Polish, as I understand it

  natychmiast       -        immediately - Karolku, natychmiast otwórz drzwi! - Karolek, open the door immediately !  Polish synonyms: niezwłocznie     - from nie + zwłoka     -      no + delay bezzwłocznie     - from bez + zwłoka     -     without + delay bezpośrednio     - from bez + pośredni     -     without + indirect  tuż                         - also means next door / near by gwałtownie     -     abruptly / sharply / violently od razu               -     raz means time ( na razie can be see you later / for the time being) Synonimy angielskie: instantly right now this instant straight away without delay directly promptly at once forthwith (trochę archaiczny / staromodny)

I will have seen the original English version with my children, but here is the dialogue of the Polish version, translated back to English, but keeping the Polish character names and trying to keep the structure of the Polish dialogue.  Some phrases were peculiar.  Bobek z nosa is an interesting one, if it is a term for snot or bogey. Bobek appears to be a word for excrement similar in shape to a broad bean.  Bobek is derived from the word bób for broad bean.  Anyway, here's the dialogue: - Ojej!  Największy na świecie bobek z nosa był wielkości piłki tenisowoj!  - Oh wow!  The world's biggest bogey was the size of a tennis ball! - Mamo, Karolek mi obrzydza śniadanie! - Mum, Karolek is putting me off breakfast! - Nie bądź koszmarny, Karolku. - Don't be a nightmare, Karol. - Chciałbym trafić do wielkiej księgi dziwnych i zakręconych rekordów!  - I want to be in the big book of weird and whacky records! - Tak, za najbardziej śmierdzące skarpety! - Yes, for t

Sailing close to the wind and sailing into the wind or sailing against the wind are related phrases.  Before we consider their idiomatic use, they are primarily sailing terms.  All refer to the practice of sailing up wind, at an angle, with the sail close-hauled.  Sailing close to the wind is where the angle taken into the wind is so acute, that you are almost on the point of being fully into the wind and risk losing all the wind in the sails, leaving them flapping around and the boat left without power.  This is why "sailing close to the wind" is used idiomatically to mean taking a risk.  Doing something that risks a negative outcome. Sailing into the wind / sailing against the wind are interchangeable terms both in sailing and idiomatically.  As an idiom, sailing against the wind is doing something difficult or perhaps doing something against the advice of others.  Although if you want to describe doing something against prevailing opinion, doing something in a way co

 Popełnić (pf)  (♂) Popełniłem błąd - I made a mistake / error (♀) Popełniłam gafę - I have made a gaffe (♂) Popełnił morderstwo - he committed murder (♀) Popełniła przestępstwo - she committed an offence (♂+♂/♀...) Popełnili samobójstwo - They committed suicide [They including a male] (♀+♀...) Popełniły ...                  - They committed... [They being all female]

Notes on conversational phrases. Quite often, in conversation, or to start off I conversation, I might say "I've noticed that..." The polish equivalent is - (♂)   Zauważyłem, że...                                                     (♀)   Zauważyłam, że... So, recently, I was talking to a woman about music and when she spoke about dancing, her face lit up and she looked so happy.  The next time I bumped* into her I said - Zauważyłem, że wyglądasz szczęśliwa, gdy mówisz o tańcu . "I've noticed that you look happy when you talk about dancing." [The locative form follows the preposition o ] *To bump into someone.  There is a similar expression in Polish.  I think, literally, it means to fall into someone.  It is: - Wpadać na kogoś  and the person or thing you bump into takes the accusative form.  Please note: I'm a chap, so below I am using the masculine form of the past tense for wpadł e m , if a woman is telling us she bumped into someone, she says wpad

