WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION?

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Apr 30, 10, 00:48 #1

Seriously, why? I once knew a girl from Warsaw and she used the word "bekon" for bacon. Isn't it "boczek"? I've also heard the phrase "happening" or "happen-ingu" and even "manedżer" for the word manager. Yet another one is "hit"- like "to jest hitem". F'ucking drives me nuts. Is Poland going through an identity crisis? If you would like to illustrate more examples of the Polish language going into extinction, then entertain us.
Sad thing is, it's not just Poland. I hear in Germany it's similair.

SouthMancPolakThreads: 2 Posts: 202 Joined: Apr 10, 10 ♂	Apr 30, 10, 01:03 #2
My ex used to say that she worked "w nursing homie" lol This has been going on for years, though. My ex mum-in-law used to say "mięso beefowe" instead of "wołowina" haha

Drac90Threads: 2 Posts: 120 Joined: Apr 23, 10 ♂	Apr 30, 10, 01:07 #3
rychlik these are polish words that were taken from english its same as Internet, Radio etc english have some french words too for exemple. but im as a pole im pissed off when someone say sorry or sorka instead of przepraszam i can get over with "OK" tho xd

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Apr 30, 10, 01:20 #4

rychlik:

Seriously, why? I once knew a girl from Warsaw and she used the word "bekon" for bacon. Isn't it "boczek"? I've also heard the phrase "happening" or "happen-ingu" and even "manedżer" for the word manager. Yet another one is "hit"- like "to jest hitem". F'ucking drives me nuts. Is Poland going through an identity crisis? If you would like to illustrate more examples of the Polish language going into extinction, then entertain us.
Sad thing is, it's not just Poland. I hear in Germany it's similair.

Why is that such a big deal to you? Happens everywhere, normal colloquial, informal language that happens in a conversation. If it makes you feel better, I usually speak Swedish with my mom (easier for me) and she says I often speak Swenglish instead... LOL

PlasticPoleThreads: 10 Posts: 5,433 Joined: May 28, 09 ♀	Apr 30, 10, 01:26 #5
rychlik: Seriously, why? Because they like English words.

rychlikThreads: 51 Posts: 446 Joined: Aug 6, 08 ♂	Apr 30, 10, 05:15 #6
SouthMancPolak: My ex mum-in-law used to say "mięso beefowe" instead of "wołowina" haha Kurwa lol I would just rip out my ears!

skysoulmateThreads: 41 Posts: 3,039 Joined: Jan 10, 10 ♂	Edited by: skysoulmate Apr 30, 10, 05:38 #7
rychlik: Kurwa lol Isn't kurva a *****? Hmm, can't even say it English here. It sounds so vulgar and foul, is that a common curse word? Now I feel like ripping my ears out...

marsoeThreads: - Posts: 4 Joined: Apr 19, 10 ♂	Apr 30, 10, 06:06 #8
Polglish? Happens everywhere, especially with English words due to their cultural spread. The French have a special hate of English words creeping in. Other languages' words get absorbed into English as well, especially if it's a second language for that country (eg South African English, Singapore English), as well as with food (eg 'cow' is an Anglo-Saxon word, 'beef' is French).

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Apr 30, 10, 06:11 #9

rychlik:

Seriously, why? I once knew a girl from Warsaw and she used the word "bekon" for bacon.

Italians use Italian words in their English, Spanish do Spanish things, black do their black thing in conversations Irish do the river-dance..
Stop being such a jackass.. WTF do you care? Just forgetaboutit... That's what makes the language fun. What are you some kind of proper usage of language police or something?

Relax it's ok...

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Apr 30, 10, 06:20 #10

I think the truth behind it is that the US is undoubtedly the dominant cultural power in the world, and the language just spreads, because new ideas and new concepts are created more frequently in the US than anywhere else, and are just given English names. During the Soviet times, Polish language acquired and adapted a lot of Russian words. When the French dominated the European culture a couple centuries before, the French language was considered the most "sophisticated" and copied everywhere else. I mean, think of how many Latin words we still use because Rome was such a huge cultural center thousands of years ago.

Who knows, maybe at one point we will come up with something better than kielbasa for everyone to remember the Polish name of it.

skysoulmateThreads: 41 Posts: 3,039 Joined: Jan 10, 10 ♂	Edited by: skysoulmate Apr 30, 10, 07:17 #11
ItsAllAboutME: ho knows, maybe at one point we will come up with something better than kielbasa for everyone to remember the Polish name of it. Who knows, maybe soon we'll all be complaining about too many Mandarin words in our daily conversations? ;) Min tian jian PS. I love her lessons...

RogalskiThreads: 9 Posts: 146 Joined: May 8, 09 ♂	Apr 30, 10, 07:26 #12
It's called code-switching.

VarsovianThreads: 91 Posts: 568 Joined: Nov 23, 06 ♂	Edited by: Varsovian Apr 30, 10, 12:34 #13
Are you all politicians? The original comment was about "bekon" which is absolutely NOT boczek! Bekon comes from lean pigs, boczek is 90% fat. As any fule kno!

