Polish horses & more

[Dennis R. Preston]

Barry,

Finally your tour guide strikes gold (or at least silver) with his
mushrooms. Authentic Polish.

dInIs



>    Greetings again from Bialystok, where the best I could find is a
>"bagiel"...If the U.S. stock marlet goes down any more, the only
>"bread" I'll have will be "Bialystock."
>    From that first viewing and listening of Chopin at Lazienki Park
>in Warsaw, my tour guide said that the barred "L" is "W" in English
>pronunciation.  The online slang guides I cited that list "pedal"
>also include that pronunciation note.  Again, it doesn't excuse the
>"pedal" bicycle etymology, however.
>
>POLISH HORSES--Seen today at Bialowieza National Park (barred L
>again).  Also known as Tarpan horses (OED 1841) and forest horses.
>The OED entry doesn't mention Poland, and I can probably antedate
>the entry.
>
>EUROPEAN BISON--Also seen at the park, and almost extinct.  I didn't
>find any other names, however.
>
>LAJKONIK HOBBY HORSE--OED has "hobby horse" from 1557, but this
>legend of Cracow appears to go back to the 13th century.
>
>TREASURER OF WIELICZA--Treasurer is "Skarbnik" in Polish, and it is
>the guardian ghost of mines and miners.  OED should consider it
>(like a "dwarf" or "troll" entry).
>
>CRACOW CRIBS--"Cracovian Christmas Cribs" is on pages 120-121 of my
>LEGENDARY CRACOW book.  This is an old tradition.  Perhaps it should
>be considered (like a "Swiss cheese" or "Manhattan clam chowder"
>entry).
>
>WALKING STICK (LASKA)--A girl.
>
>SOUP--Gasoline.
>
>IN POLAND, ALL MUSHROOMS ARE EDIBLE.  SOME ONLY ONCE--A gem from my
>tour guide.

--
Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736