Polish Language
Every language in the world has many funny sayings, idioms, slang, diminutives. The Polish language has them too. Poles love to diminish some words and are even masters at inventing new words! In Poland, we have a competition for the youthful word of the year. These are often newly coined words. In the slang of Polish youth, words are coined which are spread incredibly quickly and have their five minutes of fame. There are also a lot of words from the English language, which later have their reception in Poland or are polonised.
In Polish language courses, teachers do not teach slang or Polish proverbs or idioms. To reach for such knowledge you would have to learn it yourself or have individual lessons.
Poles’ Favourite Words and Catchphrases
Below you will find a few words, expressions that are popular in everyday Polish.
- masakra, słabo, obciach, porażka
We use these expressions most often to comment on a certain situation.We use them only in the nominative. They do not have their endings.
For example:
- Byłam wczoraj na imprezie u Patryka. Ale masakra (porażka). Jaka nuda była.
ang. I was at Patrick’s party yesterday. But it was masakra. What a bore.
You see a girl on the street who is dressed all in pink and has ponytails.
- Ale obciach! (wstyd)
ang. What a shame.
Not so long ago, the word masakra in Polish meant murder in a cruel manner or an accident in which there are many injured. Over time, the word has weakened in its meaning and by Polish young people, but not only, it is used as an exclamation mark. Instead of the former words: O kurczę! (ang Oh boy!), Nędza. (ang misery), Ale kicha (ang shambles) we hear: O MASAKRA! Masakra, jak mi się nie chce. Nie, no, to jest jakaś masakra.
Often when we want to praise that our colleague has a super phone for example, in Polish we use a lot of prefixes, which combine well with adjectives, adverbs and nouns.
For example:
- Super, ekstra, hiper, mega
Ale mega, piękne buty! (English translation: Beautiful shoes!)
Masz ekstra torebkę. (English translation: You have a cool handbag)
Wyglądasz w tym super! (English translation: You look great in it!)
New Polish Words
The days of online chat rooms are growing by the day. Polish chat slang is developing in the same way. Many words are borrowed from English. For example, the words: lajkuje (like), fejs (Facebook), tweetuje (writing tweets), hejtuje (hate). Polish youths like to create new words. Sometimes they sound really funny.
There are many more youthful words in Polish! There is even a special online dictionary where you can find their definitions.
Funny Terms for People in Polish.
In Polish we also have funny terms for people. When someone annoys us, or when someone is stupid. We call CYMBAŁ a person who annoys us with his stupidity or incompetence.
Money is a favourite subject for many Poles. They can talk about it for hours. Who has spent more and who has spent less. The Polish language also has a term for a person who trades dishonestly in small goods. We call such a person CINKCIARZ.The word comes from English slang (ang. chink – pol. moneta) and has been transformed into a Polish word.
Another example is when someone has disappeared without trace, there is no news of them, or when we have lost something, we usually say ANI WIDU ANI SŁYCHU (ang. Neither seen, nor known).
Funny Polish Language
Polish is a funny language. We can mix up different words with each other, the sound of some words can also be funny.
Another favourite saying of Poles is BUŁKA Z MASŁEM (ang. piece of cake). We say this when something is easy for us to do, or when something is simple.
In Polish we still have many terms. Below are some examples.
- do cna (ang completely, totally, utterly)
- dostać kosza (ang not be accepted as an adorer)
- figa z makiem (ang let someone know that something cannot be done or that something will not be done for any reason in the world)>
- grać pierwsze skrzypce (ang)
- gwóźdź programu (ang the main part of the performance, the climax)
- klamoty, manatki (ang someone’s stuff )
- Kto się lubi ten się czubi. (ang the quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love)
- kurdupel (ang insulting term for a person of low height)
- rozebrać się do rosołu (ang strip naked)
- Coś ci się pokiełbasiło. (ang You’ve got something wrong)
If you would like to learn more Polish sayings, learn to speak fluent Polish or learn about Polish culture, we invite you for a Polish language course at Polka Dot! At Polka Dot, our teachers will encourage you to begin speaking Polish as soon as possible and help you understand all the important aspects of the Polish language and culture.
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