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Thaddeus Kosciusko

angrystaffofficer.com

61–70 of 117 posts

Re: Thaddeus Kosciusko

#61
post #30

I'm curious why the hell is his name anglicised. It should be Tadeusz Kościuszko. In reverse it would be like writing Albert Einstein as Albert Ajsztain in Polish, because that's how it's pronounced. No one ever does this.

Maybe not in Polish (nor in Slovak) but in same languages this is indeed the usual way to import foreign words and also names. I seem to remember Bulgarian or Serbian film posters with Жан Рено (Jean Reno), because that's how it's pronounced. Also I think several East-Asian languages do this.

It's not the same thing. When you need to import a name which is originally written in one writing system to another (here: Latin-based to Cyrillic) you have no other choice, but to re-write it.

Re: Thaddeus Kosciusko

#62
post #20

New York City just finished replacing the Kosciuszko Bridge, a critical segment of the BQE (I278). Most people in New York say "the koss-key-oss-ko bridge", though my understanding is that the pronunciation is more like "Ko-shuz-kuh"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosciuszko_Bridge

There is a small town in Mississippi named Kosciusko, and they pronounce it kosi-'uhskoh, or, in IPA, /ˌkɒsiˈʌskoʊ/. It's not far from my mother's home town and it is the home town of James Meredith and Oprah Winfrey.

Re: Thaddeus Kosciusko

#63
post #56

"The dude lived a metal life and I have no idea why there hasn’t been a movie made about him." There are many historical figures that should have movies made about them. i.e Witold Pilecki who volunteered for Auschwitz - the whole team of the guys who decrypted Enigma (and I'm not talking about Brits.) - Rejewski, Zygalski and Rozycki - mathematicians of the Lwow School of Mathematics and their Scottish Book and many…

> being ignored by the Anglo-Saxons and their propaganda machine.

Polish propaganda machine is largely ignori ng the king of Poland (Tsar Alexander I), who had given to Poland the most democratic constitution of the time in Europe.

Also role of Tsar Alexander II is largely ignored in Polish history a ruler who succesfully abolished serfdom in Poland (a task where Kościuszko failed) and introduced custom union between Poland and Russia starting the largest economic boom in Polish history.

What is nation?

A group of people united in mistaken view about the past and hatred of their neighbours.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Is_a_Nation%3F

Re: Thaddeus Kosciusko

#64
post #20

New York City just finished replacing the Kosciuszko Bridge, a critical segment of the BQE (I278). Most people in New York say "the koss-key-oss-ko bridge", though my understanding is that the pronunciation is more like "Ko-shuz-kuh"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosciuszko_Bridge

Unfortunatelly, neither. Main problem with his surname is the ‘ś’ (proper spelling is ‘Kościuszko’), which doesn’t appear in English at all. The closest equivalent I can think of is Japanese sound at the beginning of words such as ‘ sh inobi’, which I guess English-speaking people still pronounce like ‘sh’ in ‘fi sh ’… And then there’s ‘ci’, which is pronounced similar to ‘s’… The closest I can get is ‘Koshch-oosh-ku…

[deleted]

Re: Thaddeus Kosciusko

#66
What strikes me the most whenever I read about this period is how no-hassle moving between countries used to be. For some reason we think of the modern world as finally "global" and "open", but it doesn't necessarily seem as such when you try to get a visa.

Re: Thaddeus Kosciusko

#68
post #29
post #20

New York City just finished replacing the Kosciuszko Bridge, a critical segment of the BQE (I278). Most people in New York say "the koss-key-oss-ko bridge", though my understanding is that the pronunciation is more like "Ko-shuz-kuh"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosciuszko_Bridge

Neither :). It’s a pretty hard word for people outside Poland. I would say it’s pronounced more like “Kosh-choosh-kuh”. It still won’t be perfect, but close enough.

These kind of shenanigans are exactly why Mr. Karadžić [1] pushed for an orthographic alphabet in Serbia, and why it quickly got adopted by neighbors as well.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vuk_Karad%C5%BEi%C4%87

Re: Thaddeus Kosciusko

#69
post #66

What strikes me the most whenever I read about this period is how no-hassle moving between countries used to be. For some reason we think of the modern world as finally "global" and "open", but it doesn't necessarily seem as such when you try to get a visa.

That's an overly romanticized view. Moving long distances was slow and/or expensive. There was little in the way of international banking, so if you wanted to have money in your new home, you had to bring gold or silver or sell other things. If you were robbed, you were pretty much out of luck -- insofar as there were police forces, they weren't much concerned about foreigners.

It's true that you now have to cope with passports and visas, but for most places you might choose to emigrate to, you can expect a more or less fair police force, shops that will take your credit card, ATMs that will translate your money, and Internet to talk to people back home.

Re: Thaddeus Kosciusko

#70
post #69
post #66

What strikes me the most whenever I read about this period is how no-hassle moving between countries used to be. For some reason we think of the modern world as finally "global" and "open", but it doesn't necessarily seem as such when you try to get a visa.

That's an overly romanticized view. Moving long distances was slow and/or expensive. There was little in the way of international banking, so if you wanted to have money in your new home, you had to bring gold or silver or sell other things. If you were robbed, you were pretty much out of luck -- insofar as there were police forces, they weren't much concerned about foreigners. It's true that you now have to cope wit…

Well yes, I understand that this is the price of increased convenience for an average person. I simply feel that there's a certain sense of irony in those new barriers been erected as the old ones fall. Now it's harder to pull a Kosciuszko but easier to post pictures of your vacation on instagram, that's the trade-off here.
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