Polack

In the contemporary English language, the noun '''''Polack''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|oʊ|l|ɑː|k}} and {{IPAc-en|-|l|æ|k}}) is a derogatory term, primarily used in North America, referring to a person of Polish origin.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Stevenson |editor1-first=Angus |title=Oxford Dictionary of English |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199571123 |page=1373}}</ref><ref name="dictionary1">{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=polack|title=Polack – Define Polack at Dictionary.com|work=reference.com}}</ref> It is an anglicisation of the Polish masculine noun ''Polak'', which denotes a person of Polish ethnicity and typically male gender.<ref>{{in lang|pl}} Definition of Polak in PWN dictionary:{{cite web|url=https://sjp.pwn.pl/slowniki/polak.html|title=polak|access-date= 17 November 2022}}</ref><ref>Some sources connect the feminine form ''Polka'' to the musical form and genre of that name; others link the latter to Czech ''pulka'', meaning "half" and likely referring to the half steps performed by the dancers or the dance's {{music|time|2|4}} as opposed to {{music|time|4|4}} time signature.</ref> However, the English loanword is considered an ethnic slur.<ref>{{cite web |title=Polack |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Polack |website=merriam-webster.com |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=26 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sánchez Fajardo |first1=José A. |title=Pejorative Suffixes and Combining Forms in English |date=2022 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |isbn=9789027210609 |page=53}}</ref>

== History == According to ''Online Etymology Dictionary'' by Douglas Harper, ''Polack'' meant as "Polish immigrant, person of Polish descent" was used in American English until the late 19th century (1879) to describe a "Polish person" in a non-offensive way (1574).<ref>{{OEtymD|Polack}}</ref> Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) based on the Unabridged Dictionary by Random House claims that the word originated between 1590 and 1600. For example, in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, the character Horatio uses the term ''Polacks'' to refer to the opponents of Hamlet's father: {{poem quote|Such was the very armour he had on When he the ambitious Norway combated; So frown'd he once, when, in an angry parle, He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice.}}

In an Irish-published edition of ''Hamlet'' by the ''Educational Company'', Patrick Murray noted: "Some editors, however, argue that ''Polacks'' should read as ''pole-axe'', and that Horatio is remembering an angry Old Hamlet striking the ice with his battle-axe".<ref name="Murray">The Educational Company, [http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/patrick-murray-william-shakespeare/the-tragedy-of-hamlet-prince-of-denmark-goo/1-the-tragedy-of-hamlet-prince-of-denmark-goo.shtml William Shakespeare's Hamlet edited with notes by Patrick Murray], {{ISBN|0-86167-003-5}} p. 54.</ref>

On 26 July 2008, ''The Times'' featured a comment piece by restaurant reviewer and columnist Giles Coren entitled "Two waves of immigration, Poles apart", where he used ''Polack'' to describe Polish immigrants who can "clear off", in reference to such immigrants leaving the UK in response to low-paying construction jobs drying up.<ref name="timesonline-2">[https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/two-waves-of-immigration-poles-apart-jrpqm0797dx "Two waves of immigration, Poles apart"] – ''The Times''.</ref>

== Ethnonyms == The neutral English language noun for a Polish person (male or female) today is Pole (see also: Naming Poland in foreign languages). In some other languages such as Swedish, Norwegian or Scots, ''polack'' or ''polakk'' are inoffensive terms for a person from Poland.<ref>Sten Malmström & Iréne Györki, ''Bonniers svenska ordbok'' (Bonniers' Swedish dictionary), ed. Peter A. Sjögren (Stockholm: Bonniers, 1980), {{ISBN|91-0-042749-7}}, p. 249.</ref>

In Iberian languages, ''polaco'' is a mild slur for people from Catalonia,<ref>[http://polskaviva.com/2012/07/14/por-que-se-llama-polacos-a-los-catalanes/ Why are the Catalans called 'polacos'?] – Polska Viva {{in lang|es}}.</ref> though it is a completely neutral way of referring to Polish people in all Ibero-American countries except Brazil, where it became a politically incorrect term, and the noun used for Polish people nowadays is ''polonês'' (such term is absent from Spanish and other Portuguese variants).

In Ukrainian, the old exonym лях (''lyakh'', ''lyakhy'') is now considered offensive<ref name=Lyakhy>{{in lang|uk}} Ляхи (Lyakhy) in Ukrainian Wikipedia.</ref> In Russian the same word, formerly often used with negative connotations but not generally offensive, is obsolete. In both languages it was replaced by the neutral {{lang|ru|поляк}} (''polyak'').

Another common Russian ethnic slur for Poles is {{lang|ru|пшек}} (''pshek''), an onomatopoeia derived from Polish phonology: prepositions {{lang|pl|prze-}} and {{lang|pl|przy-}} are quite common, with {{lang|pl|rz}} corresponding to the sound of "zh", and the sibilant-sounding speech (e.g., {{lang|pl|przepraszam}} ("excuse me") transcribed as "pzheprasham") has been a target of mockery in Russian culture.<ref>[https://russian_argo.academic.ru/10440 пшек], ''Словарь русского арго'', ГРАМОТА.РУ. В. С. Елистратов. 2002.</ref>

In Polish, the term ''polaczek'' (sometimes capitalised as ''Polaczek''; plural: ''polaczki'') which is the diminutive of the word ''polak'' is seen as a disrespectful or offensive term for a Polish person. In Polish-language media, it is usually also used as a direct translation for English term ''Polack''.<ref>''Nazwy członków narodów, ras i szczepów''. In: ''Wielki słownik ortograficzny''. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. (in Polish)</ref>

== See also == * Anti-Polish sentiment * Polish joke, at times referred to as "Polack joke"

== References == {{Wiktionary|Polack|Pollack|Pollock|Polock}} {{reflist}}

Category:Anti-Polish sentiment Category:Stereotypes of Polish people Category:English words Category:Pejorative terms for European people