Have you ever experienced a sort of revelation while studying Polish language? Did you discover a word or structure that is untranslatable or very difficlult to translate to your native language? Has learning Polish changed the way you used to think? Let's talk about it. Share your experience and help to identify Polish culture-specific words.
Thanks a lot Brian for your comments. Indeed "przecież" is an interesting word. It can be translated as: but, yet, still, after all etc.. However, none of this expressions emphasises that what follows afterwards is absolutely obvious for the speaker. "Przecież" gives you a sense of obviousness and surprise.
Przecież za to im płacą. - This is what they are paid for. - It's obvious to me and I am surprised you don't see it. I guess in English this idea would be expressed with a specific intonation, in Polish we can use "przecież".
Przecież wolność jest najważniejszą rzeczą dla każdego człowieka. - "Przecież" freedom is the most important thing for every person.
"Swój" can be translated as "one's own" and is very handy especially in situations like this:
Piotr kocha swoją żonę. - Piotr loves his wife (his own wife).
Piotr kocha jego żonę. - Piotr loves his wife (another man's wife).
One of the words derived from "swój" is swojski (swojska, swojkie), which is not easy to translate. According to some dictionaries it means: familiar, homely, folksy, but when you try to translate the expressions 'swojski chleb' or 'swojska kiełbasa' it not that obvious. We would have to use the word home-made (bread or sousage), but in English it only emphasises the place where it's bee made and the method of production while in Polish "swojski" refers to the emotional attachment we have to things made in a traditional way, things often considered as "organic".
Przecież is a word I find difficut to translate. But it makes sense when people say it. And I use it myself from time to time.
What's even more impressive though, is that there is no equivelant of "Swój" in English.
There are lots of debates among friend of mine lately on Facebook about pronouns, specifically when talking about transgendered people. Some individuals have even started referring to themselves with the pronoun "they" because unlike he and she does not imply gender. There are many situations when "Swoj" would be handy to have in English, for many reasons.
