Comments on: Actually & Eventually http://www.transparent.com/polish/actually-eventually/ Language and Culture of the Polish-Speaking World Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:42:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: My Polish Life » Polish-English False Friends | musings of an expatriate discovering his roots http://www.transparent.com/polish/actually-eventually/comment-page-1/#comment-301 My Polish Life » Polish-English False Friends | musings of an expatriate discovering his roots Mon, 01 Sep 2008 09:07:17 +0000 http://www.transparent.com/polish/?p=212#comment-301 [...] at Polish Blog, Anna put up a lovely post about some of the problems Poles and anglophones come across when communicating with each other. As [...] [...] at Polish Blog, Anna put up a lovely post about some of the problems Poles and anglophones come across when communicating with each other. As [...]

]]> By: Grazyna http://www.transparent.com/polish/actually-eventually/comment-page-1/#comment-300 Grazyna Sat, 30 Aug 2008 14:08:43 +0000 http://www.transparent.com/polish/?p=212#comment-300 A few other examples of words that have somewhat different meaning in Polish: - 'hazard' = gambling - 'lunatyk' = sleepwalker - 'pupil' = mascot/pet - 'parapet'= window ledge - 'szef'(pronouned exactly like 'chef') = boss - 'szop' (pronounced nearly like 'shop') = raccoon etc. languages are fun! :-) A few other examples of words that have somewhat different meaning in Polish:
- ‘hazard’ = gambling
- ‘lunatyk’ = sleepwalker
- ‘pupil’ = mascot/pet
- ‘parapet’= window ledge
- ‘szef’(pronouned exactly like ‘chef’) = boss
- ‘szop’ (pronounced nearly like ‘shop’) = raccoon

etc.
languages are fun! :-)

]]> By: Anna http://www.transparent.com/polish/actually-eventually/comment-page-1/#comment-299 Anna Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:44:15 +0000 http://www.transparent.com/polish/?p=212#comment-299 Hi G! That's EXACTLY the kind of "false friends" story I was waiting for! windy lifts. heeheehee! Hi G!
That’s EXACTLY the kind of “false friends” story I was waiting for! windy lifts. heeheehee!

]]> By: Grazyna http://www.transparent.com/polish/actually-eventually/comment-page-1/#comment-298 Grazyna Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:21:44 +0000 http://www.transparent.com/polish/?p=212#comment-298 Yes, 'windy', like 'actually' and 'eventually' is pronounced differently in Polish and English, but it's still a false friend. I chose 'windy' because I used to work in an office building back in Poland where there was this goofy sign board over the lifts on every floor saying: 'windy lifts' - when I first saw it I couldn't understand why the lifts in the building should be windy! Of course, I did realize at some point that the word 'lifts' was simply a translation of 'windy', but the words were not separated by any punctuation mark and so it read as a perfectly English phrase :-) Yes, ‘windy’, like ‘actually’ and ‘eventually’ is pronounced differently in Polish and English, but it’s still a false friend. I chose ‘windy’ because I used to work in an office building back in Poland where there was this goofy sign board over the lifts on every floor saying: ‘windy lifts’ – when I first saw it I couldn’t understand why the lifts in the building should be windy! Of course, I did realize at some point that the word ‘lifts’ was simply a translation of ‘windy’, but the words were not separated by any punctuation mark and so it read as a perfectly English phrase :-)

]]> By: Anna http://www.transparent.com/polish/actually-eventually/comment-page-1/#comment-297 Anna Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:37:04 +0000 http://www.transparent.com/polish/?p=212#comment-297 Hi G! Thanks! With "windy", it only looks like English, the pronunciation is different, though, so is it still a false friend? My two faves are: brat - means "brother" in Polish (heeheehee!) and dres (with only one "s") - which is a tracksuit/ sweatsuit. I totally forgot about "dres" and what it meant in Polish and was really surprised when my friend kept talking about it, alas in a different context. ;) Hi G!
Thanks! With “windy”, it only looks like English, the pronunciation is different, though, so is it still a false friend?
My two faves are:
brat – means “brother” in Polish (heeheehee!)
and dres (with only one “s”) – which is a tracksuit/ sweatsuit. I totally forgot about “dres” and what it meant in Polish and was really surprised when my friend kept talking about it, alas in a different context. ;)

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