Greetings
Posted by: Kasia
Greetings are essential part in our everyday life no matter where we live, what we do, who we are or what culture we belong to. We cannot imagine a single day without greeting somebody.
There are lots of different kinds of greetings which are used in various situations depending on how well we know a particular person, on time of the day or circumstances of the meeting. The words said when greeting people can express respect or be just a normal polite expression. Very often, they show joy because of the meeting or even are a spoken joke.
I would like to present some of the most important and common Polish expressions used to greet people.
Dzień dobry is a general official form of greeting people (people that we know, we do not know and older people). We use it no matter whether it is morning ( Good morning) or afternoon ( Good afternoon).
Dobry wieczór (Good evening) is similar to Dzień dobry, but it is used in the evening.
Dobranoc ( Good night) is said when people leave each other in the evening or before going to bed.
Do widzenia! ( Goodbye) is used when someone leaves or is left.
Cześć! ( Hi!, Hello!, Bye!) is an informal expression we use both when we want to greet our friends, relatives, children and people we know well and when we want to say goodbye.
Witam! is quite similar to Cześć! but a little bit less emotional.
Czołem! is again close to Cześć! It is used usually by young people between each other
Jak się masz? (how are you?), Jak się miewasz? (how do you do?), Co u Ciebie słychać? (what is going on with you?) or Co słychać! (how is everything?) are greetings which express interest in mood and health condition of the person we have met.
Polish language has also got a few more informal ways of greeting. Here they are:
Graba!, Grabula!, Witka!, Strzała! or Strzałeczka! are mostly used by men and they are more like a slang that you can’t find in the dictionary. It encourages to offer one’s hand and is connected with the gesture of shaking hands (used by people who know each other very well).
Piątka! High five! – used between people who know each other, especially younger people
Kopę lat! meaning: I haven’t seen you for ages! It emphasizes the fact that a lot of time has passed since the last meeting.
Sie masz! or Sie ma! is a shortened version of Jak się masz! (How do you do?) which has become characteristic among teenagers.
Szczęść Boże! ( God bless!) is a greeting sometimes used by Catholics.
Similar in meaning is: Niech będzie pochwalony Jezus Chrystus! or just Pochwalony! ( Praised be Jesus Christ!). As a reply to this greeting we say: Na wieki wieków, amen! (usually used in the church).
These gestures are sometimes used as a greeting:
- Shaking hands,
- Taking off one’s headgear for a moment,
- Raising one’s open hand up,
- Nodding one’s head,
- Giving somebody five,
- Smile,
- Kissing somebody’s hand (a man kisses a woman’s hand),
- Kissing one’s cheeks (in Poland usually 3 times)
Hopefully this gave you a little picture of how people greet each other in Poland.
Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)
a
Posted by: Kasia
Tags: culture, Cze, expression, good afternoon, greetings, health condition, matter, person, Polish Language, shaking hands, time of the day, traditions
