ROZWODNIK (divorcee) AND STARA PANNA (old maid), OR TERMS FOR DESCRIBING MARITAL STATUS IN POLISH

As we have promised in our entry on patchwork family (you can find it here), we are going to present some nouns related to people’s marital status. We have already mentioned that people who are married are called mąż (husband) and żona (wife). These nouns sound familiar to virtually all participants of Polish courses. The ones you are going to read about are much more rarely used in Polish classes.

WHAT DO YOU CALL UNMARRIED PEOPLE IN POLISH?
Those, whose spouse died are wdowiec (widower) and wdowa (widow); people, who decided to end a failed relationship are called rozwodnik (divorcee, masculine) and rozwódka (divorcee, feminine). The two latter forms, despite being correct and used in the legal language, still have negative connotations in Polish society and are stigmatizing. Therefore, the terms rozwiedziony (divorced, masculine) and rozwiedziona (divorced, feminine) are becoming increasingly popular. Similar rule applies to those who have never changed their marital status and remain kawaler (unmarried man, bachelor) and panna (unmarried woman, spinster).  People who remained unmarried for too long (in some people’s opinion) used to be called stary kawaler (literally: old bachelor, confirmed bachelor) and stara panna (spinster, old maid) with contempt. However, nowadays,  following the social changes and the growing number of people who are not in a relationship (anymore) with anyone or decide to get married much later than older generations, the words singiel (single, masculine) and singielka (single, feminine) are gaining in popularity.

                                           more Polish vocabulary on our FB page

KONKUBIN OR PARTNER? OTHER WORDS TO DESCRIBE MARITAL STATUS
What about those who are in steady but live-in,  not legalized relationships? And again, the legal and administration language affect everyday life. The official terms are konkubent or konkubin (cohabitant, masculine) and konkubina (cohabitant, feminine). However, these words have been used so often in the criminal news stories (e.g. Konkubent Marian Z. zabił swoją konkubinę Grażynę K. w trakcie libacji alkoholowej - , i.e. Marian M. cohabiting with Grażyna K. killed her while carousing) that they now are used in a pejorative sense by Polish people. The young generations use these terms humorously nowadays, and when they want to be serious, they go for partner/partnerka when talking about their other half.

As you can see, the terminology related to marital status is a very good indicator of changes in the society that clearly affect the language itself.

COLOURS IN POLISH IDIOMS

GREEN LIGHT TO LEARNING POLISH :)

Since it’s grey, bleak and gloomy outside and it gets everyone down, we propose focusing on  colours today. Naturally, colours is the topic that puts students into a good mood as it’s easy, pleasant and useful. Colours appear in classes (more on Polish courses here) as parts of idiomatic expressions, which is another favourite subject of everyone, not only foreigners studying Polish.
The ‘hero’ of today’s entry is the colour we all probably miss most these days: zielony (green).

FOR A START, ON THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF ZIELONY IN POLISH

You can zzielenieć ze złości  (literally: get green with anger) or z zazdrości (with envy), which means show extreme anger or envy. And if one of our acquaintances ma zielono w głowie (literally: has green in their head; is empty-headed, is an airhead), then they are careless and, unfortunately, irresponsible. A novice in any kind of business or activity is usually zielony (green) or nie ma zielonego pojęcia (has no clue/absolutely no idea; literally: has no green clue) what is to be done or what to do, so has no knowledge of the topic and is simply inexperienced and often young.
If someone has lost their job, we can say that they have been wysłany na zieloną trawkę (literally: sent to green grass/pasture).

Here are zielone płuca miasta – green lungs of the city. Check out our FB page
for more idioms and interesting facts about the Polish language

FINALLY, ON THE POSITIVE SIDE OF ZIELONY IN POLISH

When new opportunities come up and we have been given a chance to put our plans or projects into practice, that means that someone zapalił/ dał zielone światło (lit/gave us the green light). Drivers may be interested to know that zielona fala (literally: green wave) refers to a situation when we can drive through a few consecutive crossroads without stopping because you there is green light every time, a phenomenon welcome by those stuck in the morning traffic jams. Zielone płuca (green lungs), i.e. forests and parks full of plants, provide healthier environment and make us feel better. And let’s not forget about zielone ludziki  (little green men), aliens whose skin is supposed to be green.