From duolingo, I learned that a bag is torba in Polish. However, I was stumped in a Polish shop when this was not the word used when I was offered a carrier bag. Torba is, perhaps, a more suitable word for a handbag kind of bag.  For a carrier bag  it's reklam ówka, jednorazówka or foliówka . Reklamówka may remind you of the word for advertising.  I believe the word, reklamówka , came about because carrier bags advertised the name of the store, but even plain carrier bags can be called reklamówka . Jednorazówka  comes from is disposable nature, its single, one-time use. Foliówka  comes from the thin nature of the bag.  Plastic film and metal foils are folie , folia singular, foliowy being the adjective. Siatka (maybe most common) Siateczka Zrywka Worek / worek foliowy Woreczek / woreczek foliowy Torba Torebka Tytka (used in Poznań) Epa / epka (used in katowice) Click here for a useful video on this subject

„Get your head down” To wyrażenie może mieć kilka znaczeń, w zależności od kontekstu.   Najprościej to ,,spuść głowę”. Może też oznaczać: Spać.  Na przykład: - I'm tired, I'm going to get my head down for a while. Może też oznaczać: Pracować pilnie.  Na przykład: -  I am going to get my head down to some studying. Depending on context, this phrase can mean a few things.   Most straightforwardly, it can be an instruction to lower your head.  Perhaps to avoid being seen, shot at or to avoid your head coming into contact with a low object.   It can mean to get some sleep.  For example: It's been a long day, I'm going to get my head down and get some sleep. It can mean concentrating on work or to work diligently.  For example: After lunch today I am going to get my head down to a bit of study.  Stop messing about and get your head down. The image created of lowering your head to concentrate on the task at hand, brings us to another English idiom for working diligently at so

Dzień dobry - Good day (formal) - can be used at any time of day Dobry wieczór - Good evening Dobranoc - Goodnight  Cześć - Hello Hej - hey Witam - Hello - A bit more formal than cześć - used when you are not familiar with the person / people you are greeting. Witaj - Hello - Used when you are greeting one person you are familiar with. Witajcie - used when greeting multiple people you are familiar with. Serwus - Hello - colloquial Do widzenia - Good bye (formal) Do zobaczenia - See you later Do zobaczenia w piątek - See you on Friday Cześć - Bye Pa - Bye Pa pa - Bye bye Do jutro -  See you tomorrow Spadam - I'm off (I'm falling) see ya Uciekam - I'm off (running) see ya Na razie - So long (for now) Nara - a contraction of na razie, considered impolite by some Żegnam - A formal and possibly final goodbye or farewell - at a funeral, priest would say: - Żegnamy dzisiaj...  "Today we say goodbye..."

Adidasy are trainers.  Possibly not the official dictionary word for trainers, but it seems that in common use this is the word used.  Unsurprisingly, like the Polish saying termos for any brand of vacuum flask, adidasy  comes from the brand Adidas .  Adidas trainers are therefore adidasy Adidas, Nike trainers are adidasy Nike, Reebok trainers are adidasy Rebok and so on.  Some dictionaries and translation software will translate trainers as Trampki .  However, trampki  are more like the style of shoes that are like Converse and Vans, skateboarding shoes perhaps.

Fortunately, for wrócić to mean vomit it must be in context.  So you shouldn't need to be too careful when using this verb.  I will focus on the normal uses first then, perhaps, bring it up later on. If you are forgetful you may need to go back for something.  Here we would use wróćić. Wrócić, perfective form Past tense person masculine neuter feminine in English ja wróciłem wróciłam I came / returned ty wróciłeś wróciłaś you came / returned on wrócił - he came / returned ona - wróciła she came / returned ono - jechało it came / returned my wróciliśmy wróciłyśmy we came / returned wy wróci li ście wróci ły ście you (pl) came / returned oni wróci li - they came / returned one - wróci ły they came / returned Musiałem wrócić po nią do domu - I had to return home for it Wracać, imperfective form present tense person conjugation in English ja wracam I am returning ty wracasz you are returning ona/on wraca s/he is returning my

