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

Polacy, Polki for women

- What specific word is 'frowned on' by Poles?

Shakespeare refers (in a positive manner) to the Poles as 'Polacks,' but in America the word has been used bizarrely as a derogatory term. We should repossess the name, because its pronunciation is practically identical as the Polish pronunciation of the word 'Polak' - our term for a Polish man. (The term for a Polish woman is 'Polka.')

Both 'Pole' and 'Polish' can evoke both negative and positive associations in English (six-foot pole, earth poles; shoe polish, polish = refinement).

Germanic Slavs?

I'm Polish. I didn't realize anyone cared what to call us. I'm cool with Pole, Polak, Polish person... The white girl over there from some slavic country in europe... People are too damned up tight. Get over it. Us Polish have taken it from just about oh...everyone including Prussia which doesn't even exist anymore. I didn't realize I should care that people make dumb Polish jokes, call Polaks weird things, and I really don't care that Im blond too due to being Polish and that there are jokes about that.

I've never heard anyone say Polonian.

Any Polanders here?


I would have thought you might not like to be a Polak (masculine) and might prefer to be a Polka (feminine).
You did say you're a girl, right?

Good for you. I never paid attention to any of that either. If I detected anything with an undertone to it, I reacted. I can be snippy too.
Usually, the person would become embarrassed and apologetic. Good enough for me and a lesson for the offender.
Some get way toooooo sensitive for no reason! :)

Actually we just get "Scot" most of the time. The English call us Jock a lot which annoys the tits off us.

Most dictionaries I've come across define 'Polak' as a racial slur/derogatory title for a person of Polish descent. From my own experience it can certainly be used that way. I think it is comparable to 'nigga' and I wouldn't want someone non-Polish using it unless they know that I'm cool with them. Having said that, of course it's ok for other Polish people to use it among themselves.

'Pole' just sounds stupid to me.

I also identify as a Slav. So I say I'm a Slav or a Polish person.

I am reading a book published in 1948, written in English by Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, Prime Minister of the Polish goverment in exile during World War II( second important persona after Sikorski ). Every time when he did mention about Polish people he was using the term "Poles". So when Polish exile elite had to use that term it looks like a proper one

I don't think the term 'Pole' is derogatory; just stupid sounding. 'Polak' can be used in a derogatory way when used by anyone non-Polish.

I use Pole because saying "polish people" is too long. Its like calling Blacks in the states "African Americans". I wouldn't expect someone to call me a Scottish person or an American when they can just say Yank or Mick (or sh*thead).

That being said, I was told that "pollack" just means male Pole and I use it extensively. Is someone playing a mean joke on me?

Funny to object to English speaking people using the term Pollack, when the Polish people use the word "polak" !

youre quite right helena but for some reason im not suprised ;)

The usual situation, it's OK for them to use it but not outsiders.

I guess certain outsiders gave it a negative connotation.

Although there are some Polish people who do not find it offensive when non-Poles use the term 'Polak,' (e.g. HelenaWojtczak) I imagine that they have not experienced that unhappy occasion of being discriminated against due to their cultural background. How lucky you must be to either not have experienced an anti-Slavic prejudice that is really prevalent in the West (it was acknowledged in popular culture as far back as 1951 in a Streetcar Named Desire), or to just manage to just be oblivious to it. I wish I could pretend that the term Polak does not conjure up 'dumb polak' joke references and other negative stereotypes.

If you, however, consult most dictionaries you will find that there is an acknowledgment and explicit mention of the derogatory meanings associated with the term. According to dictionary.com:

Po·lack Audio Help /ˈpoʊlɑk, -læk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[poh-lahk, -lak]
–noun
Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a Pole or person of Polish descent.

Its more annoying when they call us "sweatys", makes me want to stick the heid on the morris dancing f***ies!!!

I have never been called a sweatz (mz kezboard hates me since i changed the lazout). Jock is bloodz annozing though.

click on shift and alt to get back typing the y when u need to

marvellous, thanks very much :)

I'm really surprised how strongly some people feel about the word Pole. As has been pointed out, it is a perfectly legitimate way of referring to a Polish person and it corresponds to words like Dane, Swede, Fleming, Briton, Spaniard etc. in that it is a noun, which Polish is not. You can use the Polish as a collective term, but you cannot use it in the singular form (*a Polish). And circumscribing a Pole as a Polish person is, if done consistently, pretty awkward. Also, at least in the UK it doesn't carry any connotations that Polish would not carry. It is used, and has been used, as a standard term in the British media. Use it and be proud of it.
As for Polak, Polack, Pollock etc., the ones ending in -ck are obviously anglicized spellings, which again is legitimate. Polish is polaco in Spanish and there the c has the k sound too.