving our right to ridicule others which I value highly as I consider we polish as higher value human beings

The term "Pole" is derogatory to me and many other Polish people I know but it is not meant to offend or belittle anyone because westerners use a lot of colloquial terms in every day life as well as in some formal media outlets. In Britain, for instance, even in the media the British tend to, sometimes, refer to themselves as "Brits". So in British culture to say "Pole" is not meant to offend a Polish person. In general, westerners use abbreviations and informal terms much more often than Polish people and they use them in formal settings to a some extent as well, whereas Polish people almost never do that in similar circumstances.

I personally prefer to hear "Polish people" rather than "Poles" though - it sounds more respectful and proper to me.

I've never heard anyone say that, and frankly it says more about you than the word. Does a Finn, a Turk, a Kurd, a Jew, a Breton or a Basque say the English language word for them is offensive?

Ktos I think you hit the nail one the head when it comes to Brits/Pole, In Britain I was never offended by the term Pole, I guess its possible that the use of Pole in some other countries may be meant to be offensive bit like polak in the USA, must admit i got ****** off with the polak jokes when i was in america, I understand how the irish feel about the irish jokes in the uk, small minded people everywhere i'm afraid.

I am not interested in how other nationalities feel about their nationality being verbally abbreviated in this way, I am referring to how Polish people and I, as a Polish person myself, may find such word offensive even if it was not intended to offend.

Actually Ktos, I am British and do find the term 'Brit' a bit grating, esp when used by Irish people, although the majority of people do use it without meaning to be offensive.

'Verbally abbreviated'? Don't talk rubbish, it's a very old word, centuries' old and it is a matter for English speakers. If anyone's offended by it, then they are just being laughably feeble.


'Brit' seems to be a recent thing, via the media. Unlike 'Pole', a long established word.

I've spend decades living with Polish people and the same living with British people and I have never heard anybody say that the word 'Pole' is remotely derogatory or that it is supposed to be derogatory or that it is used in derogatory ways.


Clearly you don't know many Poles. I refer you to
the Federation of Poles in Great Britain (ht tp://zpwb.org.uk/index.php/default) and
the British Poles Initiative (ht tp://britishpoles.uk/).

Even Poles who get very butthurt about British people have no problem with the word: theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/17/polish-downing-tools-get-recognition-deserve-state-handouts


Perhaps the way you get upset by a word which Polish people are very clearly more than willing to use to describe themselves says something about how Polish you are?

Very true and neither Ryszard Kapuściński nor Joseph Conrad had any issue with the word.

Sensitivity is a sign of weakness Polish people are supposed to be strong set a good example wherever we emigrate in any Irish pub in United States there are alcoholic Irish jokes written on every wall

Well, part of my family is Polish, although I really don't know much Polish as a language, but I do know that Pole means Field in Polish. So when they say POLES, I am thinking two things, a pole in the ground made of wood, or a field. The reference to Polish people as a Pole or Poles, is a bit insulting. It is like a Mexican from Mexico calling you a Gringo, it is disrespectful especially when it refers to be a foreigner and yet you are not even a foreigner in your own country when in fact, he is the foreigner. Even on Wiki, they use the word POLES but don't indicate that it is disrespectful. As I read here, I am not the only one who doesn't like references as a POLE. I find it just as bad as using the words Spic, Greaser, Wetback, etc.

Well this guy calls himself a Pole (as indeed you do yourself Mr Troll who calls himself AdamPole even though the term Pole is 'disrespectful'):

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/im-pole-pole-meet-britains-5283112

Then perhaps you shouldn't have included reference to it in your username then.


Those are all derogatory terms. Google 'Pole'. Nowhere does it say that this word is derogatory or offensive.

I, as a Pole, have no problem with the word.

Well, I am Polish, hate it when people call me a Pole, even if it isn't meant in a bad way, but I see it as a slur, so I prefer to be called a Polish person, thanks :)

IINM it's kind of derogatory in Australia.

Nah, it's not. You probably thought of an Icy Pole ... which has nothing to do with a Polish person... :)

That's normal here not offensive. One guy asked me why that is the name one day told him to drop pants and bend over i would demonstrate. He passed.

Now we know what you do in your free time. Lol

Yeah lol. That shut him up though trust me on that one.

@Marsupial
If you say so...lol

It is rather simple, Polish is an adjective and a Pole is a noun.
So yes, you can use Poles and Polish People interchangeably.

I use both Poles and Polish People; there is no difference.

... I have no idea and just felt like joining the conversation ;) I never knew saying Pole or Pollack was offensive, yet I don't speak of or hear of people from Poland all that much, hehe.

"Poles" is just fine, "polak", definitely not!

Polak is reserved for within the Polish community