I may have mentioned once or twice before that Poles are immensely proud of their language. To the casual observer it’s by no means obvious why this should be so; nobody else in the world speaks it and those hapless fools who try often end up with bent vocal apparatus. It turns out that these two facts are among the very reasons that Poles are proud of their language.
It’s only comparatively recently that Poles have found themselves free, independent and at liberty to argue volubly with each other about case endings and imperfective verbs. For centuries the Polish desire to engage in fist fights over points of grammar was severely hampered by occupiers who weren’t sure they wanted Poles speaking Polish at all, let alone arguing about it. There is evidence to suggest that the partition of Poland by neighboring powers was actually an attempt by Germany, Austria, and Russia to get some peace after having been kept awake for two centuries by an argument over irregularities in the verb być.* And when I say “there is evidence to suggest” I mean it wouldn’t surprise me.
There is one particular word in Polish around which the patriotic glow is particularly fierce. Engage a Polish person in discussion about their language for long enough and the following exchange will certainly take place.
Pole: Of course, the verb kombinować cannot be translated into any other language.
You: Oh really? What does it mean?
Pole: I cannot tell you because, you see, the verb kombinować cannot be translated into any other language.
You: I see.
Pole: Yes. I read it on the internet.
Unfortunately, like most myths about Poland, this turns out to be complete nonsense. In fact kombinować exists because Polish has a severe paucity of verbs referring to activities that have become popular since the 16th century. It’s a catch-all term for a range of activities involving the circumnavigation of laws, rules, or normal procedures. Where in English you might use botch, fiddle, swindle, cook, plot, rig, fix, doctor, hoax, con, bilk, dodge or even invent, in Polish you just use kombinować.
For example:
Me: Why are you swapping your number plate with your neighbor.
Pole: It’s a kind of kombinować, you wouldn’t understand.
Me: Okay. What are we having for lunch?
Pole: I don’t know, we will kombinować something.
Me: Sounds good. Do I have to eat number plates?
There’s a world of difference between a word that cannot be translated because it refers to a very specific object or set of circumstances and a word that refers to a set of activities that have numerous possible descriptions in other languages. Kombinować is in the second category. The truth is that kombinować is easily translated in context. It can’t be translated in general because it lacks clarity.
If you need me I’ll be hiding out in a very deep, very flameproof bunker.
*Być, in case you’ve never heard of it, is the Polish verb ‘to be’ and is pronounced exactly like bitch in English. This leads to endless amusement for English speakers since the popular phrase może być, meaning it can be or colloquially something like yes, that’s okay, is easily half-translated into English as it could be a bitch, which is true nine times out of ten.
For example:
“We have received your money but we can’t connect you to the internet until some time in 2015. Może być?”
“Yes. Może być”
I always assumed that ‘kombinować’ was a Romance borrowing
It certainly is; from Latin ‘combinare’.
I agree with Silvia, it may be derived from Latin. Poles might be surprised, but in Romanian, while the general meaning is “to combine”, colloquially it has exactly the same meaning as “kombinowac”, plus it also means to hook up with someone.
być is not pronounced like bitch …
you brits amaze me every time …
yes it is, just like ‘beach’
It’s hilarious!
Especially the bit about eating the numer plate – absolutely love it. And so true.
We are crazy about our language and we are crazy in general.
How on earth do you poor Brits cope with it ?
I live in the UK now, so I am looking from the other side of the mirror now… :) Very interesting too.
[...] developed over centuries of hard times and is usually summed up in the elusive Polish word “Kombinować.” In a way it’s the ultimate form of DIY. Unfortunately this often leads to Poles [...]
[...] oppressive that day. Drzymała was undaunted. In a classic early example of the Polish tradition of kombinować he bought a circus wagon and lived in that instead. I like to think the following conversation took [...]
I’m sorry, but ‘być’ really is NOT pronounced exactly like ‘bitch’. Check the IPA. Regards
I understand that Kombinowac has something to do with “schtroumpfer” (refers to the smurfs in English) or to several French verbs : bricoler or bidouiller ? Will try it with my Polish Pole teacher !
or like italian COMBINARE
you see italian and polish are very similar :P
“być” does not sound at all like “bitch”, “beach”, “bicz” or anything else. Honestly, dude, would it hurt you to try and actually learn a little pronunciation before you start playing smart-ass? Anyway, I’m Ukrainian and I speak Polish, so there goes your rule about “nobody speaking Polish” too.
As someone who grew up speaking both Polish and English at home, I can back you up. “Być” in Polish is pronounced EXACTLY like the English word “bitch.”
‘być’ will never-ever be pronounced exactly like ‘bitch’, not even an inch close to it. there is no english word which would sound like it. ‘ć’ is very soft in pronunciation and british cannot actually pronounce it correctly as their tongue is quite stiff ;-)))
Maybe it depends how you say “bitch” eg: if you were from New Zealand, then it would sound different, wouldn’t it? eh?
Simply put, the CH sound at the end of ‘być’ has a significantly more flattened sound than does the English CH. It is, however, the closest the native speaker of English can get to it.
As a Polish citizen who has spent the majority of his life in Canada, I can vouch that “być” sounds almost exactly like the English “bitch” (Or at least how they say it here in Canada)
And only a master linguist would be able to actually tell the immediate difference.
There’s more of a difference in the “i”/ (”y” in Polish) sound than the correct pronunciation of “ć”; in my opinion anyway.
And if these comments aren’t proof to this blog’s article, I don’t know what is.
Oh yeah,
Szczesliwego Nowego Roku!
[...] breakfast tea? Suitcases open, tea shown, swift and simple, no worries! In Poland they call it kombinować. In Brazil it is called jeitinho (literally, ‘little way’). It is often frowned upon [...]
As a native speaker of Polish and a teacher of English I can tell you there is actually NO SIMILARITY between the two WORDS: ‘być’ and ‘bitch’. And I know a few Chinese who can perfectly distinguish between them, that’s why I’m surprised why Polish people can’t! Unfortunately, as someone said before, for a native speaker of English it is almost impossible to pronounce ‘być’ correctly. And I think for some Polish people that live abroad and speak VERY GOOD English (not what you can usually hear in London or Dublin – words may be correct, grammar – perfect, but Polish flat intonation and ‘dry’ accent = no accent at all, is one of the easiest to hear). The best example of an acquired Polish accent disability I know is my cousin, 16, moved to Ireland when she was 8. Now when she speaks Polish at home you can easily recognize the words, but they don’t sound Polish and that’s obvious, ’cause even t, s, p, k sounds differ in the two languages. What used to be the Polish ‘zupa’ became a Hiberno-English ’soupa’, with an aspirated ‘p’.
Back to this ‘bitch’ – Polish people, try to pronounce ‘być’ and ‘bycz’ a few times and see how ‘ch’, ‘ć’ and ‘cz’ differ. But if any of non-Polish wanna try, here’s what you should practice (if you have a Polish friend who can correct you): distinguish between SZCZERA and ŚCIERA. It’s about SZ & Ś and CZ & Ć differences. The English ’sh” and ‘ch’ are just mixtures of the pairs. First one is rather harsh, the other is soft. Well, the expression ’szczera ściera’ means ‘an honest rag’ (or swab/cloth):D But it works as an excercise. Actually, that’s the way people are taught to recognize the two Polish sounds.
Well, sorry for the lecture. ‘Być’ or ‘nie być’ – Hamlet! :D