Talk:Polack/Archive 1

Confusing
So is Polack a slur or not? --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 23:38, 14 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Please look at the two references above. You will find that today the English use of the term has become a slur exclusively. Formerly (a good while ago), the term was used interchangeably with "Pole" to designate a "Polish person". --Jazzeur (talk) 00:45, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I've never known Polack to be used as an insult. Some folks are just offended by anything. --Prince Paul of Yugoslavia (talk) 10:59, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

This is an example of the worst kind of bigotry. "Because I consider a word derogatory it is". A word means what it means irrespective of the POV, or nationality of the user. The fact that people from Poland or of Polish descent agree just adds weight to the neutrality of the word. I am English. Some Americans refer to us as Limeys because in early sailing days we used Limes to protect against Scurvy. Why would I find that offensive ? It's just sensible. 86.28.165.76 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 22:29, 21 September 2011 (UTC).
 * Just because some Black people use the N word doesn't make it OK. Polack is a very OBVIOUS slur, it is ALWAYS used in derogatory, contemptuous, and mocking context and it is considered offensive by those Poles aware of its usage. BIGOTRY is what I call it when someone refuses to acknowledge that it is those AFFECTED who decide what is offensive to them and what is not. Think about it.--109.196.118.133 (talk) 05:57, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Trim and format.
I've removed needless fluff and added proper Wikipedia formatting. 150.254.181.174 (talk) 03:56, 20 March 2009 (UTC)Anon

Keeping
I don't work on Wikipedia much (I do most of my work on Wiktionary) but I think this should be kept. As I type I have already recalled something that can be added to it. Namely a quotation from Hamlet to reference what is already said about it. PalkiaX50 (talk) 18:47, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Incomprehensible?
"pō'lā-tz-k", a word incomprehensible to a native Polish listener

Wasn't Polatsk part of Rzeczpospolita? Is the Polish pronunciation of the town's name that different from the quoted trancsription, apart from stressed syllables? NVO (talk) 05:45, 24 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Either way, this sentence seems to me extraneous to the article's content. Enough to say it (this spelling) is an Anglicization and does not exist in Polish. Remove? /ninly (talk) 18:42, 17 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Polish Polatsk's name is pronounced like ,,po-uo-tsk", not ,,po-la-tsk". And I dont think it would be incomprehensible, because the Poles would rather consider it a word written in English ortography and read properly.` —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.154.85.139 (talk) 18:13, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

Surname
My last name happens to be Polack, yet I am not Polish at all. I suggest starting a section about the etymology behind the surname "Polack". —Preceding unsigned comment added by EbolaRocks08  (talk • contribs)  02:00:30, 25 09 2009 (UTC)
 * There is already a link to a page devoted to people with the Polack surname at the top of the article. --Jazzeur (talk) 18:57, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

Slur
Polack is a surname – it is not offensive. What is offensive, is the fact that the author of this pseudo-definition is using it as an excuse to insert a word “polak” (used as a slur mainly in USA) as a reference to ethnic Poles in the explanation – total nonsense. The supportive references that the person provides is that of a “food critic” - an angry Jew, whose ancestry lived in Poland. He is not only clueless when it comes to history but also geography as he demonstrated in his article. The “food critic” used a surname Polack to describe offensively people from Poland that were in England. Majority of them are probably children and grand children of Jews in Poland who converted to Christianity and married with other ethnic groups in Poland (Polish, Scottish, Dutch, Russian, French, etc..) Ethnicity of majority Jews was Semitic in Poland. All those ethnic groups were in Poland for work except the Jewish group which was there under Polish protection. All ethnic groups living in Poland considered themselves Poles as they assimilated with local population. The Jewish ethnic group assimilated to some extend but majority enjoyed their segregation as no one was forcing them assimilate. The other references are equally nonsensical. Bit of history- The term “polak” was first used as a slur in Brooklyn NY USA. It was used to describe Polish Jews (especially new Jewish emigrants from Poland as they had very little or no formal education ) by Jews from other countries or even by Polish Jews that felt assimilated. The other Americans used the term “Kyke” which now is a slur for all Jewish People. The Jews to this day say “The Jews from Poland are not as sophisticated as we are.” Later - comedians, ethnically Jewish used the slur “polak” to shift the stigmatic label that Jews created for other Jews onto ethnic Poles. I have never hard “polak” used as a slur against Poles or “Kyke” against Jews, except from Jews and low IQ vermin. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.16.136.224 (talk) 07:51, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

"Polack" is today used in Great Britain and the USA as a derogatory term for anyone of Eastern European (specifically slavic descent), why does this article not reflect this? - It is not simply used against Poles.

Hamlet
The article says that Shakespeare used Polack to refer to Norwegians? I thought there was a point in the play referring to them as separate entities.

"Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy, Gives him threescore thousand crowns in annual fee, And his commission to employ those soldiers So levied, (as before,) against the Polack" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.71.139.83 (talk) 23:27, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

He is refering to the Poles. The point of that passage is that the Norwegian prince, Fortinbras, is now a vassal of Denmark, and his army is now going to help the Danes attack Poland and defeat the "Polacks." I am changing the erroneous claim in the article that "Polack" refers to the Norwegians. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.242.181.81 (talk) 00:07, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

This comment was made eight months ago and the absurd claim that Shakespeare uses the word Polack to refer to Norwegians is still here. The passage quoted in the article is referring to two separate campaigns, one against Norway, one against Poland. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.210.15.181 (talk) 11:54, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Geographical variation
Despite the Giles Coren incident, my perception is that the term is used far more often in the United States than in the United Kingdom. I think many people in the U.K. wouldn't know what it meant, other than by guessing from the similarity to Pole/Poland. This should be added if verifiable. Salopian (talk) 22:36, 28 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Agreed, I've never heard it used in the UK, and if used (like by Coren), it's because it's known to be US slang and is being copied. Coren would never have been able to print it if it was truly racist in the UK (could he have used "Paki"? Of course not). Wiktionary has correctly identified it as US, so we should too.Malick78 (talk) 12:59, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Deletion policy
I am not recommending any action here, just adding information. After a proposed deletion is removed and an editor wishes to pursue deletion, the proper procedure is to discuss whether an article should be deleted. In order to list for discussion go here. Ward20 (talk) 20:18, 18 December 2010 (UTC)

Regarding to brazil
"except Brazil, where, much as galego (Galician), alemão (German) and russo (Russian), it became a politically incorrect term, and the noun used for Polish people is polonês (such term is absent from Spanish and other Portuguese variants)."

None of these terms are offensive or politically incorrect. "Alemão", "Galego", "Polaco" and sometimes "Russo" are terms used in reference to white people (often with blond hair), but they are not offensive at at all. Often they are used as nicknames as well. "Polaco" is also used to make reference to polish people, and has no negative conotation. The only exception is the word "polaca" (polish woman) which is a synonym for "prostitute" in some regions of the country.

I think this part of the text should be removed, because it has no sources and is inaccurate. 179.185.81.8 (talk) 18:50, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

Polock
Growing up I always encountered "Polock jokes" and was rather confused the first time I came across the Polack spelling. Should we mention this variant spelling here? --Khajidha (talk) 00:00, 16 April 2018 (UTC)