The "Other" Opposite sex

     My Polish correspondent, Zbigniew Lechniak, in Warsaw, also sent this follow up. It's a little discussion on the Polish words for "man". Everything Zbyszek wrote is in blue. My comments are in red.
     If you don't see the "special" Polish letters, take a look HERE.

     "Now, let us take equivalent word mê¿czyna (man)

Mê¿czyzna - is formal, and not used too often

Ch³op - a funny word meaning many things. It is usually not derogatory. (This word has a letter/sound combination that we don't find in English: "hwop". Pronounce it to rhyme with "up", and you will be pretty close. Ch³op is used the way we use the word "Guy").

and then: ch³op - it is equivalent to a peasant

ch³op -a common replacement for man and then
ch³op do rzeczy - a man of many virtues , often implying also positive sexual capabilities

baba(!) - just the opposite to the above and often used in scolding young boys (you cry like a 'baba', my boy)

( go³y ch³op - is practically meaningless, they do not want to show naked men in our TV and it may look like a discrimination. Only women could help it). But be careful! 'go³y' means also - without money (go³y, ale weso³y = (he is) without a penny but still merry) byczy ch³op, (Strong as a bull ) porz±dny ch³op, (respectible) morowy ch³op ("pesky") - only a little bit rough, but still nice and positive terms used by men and women alike, when impressed with a given guy

ch³opek roztropek - a stupid guy pretending to know everything the best

ch³op jak piêæ minut (lit. 'like five minutes') a small, thin and inconspicuous man

ch³op na schwa³ - a strong and a big man

facet - a guy and then
facet niczego sobie - not-so-easy-to-translate expression softly implying positive sexual assessment (but 'ch³op do niczego' is opposite and sometimes implying also negative sexual assessment)

(dziadek - it means grandpa, but also an old man (old men do not like it) (I called BOTH of my grandfathers by the "vocative" or "direct address" form of this word, which is "dziadziu". Pronounce it "JAH joo").

dziad - is much more rough and piernik is just unacceptably derogatory - (stary piernik - an old decrepit man)

ch³opina, ch³opisko - same as ch³op, but smaller and said with the implied compassion

ch³op means also husband. Elder and not so educated wives can say: mój ch³op - my man. (The formal word for husband is "m±¿". There is also "Ma³¿onek", which means more like "spouse" or "mate")

pilnuj swego ch³opa - watch out for your man, implying his would-be sexual appetites

babie chce siê ch³opa - a rough expression implying that a woman desires a man or she wants to marry him

ch³opiec (ch³opak is similar)- a boy; it is etymologically derived from ch³op, but there is no special flavour in it unless we associate it to a middle-aged man

ch³opaczek, ch³opiê, ch³opczyna, ch³opczyk - diminutives from boy

     Surely, we have also some indirect substitutes of this word, giving sexual flavour: przystojniak, przystojniaczek, (These two mean "handsome" or "good looking"), niez³a sztuka (This one literally means "not a bad piece". Remember on the "woman" page, I translated it as "tasty morsel"? When applied to a man it would mean "HUNK"!) and so on. I am sorry, for it may look again like a discrimination. Again, only women could help it. But is it not that men are just uglier and there is not much to look at ?

Is not a live Polish language fantastic?????????????

     I can only say: the above is not my work; in fact, generations worked on it and generations made Polish language so rich!

There are also numerous juicy proverbs employing 'baba' and 'ch³op'."

     The word "pan" means Mr. (as a title), Sir (as a direct address), and it substitutes as the personal pronoun "you" when speaking to a man in polite conversation. Pronounce the word as "PAHN" to rhyme with "John". Interestingly enough, the original meaning of the word is "Lord", and it is still used that way in prayers, to mean "God"! This happens in other languages too. Example: the Greek word "Kyrie" means Mr., Sir, and Lord.



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3/22/03