Oszukiwać... ...is to cheat.  As in: to cheat in an exam (intransitive verb - ie no direct object) ...is to deceive or trick someone (transitive - the someone tricked is the direct object) Oszukiwałem - I cheated (male speaking) Oszukiwalam - I cheated (female speaking) Nie oszukuj! - Don't cheat! Oszukał go/ją/cię/mnie - He deceived him/her/you/me Oszukała go/ją/cię/mnie - She deceived him/her/you/me    This differs from cheating on someone. Zdradzić (impf)    Zdradzać (pf) To betray / cheat on (sb) Perfective past tense: On ją zdradził - He cheated on her Zdradziła go - She cheated on him Zdradził go - He cheated on him Zdradziła ją - She cheated on her Imperfective present tense: Zdradzam go / ją / cię - I am cheating on him / her / you Zdradzasz go / ją / mnie - You are cheating on him / her / me On/Ona   go/ją/cię/mnie   zdradza -  He/She is cheating on him/her/you/me Nie zdradzaj mnie! - Don't betray / cheat on me!

One of the more tricksy facets of language learning is when you come across a false friend, a word that looks similar or identical to a word in your native language, but is not related to it at all.  Facet is such a word.  In English, facet means an aspect of something and is related to the word face .  The English word facetious is related to the Polish word facet .  They both come from the Latin facētus to mean courtly, elegant, witty or amusing.  Over time, in Polish, facet moved from being an elegant, courtly man to being a less noble and more colloquial term for a man.  Just some guy.  Tylko jakiś facet. - Kto to jest?    Who's that? - Nie wiem.  Jakiś facet.         Dunno.  Some guy.

Odwozić - to drive someone to some place / to fetch them Odwozić (imperfective)    Odwieźć (perfective) Odwożę mojego syna do pracy - I'm driving my son to work Odwożę moją córkę do pracy - I'm driving my daughter to work Odwoziłem (impf) moją corkę do pracy - I was driving my daughter to work Odwiozłem (pf) moją corkę do pracy - I drove my daughter to work Odwieziesz mnie do pracy tato?  Will you drive me to work, Dad? Podrzucać - to drop off Podrzucać (imperfective)   Podrzucić (perfective) Podrzucam syna do pracy - I'm dropping my son at work NB " mojego / moją" are optional, the meaning is clear without Podrzucam córkę do pracy - I'm dropping my daughter at work Podrzucałem moją córkę do pracy - I was dropping my daughter off at work Podrzuciłem moją córkę do pracy - I dropped my daughter off at work NB I used masculine form for the first person, if it is a woman stating she drove her child to work then the endings change from -łem to -łam. Odbierać

 Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz is not the only Polish name that can cause foreigners difficulty. When presented with a Polish name for the first time, your average anglophone will feel a little dizzy, seemingly caught in a vortex of consonants.  Their brain screaming ABORT!  ABORT!  Or at best they will make an attempt that sounds closer to the noise of a dying wasp than to the actual name. The most hazardous stage is just beyond total ignorance, when a little bit of knowledge really is a dangerous thing, where the Dunning-Kruger effect comes into play and we soon discover that even the simplest of names can land us in trouble. Faced with the seemingly simple surname of Pycz and confident in the knowledge that cz is pronounced like the English ch, I proceeded to pronounce the name as picz.  Which is a very different word indeed.  Nobody wants to be addressed as Mrs.Twat. I know another Englishman who was brimming with confidence in the knowledge that S and Z make a SH sound, or was it C

I was totally engrossed in the book, it was fascinating. To be engrossed in something is to have all your attention in it.  When I am engrossed in a book, I don't notice if someone is trying to talk to me. People can be engrossed in conversation (especially if it is gossip) Gossip is a kind of conversation, often about other people's private lives and rumour. If people are engrossed in conversation it is probably salacious gossip. Salacious is an adjective to describe the topic as being of a sexual nature. Byłem całkowicie pochłonięty tą książką, ona była fascynująca. Być pochłoniętym czymś , to mieć całą swoją uwagę w czymś.  Kiedy jestem pochłonięty książką, nie zauważam kiedy ktoś mówi do mnie. Ludzie mogą być pochłonięci rozmową (szczególnie jeżeli jest to plotkowanie) Plotkowanie to rodzaj rozmowy, często o prywatnym życiu innych ludzi i plotkach. Kiedy ludzie są pochłonięci rozmową, to jest to prawdopodobnie lubieżna (sprośna) plotka. Lubieżny to przymiotnik