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Edited by: Olaf Apr 30, 10, 12:56 #14

skysoulmate:

Why is that such a big deal to you? Happens everywhere, normal colloquial, informal language that happens in a conversation. If it makes you feel better, I usually speak Swedish with my mom (easier for me) and she says I often speak Swenglish instead

- maybe here's the problem. I mean language awareness. You surely can say sthg without using foreign words. Rigid language orthodoxy isn't usually good, but why should we follow a language trend if there are good equivalents? I bet in Swedish, as well as in Polish there are perfectly fine, native or "near-native" (even if with a different origin, absorbed dozens/hundreds years ago) words for things. Almost everything you can name in your mother tongue, so I share my views with Rychlik.

In Polish I personally detest using e.g. display instead wyświetlacz but there are hundreds of examples.

HEY, WHY DID THIS AD BELOW STUCK TO MY POST? Never happened before...

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Edited by: aphrodisiac Apr 30, 10, 13:35 #15

people mix languages in order to communicate.
There is no such a thing as purity of the the language from the linguistic point of view, since languages change, evolve, borrow and so on.

So here it is, especially for a pissed of Rychlik: it is a natural process that people will do it when different language groups interact. the main function of the language is COMMUNICATION first, although some language purists think that it is a crime to borrow and mix. NO so since it has been done forever.
Purity of the language smells of nationalism to me and it has been a part of nationalistic discourse.
English has been lingua franca of business and the internet, but as Sky says, we might be mixing other languages soon.
ni ha

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Edited by: skysoulmate Apr 30, 10, 13:45 #16

Olaf:

- maybe here's the problem. I mean language awareness. You surely can say sthg without using foreign words. Rigid language orthodoxy isn't usually good, but why should we follow a language trend if there are good equivalents? I bet in Swedish, as well as in Polish there are perfectly fine, native or "near-native" (even if with a different origin, absorbed dozens/hundreds years ago) words for things. Almost everything you can name in your mother tongue, so I share my views with Rychlik.

In Polish I personally detest using e.g. display instead wyświetlacz but there are hundreds of examples.

I see your point, I do. However, I'm simply saying that we do what's easiest, what we're used to doing every day. My mom's native tongue IS Polish and so is mine but I was a kid when we moved to Sweden and after a while Swedish was simply easier. Now Ive lived in the US for a long time an since I learned aviation in English often when my mom asks how my day was it's easier for me to use "Swenglish" words because often they're pretty close and I guess I get lazy. If I'd try to tell her about my day in Polish, then well, hopefully she's not in a hurry... ;)

Olaf:

HEY, WHY DID THIS AD BELOW STUCK TO MY POST? Never happened before...

Google ads ;) Mine for this post are "Learn Spanish for free" and "Just Polish Movies" LOL

aphrodisiac:

English has been lingua franca of business and the internet, but as Sky says, we might be mixing other languages soon.
ni ha

Ni hau to you... lol

PS. Six months of Mandarin and I'm still at lesson 1... ;)

I know what Olaf (and others) might say - learn Polish instead. Well, working on that too.

Miguel ColombiaThreads: 3 Posts: 711 Joined: Apr 20, 10 ♂	Apr 30, 10, 14:42 #17
The original poster is an idiot. There are anglicisms in each language.

skysoulmateThreads: 41 Posts: 3,039 Joined: Jan 10, 10 ♂	Edited by: skysoulmate Apr 30, 10, 15:07 #18
Miguel Colombia: The original poster is an idiot. There are anglicisms in each language. Disagree. The reason we have a forum is to share thoughts, ideas and whatever bothers you. This bothered him/her so I don't see why you'd use the word idiot here? You might disagree with him/her and if so tell us why? Name calling just doesn't make sense here.

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Edited by: zachodzie Apr 30, 10, 16:01 #19

I'm glad I'm not the only one who really hates this. I hear it all the time, e.g. On TV shows, films, the radio and in general conversation.

I moved to Poland from the UK a few months ago. One of the main reasons I did this was to experience a new culture and also to learn the language. I think it annoys me because

a) When I try to speak Polish, people (especially the younger ones) simply reply to me in English. If I'm making the effort to learn and speak your language, at least have the decency to talk back to me in Polish. This is also very hypocritical because I often hear people complaining that foreigners (especially English) come to Poland and don't bother learning even basic Polish. You should be proud of your language, not butchering it with English words, which quite frankly sound so wrong when used in a Polish sentence.

b) I came here to experience a different culture. It saddens me when I see everything becoming Americanised. People say this is progress, I see it as the slow and gradual decline of a culture.

There are anglicisms in each language.

Maybe so, but when you already have a word in your own language for it, why replace it with an English word??

