Greenpoint Photos du Jour: 10 Bedford Avenue

February 27, 2011 by
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

Today yours truly had a moment. Actually I had quite a few— but I limit the subject of this post to one: what living in “Little Poland” has imparted to me. For starters, there’s a sense of style. I for one find the Polish ladies hereabouts to be an inspiration. Their love of animal print and all shades of hair, the more unnatural the better, has become an inspiration to yours truly. Fuck 5th Avenue. I find the catwalk that is Manhattan Avenue much more interesting— and fun! I do my best to emulate their style. Regrettably, I am woefully remiss in picking up their mater lingua. Or am I? After this afternoon I have begun to wonder.

Case in point: I am walking home on Franklin Street. A man and woman exit a parked car. Both have religious pamphlets in tow. The woman approaches me and asks:

Mowimy po polsku?

I looked her squarely in the eye and replied (in English):

No, I do not speak Polish.

And she quickly went on her way. Apparently Polish souls were the only ones this woman was seeking at the moment. Go figure.

In any case, I was reminded— once again— that I have picked up much more Polish than I realized later in the afternoon. Which brings me to the following two items. They hail from 10 Bedford Avenue (a former bar which I understand is slated to become a Cuban restaurant).

I couldn’t help but giggle like crazy when I read the above missives. Those of you who are not in the know as to what these two (rather prevalent) words mean can learn by scrolling over the two above jpgs and reading their titles. All in all it felt pretty good to be reminded that I have learned some modicum of Polish over the last eleven years, tak?

UPDATE, 9:13 p.m.: I have been corrected as to what “kurwa” means (see comments). Regardless, I had to correct this really nice chap regarding his spelling.

It’s spelled K-U-R-W-A.

Miss Heather

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Comments

5 Comments on Greenpoint Photos du Jour: 10 Bedford Avenue

  1. skoss on Sun, 27th Feb 2011 9:06 pm

    2. technically… kurva means whore. But who’s counting? love the site! 😉

  2. missheather on Sun, 27th Feb 2011 9:09 pm

    3. @skoss: technically… it is spelled K-U-R-W-A. Thanks for the kind words! 😉

  3. rutila on Sun, 27th Feb 2011 9:34 pm

    4. This one’s getting sent to my mom.

  4. missheather on Sun, 27th Feb 2011 9:46 pm

    5. I hope she enjoys it— and if she has any other choice phrases she’d like the share I am totally open. I haven’t quite learned the word “no” yet— but given I know how to say “fuck you”— thanks to you— in Polish this can wait. 😉

    The funny thing is I am of Polish/Lithuanian descent. That side of my family immigrated through New York City. Just a lot earlier. And I do look Polish. I take being mistaken for such as a compliment!

  5. eagle_teater on Mon, 28th Feb 2011 9:47 am

    6. Here ya go: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~atpc/learn/tools/commonwords.html

    No is nie.

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