Peppa Pig - Swimming Initially, I thought the Polish version of Peppa Pig, always had Peppa's little brother George called Jacek.  However, there are plenty of episodes where he is called George.   Pływanie.   Swimming Vocabulary Deseczka - diminutive of deska - board / float.  Deska na basen / Deska do pływania Motylki - Butterflies , but refers to motylki do pływania - water wings / armbands Spróbować - to try Nurkować - to dive Chlapać - to splash (imperfective) (Po)skakać - to jump (Po)patrzeć - to take a look Głuptas - silly (noun) Doskonały - perfect (Po)trzymać - to hold  Widok - view (noun) Bliżej - closer Suszyć - to  dry Konewka - watering can Polewać - to wet  by pouring Upuścić - to drop / let go of Umieć - to know (have learnt) Potrafić - to be able / can  (auxiliary verb) Trafić - to hit (the target etc) Po polsku / in Polish Jestem Świnka Peppa I'm Peppa Pig To mój mały brat George This is my little brother George To Świnka Mama This is Mummy Pig A to Świn

I was asked recently what the difference between garden and yard is.  My first thought was that Americans tend to say yard and in the UK we say garden, but I don't think that is the best answer. Garden, noun. An area of ground next to a house often with lawn, flowers, trees, shrubs. Yard, noun.  A relatively small uncultivated area attached to a house or other building.  So an area with no plants. A yard is also synonym for garden in North America and in some UK dialects. A yard can be enclosed area of land for some work use.  Like builders' yard, shipyard, dockyard and farmyard. If someone says backyard or front yard, it is likely that they are meaning front garden and back garden. Yes, I did write backyard as one word and front yard as two.  Because backyard is used more often, over time it went from two separate words, like front yard, to being hyphenated, back-yard, and now as one word, backyard. Garden.    To teren przy domu zasadzony roślinami. Yard.    W USA, a także

Peppa Pig - George has a cold. Firstly, in some Polish versions of Peppa Pig, her little brother George is called Jacek. In my translations into English I will use George.  The diminutive form of Jecek is Jacuś, like saying Georgie.  Jacek jest przeziębiony.   Przeziębienie is a cold.  Przeziębiony is an adjective form.  Literally: George is coldy, but best translation is: George has a cold.  In the original English, the title is George Catches a Cold. Po polsku / in Polish Jestem Świnka Peppa I'm Peppa Pig To mój młodszy brat Jacek This is my younger brother George To Świnka Mama This is Mummy Pig A to Świnka Tata And this is Daddy Pig Ale dzisiaj leje! Oh, today it's pouring! Ale means but, but is also used at the beginning of statements for emphasis. Peppo, Jacku! Włóżcie płaszcze od deszczu Peppa, George! Put on [your] raincoates Kiedy pada deszcz, Peppa i Jacek muszą włożyć nieprzemakalne ubrania When it rains, Peppa and George must put on waterproof clothe

First, let's take the English buffoon .  What example could I give?  Imagine if the UK Prime Minister had a history of making himself look ridiculous in public.  Try to picture a man, who can make a suit look untidy, stuck mid way on a zip-wire, his fat gut bulging through the harness, his trouser legs pulled up above his socks.  As he sways impotently in the wind, he waves a small cheap union flag in each hand.  This unlikely image is the very epitome of  buffoon .  A buffoon is a joke. A fool.  A ridiculous character.  Laughable. The Polish word bufon looks similar and shares the same etymological routes, but is it a false friend?  Does it mean something different? Like our own buffoon , the Polish bufon comes from the French bouffon for jester.  It is also a derogatory term, but the meaning in Polish seems to be a selfish, conceited person.  A bighead.  I'm sure that if we scour the ranks of world leaders, we might just find one or two that epitomize this meaning of bufon

