The Polish-English Dictionary of Slang and Colloquialism [Paperback]

Maciej Widawski (Author), Robert Urbanski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1997

Recording what is usually left out of dictionaries, this work provides phonetics for Polish entries, and their variants, caution signs for all offensive expressions, and sample sentences to show colloquialisms in use.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Polish

Product Details

• Paperback: 361 pages
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0781805708
• ISBN-13: 978-0781805704
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,721,159 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Young Polish Adults (and others), November 18, 2000

By 

Malgorzata (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Polish-English Dictionary of Slang and Colloquialism (Paperback)

Learn all the phrases your parents will never teach you! Great for people who want to learn all the "off the street" phrases in Poland. Do not look for words such as "potato," "grandma," or "grandpa." This dictionary contains exactly what the title says- slang. "You'll laugh until you stop."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Words you'll hear in a Polish movie but not in a classroom., January 10, 2003

By 

Eds Word (El Paso, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Polish-English Dictionary of Slang and Colloquialism (Paperback)

There is no way to really get to know a culture without knowledge of its idioms and colloquialisms. This book fills a void in colloquial Polish material available for English speakers and is better than many similar slang dictionaries that can be found for the more widely spoken languages. It has phonetics to help with pronunciation, an English index to make the dictionary bi-directional, sample sentences in Polish and English, and two levels of warning for vulgar expressions. Usually only the masculine form of the noun or adjective is given but this is not a detraction except for beginning Polish learners (even so a beginner would be comfortable with this dictionary). The origins of some of the expressions are not obvious for those unfamiliar with Polish culture and some explanation would have been helpful. Also at times too many seldom used English synonyms are provided for a given Polish expression. This might confuse a Polish reader trying to learn English slang. Nonetheless the dictionary is very worthwhile. The book is about 400 pages with over 5,000 entries. Widawski provides us with a true lexical treasure of street talk which had not been systematized this way before.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent dictionary of slang for translators of any level of conversation., December 13, 2005

By 

Mr Ghostface (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Polish-English Dictionary of Slang and Colloquialism (Paperback)

I thought this was an excellent dictionary, useful for translating modern Polish colloquialisms and the language of the street. A great and useful book.