Drac90Threads: 2 Posts: 120 Joined: Apr 23, 10 ♂	Apr 30, 10, 16:13 #20
like i said, english language also have few words from other languages, as far as i know majoriy is from french

skysoulmateThreads: 41 Posts: 3,039 Joined: Jan 10, 10 ♂	Edited by: skysoulmate Apr 30, 10, 16:15 #21
Simple solution zachodzie - tell the people you're conversing with that you'd like to practice your Polish and I'm sure they'll appreciate it. In the past it was Greek, Latin, French, or German, now it's English and one day it might be Mandarin or maybe Klingon. It might be annoying to some lingo-purists but the phenomenon itself is not new... Kapla! ;)

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Apr 30, 10, 16:22 #22

rychlik:

Poland going through an identity crisis?

Give me a freaking break. So what if they use "bekon" or any other English word? Amongst youngsters it's considered cool to use English words. It's not their fault that some of the ppl here are too old to understand that times are changing. I really don't see the point of using ocasionally English words.

>^..^<

M-G (too many purists is never good)

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Apr 30, 10, 16:24 #23

Simple solution zachodzie - tell the people you're conversing with that you'd like to practice your Polish and I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

I do :-) , I often tell them, please speak Polish, I live here and must learn the language etc.. Sometimes it works, but more than often it works for a bit, and then the person simply wants to talk English again. Often we end up having a half/half conversation, with me speaking in Polish and them in English. It's fair game though, I understand people just want to practice their English as well.

The situation is quite different in Paris, I found French people there very proud and snobby about their language.

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Apr 30, 10, 16:31 #24

zachodzie:

I do :-) , I often tell them, please speak Polish, I live here and must learn the language etc.. Sometimes it works, but more than often it works for a bit, and then the person simply wants to talk English again. Often we end up having a half/half conversation, with me speaking in Polish and them in English. It's fair game though, I understand people just want to practice their English as well.

I try to practice my very limited Mandarin when in China and the same applies there. They all want to practice English. They'll giggle when I butcher a word, will correctl me and then switch to English... "My turn, my turn, how u say..."

zachodzie:

The situation is quite different in Paris, I found French people there very proud and snobby about their language.

They're not proud or snobby, they simply feel sorry for you for not being French. LOL Yeah, my Parisian experiences are similar to yours... :)

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Apr 30, 10, 16:47 #25

aphrodisiac:

There is no such a thing as purity of the the language from the linguistic point of view, since languages change, evolve, borrow and so on.

not nationalistic but linguistic. It's a matter of approach in linguistics, but I do take your point too. I don't however appreciate mixing and using language without proper care for correctness.

Skysoulmate: I'm not saying "learn Polish instead" but I simply miss people who care about how they say - in this matter it's about purity, no other.

Ahlen wa sahlen! Ni hao ma, hombre;)

MEMBER ♂

Edited by: Torq Apr 30, 10, 17:51 #26

rychlik:

Is Poland going through an identity crisis?

It's just the omnipresence of English in popular culture, economy, politics and science
that makes English words permeate into almost every language in the World.

You could, for example, hear a French person saying...

Le week-end, je porte un jean et un sweat-shirt et je me promène en jeep.

Does this mean that France is going through an identity crisis? Of course not.

skysoulmateThreads: 41 Posts: 3,039 Joined: Jan 10, 10 ♂	Edited by: skysoulmate Apr 30, 10, 18:45 #27
Olaf: Ahlen wa sahlen! Ni hao ma, hombre;) Das pointe tagen. Oczen xié xié ;) Torq: Does this mean that France is going through an identity crisis? Excusez moi, is this supposed to be a rhetorical question? LOL

ArienThreads: 6 Posts: 1,604 Joined: Oct 20, 08 ♂	Edited by: Arien Apr 30, 10, 18:51 #28
Yeah! Don't they know it will bring about the end of the world when you're young and trying to be creative?

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Apr 30, 10, 21:11 #29

aphrodisiac:

So here it is, especially for a pissed of Rychlik: it is a natural process that people will do it when different language groups interact. the main function of the language is COMMUNICATION first, although some language purists think that it is a crime to borrow and mix. NO so since it has been done forever.
Purity of the language smells of nationalism to me and it has been a part of nationalistic discourse.
English has been lingua franca of business and the internet, but as Sky says, we might be mixing other languages soon.
ni ha

Stop it with this nonsense. It simply sounds stupid and odd, that's all. Like the Poles don't have a word for "happening" or "manager"? Było duże happening
I think Poles living in the west snicker at this. It cheapens the Polish language.
In Warsaw I even saw a Car Wash sign in a non-tourist area.
Polaczki to lubią cwaniakować.

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Apr 30, 10, 21:18 #30

rychlik:

It simply sounds stupid and odd

I do agree on that part. It does sound silly indeed. Especially when you see a Polish text and suddenly you notice a word like "Sunraise" or "Haineken" (which is of course not English, but it's the same). They write it the way they pronounce it and that can lead sometimes to funny outcomes. A bit of the same when listening as a Dutch to a South African talking Afrikaans, which is oldfashioned Dutch, and trying hard not to laugh as some of the words they use sound truly childish to a Dutch person.

>^..^<

M-G (but for the rest it doesn't matter at all - 21st century, and so on, eh)

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