One of the first things I learned about Polish was that it does not use articles such as the, a and an. This is simple enough for me, an Englishman, Anglik .  I just need to remember that they are not required. What occurred to me later, is that it can be difficult the other way round.  If your native language, like Polish, does not use a or the , it can be difficult to decide which to use.  Sometimes, if the wrong one is used, it is clear from the context what is meant and the sentence will just stand out as being written or spoken by a non native.  Sometimes, the meaning of the sentence changes completely.  Take the following example: A woman is holding a baby.  She walks into a room full of men and asks a question.  If she asks: "Who here is a father?" it is a very different question from "Who here is the father?" Using a  before a word shows that is isn't defined, it could be any example of its kind.  So asking who is a father, is asking who has a child of

😊😔 In English we respond to someone telling us about how well or badly they are doing with little phrases like: I'm glad or Oh, I am sorry to hear that How about in Polish?  What do you want first, the good news or the bad? Let's start with the bad news.  Someone has just told you that they are feeling unwell. Przykro mi to słyszeć - I'm sorry to hear that or just Przykro mi - I'm sorry With any luck, a few days later they will tell us that they are feeling much better. Cieszę się - I'm glad To super - That's super To świetnie - That's great Cieszę się, że jest ci lepiej - I'm glad you are better Cieszę się, że lepiej się czujesz - I'm glad you are feeling better.

Breakfast!  The most important meal of the day.  To the outside world we start our day with a full English here in Blighty.  I know I would every day given half the chance.  Bacon, eggs, sausage, tomatoes, toast... a bit of black pudding if I'm lucky - kaszanka in Polish.  But most days, like most Brits, I will have cereal for breakfast.  How about the Polish, what is a typical breakfast, typowe śniananie? In my head I have it that a common breakfast is kanapki , what we might call open sandwiches or - if we follow etymological routes - giant canapés (the two words have the same origin, see this post on the origin of the words canapé and kanapka .) or maybe a plate of scrambled eggs, jajecznica . I remember, as a student on the French exchange, being surprised by how homogenous the world had become.  I naively expected croissant to be the morning plat du jour, but found that breakfast cereals were the thing.  So how about Poland, is it often breakfast cereals to start the day? The

mother matka father ojciec mum mama dad tata daughter córka son syn sister siostra brother brat grandma babcia grandad dziadek aunt ciocia uncle wujek male cousin kuzyn female cousin kuzynka mother-in-law teściowa father-in-law teść sister-in-law szwagierka brother-in-law szwagier

 I have just had a week off work.  Foreign travel was banned, so I did not go anywhere.   I did not vacate my home.  I was not on vacation.  Nie byłem na wakacjach. I was on holiday / leave.  Byłem na urlpie. Declension case singular plural nominative urlop urlopy genitive urlopu urlopów dative urlopowi urlopom accusative urlop urlopy instrumental urlopem urlopami locative urlopie urlopach vocative urlopie urlopy Jadę na urlop - I'm going on holiday. Przydałby mi się jakiś urlop - I could use some time off. (literally: Some leave would be useful to me) Here przydałby się is reflexive.  Note that the conjugation of przydać się agrees with the thing that would be useful.  In this case urlop , which is a masculine noun. Diminutive: urlopik case singular nominative urlopik genitive urlopiku dative urlopikowi accusative urlopik instrumental urlopikiem Opinion seems divided on whether to use

Two words to use insteal of posiłek. Posiłek, for meal, seems more general, has overtones of the feeding value of food.  Just as when we say meal. So, darmowe posiłki dla bezdomnych is meals for the homeless. To talk about the dishes served, we use potrawa or dania. As in  danie dnia - dish of the day Lubię potrawy z czosnkiem - I like dishes (made) with garlic Declension of potrawa case singular plural nominative potrawa potrawy geniticve potrawy potraw dative potrawie potrawom accusative potrawę potrawy instrumental potrawą potrawami locative potrawie potrawach vocative potrawo potrawy Declension of danie case singular plural nominative danie dania genitive dania dań dative daniu daniom accusative danie dania instrumental daniem daniami locative daniu daniach vocative danie dania

