Request for ethnic terms

[Waclaw Mucha]

Oscar E. Swan wrote:
>> If I am not mistaken, a crescent-type wrench in Polish is called 'klucz
>> angielski' (english wrench); a special kind of Polish vise-grip wrench,
>> which bears down through twisting the handle, is called a 'klucz francuski'
>> (french wrench). these examples should be checked with a native-speaking
>> hardware expert.

I do not know of  "klucz angielski", but there is in Polish "klucz szwedzki"
(Swedish wrench), an adjustable flat wrench.

Oscar E. Swan wrote also:

>an 'amerykanski maz' american husband' is one who
>is dominated by his wife.
>

As far as I know, "amerykanski maz" is a boyfriend, a sexual partner for
women coming for moonlighting from Poland to the USA. Obviously, there is
also "amerykanska zona", a girlfriend, a sexual partner for men coming for
moonlighting from Poland to the USA. Since the most common place for this
adventure is Chicago, they call them usualy  "czikagowski maz" and
"czikagowska zona", Chicago husband and Chicago wife.

Let me add something to this discussion.

In Polish - one can do something:
"po zydowsku" (in a Jewish way) - in a wrong way, contrary to everyone. It's
based on the Hebrew way of writing from right to the left, from the "end" to
the "beginning".
"po amerykansku" (in an American way) - very fast and efficient. It's based
on the Polish image of America.

Speaking of ethnic terms involving Czech-related expressions, there is
another one, in Polish:
"czeski blad" (Czech error) - an error of switching the digits in a number
(instead of 458 - 485 etc.).

There are also several others, among them -- international ones. One comes
from the late Eighties, when the Communist propaganda still used to describe
the East European Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) in terms
of great success. In order to explain why such a success was possible the
following ethnic characteristics of countries-COMECON members were called out:
"polska pracowitosc" - Polish laboriousness
"rosyjska organizacja" - Russian organizational abilities
"niemieckie poczucie humoru" - German sense of humor
"czeska odwaga" - Czech courage
"bulgarska inteligencja" - Bulgarian intelligence
"rumunska uczciwosc" - Romanian honesty
"wegierski jezyk" - Hungarian language,
and
"mongolska uroda" - Mongol appearence.

Waclaw Mucha
mucha at ruf.rice.edu