Friday, May 24, 2013

Quotes of the Week: The Pawłowicz Edition

“Trzeba było wyznaczyć im miejsce w ZOO czy na podwarszawskich polach, niech tam epatują swoją golizną i wulgarnością, wzajemnie wyzywają i tarzają w błocie. Centrum Warszawy nie należy do ludzi zboczonych i wynaturzonych, pozbawionych kompletnie poczucia godności i wstydu.”

Comment of Professor Krystyna Pawłowicz about participants of the Marsz Szmat which was to raise awareness of how rape victims are often blamed for their own rape. By the way, this was from an interview for Fronda.pl, enough said.

And on the same topic on TVN, Pawłowicz is quoted as saying -

“Te baby to szmaty i dziwki…Faceci poprzebierani za baby, towarzycho krzyczące nie wiadomo co. To coś okropnego, to są szmaty. Policja powinna zareagować…Szmaty zachowały się jak szmaty. Te baby same się reklamowały…Ulica jest miejscem publicznym i nie należy do dziwek, kurew i alfonsów.”

She said a lot of other things too this week for example about Tusk and homosexuals, but you get the general picture.

For those of you who didn’t catch everything in Polish, I’ll try to translate what she said. For those of you who understood everything in Polish and still cannot figure out what she said, I sympathize with you. My head is still spinning.

“They should have given them a place in the Zoo or in a field outside the city to show off their nudity and vulgarity, to call each other names and roll around in the mud. The center of Warsaw is not the place for deviant and perverted people, completely devoid of a sense of dignity or shame.”

So some may think that she didn’t understand that the Marsz Szmat was supposed to be provocative, that the participants were supposed to dress that way on purpose. Nope, she knows and poor Jarosław Kużniar from TVN tried to give her the benefit of the doubt and explain the Marsz to her to which she responded (“i tak mnie pan nie przekrzyczy") “and you will not outyell me”. Lovely.

Some of her statements from TVN (as above)-

“Those women are “rags” (derogative in Polish) and whores. Men dressed up as women screaming who knows what. It’s a terrible thing. They are rags. The police should do something…Rags behaved like rags. These women are just advertising themselves…The street is a public place and not the place for whore and pimps.”

I had difficulty translating this because I would actually translate szmata as whore or maybe slut would be a better translation. “Sluts behaved like sluts.” Also baba is not as polite as my translation to woman. Additionally, I'm not sure how to express the difference between a dziwka and a kurwa so both came out as whore in my translation. Got to congratulate Professor Pawłowicz on her rich vocabulary.

And now just for fun…

Have a nice weekend!

9 comments:

Asia Prezentuje Prezenty said...

This is why I do not watch the TV, do not read Polish newspapers and pretend I live in another country - it's called wewnętrzna emigracja in Polish but I am not sure how to translate it accurately...

Chris said...

Internal emmigration? Domestic emmigration?

I declared to myself that I have to read a newspaper of some sort in Polish every day so I know what's going on and I know what the heck people around me are talking about. The same with the TV news. But sometimes it'd just be better to change the channel.

zutor z Wrocławia said...

I think your translation is too smooth and polite. Too little words with negative, or even hatred payload. On the other hand, it gives a general idea of how stupid and disgusting people we choose to represent us in- and outside the country.

Pieczyk said...

I love Poland, it's my motherland and I miss it. I think we've come a long way since the regime changed and we've made a good progress. Sadly what you've quoted is so truly embarrassing and shows that we need a couple more generations to make basic changes. Not cool at all....

Stardust said...

I have no comment, simply because you can't comment szmata, of course I mean szmata-pawlowicz.
Jalowa szmata...

Chris said...

Zut- You're right. The English version seems nicer than the Polish version. If it helps, you should read the English version outloud, with yelling and spitting. That'll help.

Pieczyk- And the not coolest part of all is that this lady isn't just some lady they questioned on the street. She's a professor and a government representative. She helps make our laws!!!

Star- Ditto.

Malcadicta said...

I think like that - polish people, including me, are in the most of cases nice, i love the country and cities, but, god, we really can't choose normal government. And how it works that no one agee with plans and opinion of politicians and we still have the same politicians? Ehh...

Anonymous said...

I just can’t stop myself from commenting, such a delicious subject. It is nice to see this Canadian tradition spreading all over the civilized world ( http://www.zombietime.com/deconstructing_slutwalk/ ), now even to Poland. To begin with, the politicians or professors in Poland are no worse than anywhere else. No reason to cut oneself from the outside world. Because there is a reason why The Walk originated in Toronto. Just have a look at a recent brouhaha about our Toronto mayor. ( http://gawker.com/5978975/the-best-of-torontos-insane-terrible-mayor-rob-ford-an-introduction-for-americans )

Now to the translation. After many years my Polish has deteriorated, and my English plateau-ed on not-a- very-high plateau, but I think with some help from the Urban Dictionary I can cope. First the easier one: baba. How about a bitch? When my wife nags me a lot, I sometime say, “Blagam, daj mi babo zyc!” Not _very_ offensive, at least judging from my wife’s reaction, but not as neutral as a woman. “Masz babo placek” is completely inoffensive.

Szmata – this is more difficult. I believe it comes from German via Yiddish, and has at least three different meanings. The first is completely neutral “wez jakas szmate i posprzataj”, “nie mam co na siebie wlozyc, mam tylko same stare szmaty”. In this meaning "shmatte/a" functions in the American English as well, at least in the NY vernacular. The second meaning is gender neutral – “wydawalo by sie ze to taki/a porzadny czlowiek/kobieta, a tak sie zeszmacil/a”. Only the third has sexual connotation and the meaning of a slut.
I’ve looked at different synonyms of slut, taking into account origins of The Walk the translation should go from English to Polish. To me dziwka would sound better. “She dresses slutty” means “ubiera sie jak dziwka.” But maybe dziwka means more a tramp? Or a skank?

And how would I call Professor Pawlowicz? In Polish it’s easy: "glupia cipa". It should be dismissive, cannot be too strong, because what somebody like her says and thinks is of a minor importance. But in English? Wouldn't stupid cunt sound too strong and stupid bitch too mild? Asshole would be more to the point, but to me it sounds wrong when used for a female. So stupid cunt it is.

Peter

Chris said...

Malcadicta--If only I could vote! While I do enjoy going to the polls with my husband and esp enjoy when they ask me if I want a ballot and I say that I cannot vote...the look on their faces is great, but maybe my vote would be the vote, the vote that changes the world!!! Ok, I'm high on chocolate right now.

Peter -- You're right about the word "slut". I am aware of the uses of the word szmata and considering the original is slutwalk, slut would make the most sense. However, I disagree with babo, baba as bitch. Bitch is suka definitely not baba. And Professor Pawłowicz, there are no words to describe her. I agree that głupia cipa seems not to fit the bill. Too juvenile, maybe? Cunt is definitely too strong and bitch doesn't seem to fit either. I choose not to lower myself to her level by calling names esp not the C-word.

But if you want to start an interesting discussion with your intoxicated friends ask them this - If they had to chose who to shag, who would it be Grodzka or Pawłowicz? Choices and justifications are bound to be amusing and enlightening.