I was chatting to a Polish acquaintance about ways to say that you understand.  In English there is the simple: I understand - rozumiem, in Polish. but we often mix things up and say: I follow you.   The closest equivalent to using a word that sounds like you are following someone on a journey through what they are telling you, uses the verb for travelling on foot: chodzić Wiem o co chodzi - which seems to mean, I know what's going on Other phrases with chodzi: Chodzi o to... - the point is... Chodzi mi o to - I mean it. Możesz mi wytłumaczyć o co chodzi...? - Can you explain...? Nie mam pojęcia o co ci chodzi - I have no idea what you are talking about.

I was drawn to this word because the English translation seemed unusual to me.  It comes down to the difference in American and English usage.  In the film, Kobiety mafii 2, Anna invites the mayor into a raised hunting hide with the words, i zapraszamy na ambonę subtitled as: welcome to the blind.  A blind is a US term for a hide.  In Polish, ambona, specifically refers to a raised observation platform, used in hunting.  Whereas a blind or a hide can be at ground level or raised.  Primarily, ambona is a word for the pulpit in a church.  As well as its use to describe a raised hide, it can also describe the safety rail at the prow of a yacht, which is also called a pulpit in English.

I made a rash assumption that the elements of the periodic table would be similar in Polish and how wrong I was. Clue: Z wodorem tworzy amoniak - with hydrogen makes ammonia. Well, the compound ammonia is a similar word and the word for hydrogen at least has the same kind of route origin as our word.  Hydrogen means water generating, wodór comes from wodoród from wodo-rodu again meaning water generating / producing / birthing. From school chemistry, I know the answer is nitrogen, because ammonia is only made of hydrogen and nitrogen.  However, there's only space for four letters and the first letter is A.  I'm going to have to look this one up. Answer: Azot Clearly, I am going to have to brush up on some elements that I might commonly come across is everyday life and my work in medicine.  Firstly, chemical element is pierwiastek chemiczny .  Now for some of their names: Azot - Nitrogen          Azot, from the French Azote which itself is from the Greek for not-life Wodór - Hyd

After a clue asking about a large kitchen knife... Clue: Duży nóż kuchenny ...it got me thinking that I only know the one Polish word for knife, nóż , and considering I'm keen in the kitchen and talk a lot about food and cooking, I thought I'd best find the names of a few knives. Nóż do warzyw - veg knife Nóż  do obierania - translates as peeling knife, but I think it's what we would call a paring knife.  Nóż do chleba - bread knife Nóż do fioletowania - filleting knife Nóż szefa kuchni - chef's knife Tasak - cleaver (not in photo - currently, I do not have a cleaver) Answer: Tasak

Clue: Mała sterta siana - small pile of hay. I live in a semi-rural area of England but know a limited amount about farming practices.  Even if I did, this may well be an antiquated term in English   Kopa - large pile of hay - Haystack Kopka - small pile of hay - Haycock Answer: Kopka  Farming seems like good honest work, which brings us to the next clue: Clue: Żadna nie hańbi. Answer: Praca This answer I did not get until I had most of the letters.  I believe it refers to the proverb: żadna praca nie hańbo - no job is a disgrace.  Which, on the face of it and as it was intended, is an honourable sentiment.  Perhaps coined before the advent jobs like: the leader of UKIP, a position once held by Nigel Farage and currently, at the time of writing, held by Neil Hamilton.  Until I looked, I didn't realise that UKIP was still going.  Surely there is no need now that they have returned the UK to its glory days when we were the sick man of Europe.  Post referendum, the party head has ch

