UNUSUAL NAMES OF EATING PLACES IN POLISH

AFTER WINTER COURSES OF POLISH
The winter season is over and foreigners start to go away for weekends all over Poland in order to take a break from hustle and bustle of big cities. Such trips do not only offer opportunities to explore Poland, but also allow you to enlarge your Polish vocabulary. While travelling you might notice that, for instance, there are plenty of names, such as zajazd, gospoda, karczma and oberża instead of good old restaurants.

POLISH LEXICAL DILEMMAS: OBERŻA AND KARCZMA
Foreigners who are learning Polish and explore the secrets of Polish conjugations and vocabulary on a daily basis do not find it difficult to  understand the meaning of those words. However, after they return to class they always ask the same question: what is the DIFFERENCE between the two forms?
Let’s look at the facts. All the words – zajazd, gospoda, karczma and oberża (inn, tavern)– were initially used to call a place to eat near a road, where travellers could have something to eat and stay for the night. In times when people travelled on horseback or by carriage a lot, it was extremely important for such places to have horse stables. Nowadays there are no stables anymore, and the main purpose of such a place is to offer food. If you are tired from travelling and are looking for a place to stay for the night, you should rather go for zajazd. Most places with names like that provide their customers with accommodation as well as food.

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OBERŻA, KARCZMA, ZAJAZD, GOSPODA – ETYMOLOGY
All the confusion about the words zajazd, gospoda, karczma and oberża results from the fact that the Polish have adopted several forms of different origin to name the same  thing. Next to the Polish forms zajazd (which comes from the verb zajechać, i.e. stop by a place on the way somewhere), and gospoda (from the verb gościć, which means to host), there are loanwords, such as the word oberża (French auberge), or words that are derived from the Old Polish language – karczma. Because of its origin the last noun is quite easily recognized by Slavic students (in Czech it’s krčma), and it is probably derived from the Proto-Slavic verb *krčiti, i.e. to clear land, cut down trees. That is related to the fact that karczmy were often built on clearings (karczowiska), i.e. the places where the trees were cut down so as to prepare the infrastructure for construction of a karczma, for instance.

KARCZEMNA AWANTURA IN A KARCZMA
The noun karczma became so common in the Polish culture that the adjective karczemny, which means vulgar, coarse, loud, soon appeared. It is often used to describe a conflict and it collocates with the noun awantura (a row). Remember then not to get involved in karczemne awantury (blazing rows) during your trips in Poland, stay for the night at zajazd and eat at oberża :)

PROVERBS, OR A LESSON IN OPTIMISM FROM POLAND

POLISH PROVERBS
Proverbs are generally believed to be the wisdom of nations. Therefore, when they appear in lessons of Polish as a foreign language students learn much more than just their meanings. Not only do proverbs allow us to learn the language, its conjugations and declensions, but also the customs, culture and even... about the vagaries of the weather :)

POLISH PROVERBS ABOUT THE WEATHER 
Polish proverbs are no exception. We already mentioned one of them in our post of 26th February (W marcu jak w garncu literally: March is like a pot; similar to the English proverb: March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb). Another common proverb is Kwiecień plecień, co przeplata: trochę zimy, trochę lata (April the weaver, because interweaves a little bit of winter with a little bit of summer). It perfectly describes the changeable April weater, with beautiful summer sun on one day and snow on the following day.
There is one more popular saying referring to the climate: Idzie luty, szykuj buty (February is coming, get your shoes ready). It reminds us that the second month of the year is cold and severe (if you want to learn about the etymology of the names of the months in Polish, check out our post of 9th Sempember), so you should prepare the proper clothes and shoes so as not to catch a cold or fall ill.

                                      Proverbs allow (not only foreigners) to get to know Polish customs

WISDOM OF POLISH PROVERBS
Naturally, there are lots of proverbs that do not refer to the weather at all. Many foreigners must have heard their Polish colleagues say when in trouble: Co cię nie zabije, to cię wzmocni (What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger). These words give you hope that even the most serious problems may teach you a valuable lesson and broaden your experience. The proverb Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło (Every cloud has a silver lining) has a similar meaning.
It is worth mentioning that there are many optimistic proverbs in Polish. Take Dla chcącego nie ma nic trudnego (Where there is a will there’s a way), for instance, which tells us that everyone who is motivated, ambitious and eager to work will definitely reach their goals.
Kuj żelazo póki gorące (Strike while the iron is hot) encourages us to act and take advantage of the situation. So, if you would like to learn more secrets of the Polish language, then strike while the iron is hot and enroll in a language course (more on courses here) or check out our FB profile.