The origins of the English and Polish names for this herb go back to the Latin for healing, salvia.  Both the Polish szałwia and the Old English salvie hold close to the original Latin.  After the Norman Conquest, the French influence was apparent in Middle English with sauge which, over time, became sage.  The French, sauge, itself coming from the Latin, salvia. I was looking at the herb sage, but I couldn't help wonder about it's wider use in English.  A sage being a wise person or sage used adjectivally for wisdom.  I had always committed the etymological sin of making an assumption about the origin of the word without any evidence.  I got it into my head that sage was believed to be good for the brain, hence its use to mean wisdom.  It seems, however, that we get it from the Old French for wisdom, sage, which comes from Gallo-Roman sabius and back to Latin.  This time, not to salvia for healing, but to sapere, to have good taste or discernment.  Figuratively used to mean

Google translate is an incredibly handy tool for translating foreign web pages, but sometimes its limitations can raise a titter in the most childish of people - a section of society that I am unashamedly a member of. Clue: Słucha komend bosmana - answers to the bosun/boatswain. Answer: Mat .  A member of the crew whose position I couldn't find a translation or equivalent to, so I had to google it in Polish. The position of Mat was apparently between the position of cabin boy, majtek , and boson, bosman .  However google translated the page thus: Regarding majtka, it is likely that the name of the garment comes from the name of the job role.  The cabin boys wore short trousers  and the name of the similar undergarment is believed to have come from the title majtka for cabin boys.  The word majtka itself is thought to possibly come from a mix of matelot (French for sailor), maat or maatje (Dutch for companion).  I guess similar to us calling a certain style of underwear, boxers. The

In a previous week, we skirted Greece, visiting the Aegean sea and archipelagos. Now we sojourn in Greek mythology.  In Homer's Odyssey, Penelope waits for the return of Odysseus, but on what does she wait for him? Clue: Na niej czekała Penelopa na Odysa. - On it Penelope waits for Odysseus.  All I could remember was that Penelope waited pretty damn patiently for his return - twenty years - remaining faithful to her husband and somehow using a ruse involving the protracted weaving of a shroud to put off would-be suitors. Exactly how weaving her father-in-law's shroud prevents courtship I am unsure of, but let's not dwell on that.  Odysseus is King of Ithaca, the island upon which Penelope waits for his return.  Answer: Itaka. More Greek mythology. This time names of the Gods. The God of War.  Mars to the Romans; Ares to the Greeks.  Clue: Grecki bóg wojny. - Greek god of war.  Answer: Ares.  Clue: Hymn na cześć Apolla . - A hymn to Apollo.  Answer: Pean. - Paean.  A paean

The vocative case is one that should be really straight forward.  Of all the grammatical cases, it is the one that seems to have the clearest rule.  It is used when you are addressing someone. For example:  Mamo , gdzie są moje skarpetki? - Mum, where are my socks? Mama is being addressed so takes the vocative form Mamo. So the next time I talk to my friend, I use her name in the vocative case.  Oh no, no.  You don't do that these days in speech.  Just use the nominative case for people's names, unless it's Mum or Dad etc. OK got it.  Used rarely in speech, but used in writing. But, why do everyday objects have a vocative form? Should I be talking to my toaster? When the vocative form was assigned to all nouns back in antiquity, did they predict that one day in the future there would be chirpy talking toasters offering grilled baked goods and light banter?

Following on from yesterday's stony theme. Today's broadens from stone to geographical features.  Clue: Przylądek w pd. Chile .  Firstly, pd. is an abbreviation of południe (south).  Przylądek is a cape as in a large / high headland that juts out into a body of water.  An example of this, found in south Chile, is Cape Horn. Answer: Horn. In working this one out, I learned that another word for a headland in Polish is cypel , which is a very narrow headland, like Hel on the Baltic coast of Poland. And for a peninsula, the polish word would be  półwysep . As far as I can see in both English and Polish, peninsula / półwysep is a broad term for a landform projecting into a body of water that covers cypel and przylądek Elsewhere in the crossword book, there was a clue involving archipelago.  The Polish word, archipelag , being very similar.  I was aware that it described a collection of numerous small islands, but not much more than that. The word seems to come from the ancient Gr