Polack

"Polack" redirects here. For other uses, see Polack (disambiguation).

For persons named Polack, see Polack (surname).

The noun Polack (Template:Pron-en), in the English language, is a reference to a Pole or person of Polish descent considered offensive in some contexts.. It is an Anglicisation of the Polish language word Polak, which means a Polish male person (feminine being Polka). Although the Polish word has a neutral connotation, the English loanword "Polack" is insulting.

Today, in the English-speaking world, the word "Polack" is sometimes considered an ethnic slur:

1. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
2. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a person of Polish birth or descent (The American Heritage Dictionary)

History

According to Online Etymology Dictionary by Douglas Harper, "Polack" meant as "Polish immigrant, person of Polish descent" was used in American English until the late 19th century (1879) to describe a "Polish person" in a non-offensive way (1574). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) based on the Unabridged Dictionary by Random House claims that the word originated between 1590–1600. For example, Shakespeare uses the term in his tragedy Hamlet to refer to the people inhabiting the land of Norway. A quote is given below:

Such was the very armour he had on

When he the ambitious Norway combated:

So frowned he once, when in an angry parle

He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice

However in an Irish-published edition of Hamlet (published by the Educational Company) there are notes by Patrick Murray that say "Some editors, however, argue that Polacks should read as pole-axe, and that Horatio is remembering an angry Old Hamlet striking the ice with his battle-axe".

On July 26, 2008, The Times newspaper from the United Kingdom featured a comment piece by restaurant reviewer Giles Coren known for his profanity-strewn complaints, containing general anti-Polish sentiment. In a piece, entitled "Two waves of immigration, Poles apart" Coren reverted to a racial slur 'Polack' to describe Polish immigrants who can "clear off". He went on to articulate his fringe revisionist views about the Holocaust in Poland as well. The piece prompted a letter of complaint to The Times from the Polish ambassador to the UK, Barbara Tuge-Erecinska. She wrote that "the issue of Polish-Jewish relations has been unfairly and deeply falsified" by his "aggressive remarks" and "contempt". Coren's comments caused the Federation of Poles in Great Britain to demand a published apology from The Times under threat of an official complaint to the Press Complaints Commission, which has the power to force an apology.

Ethnonyms

The only official English language alternative to the term "Polish person" (man, and woman) today is Pole (see also: Naming Poland in foreign languages). In some other languages such as Swedish or Norwegian e.g., Polack or Polakk is an acceptable expression for a person from Poland.

Exonyms

In Russian and Ukrainian the old exonym лях (lyakh) is now considered offensive and is replaced by the neutral поляк (polyak), although the latter's diminutive form, полячёк (polyachyok) is pejorative as well.

Surnames

Polak, aka Polack, Poláček or Pollack is a surname common in Germany, Denmark, Czech, USA. It may refer to:

• Jacques J. Polak, Dutch economist
• Benjamin Polak, British professor of economics
• Sjaak Polak, Dutch footballer
• Graham Polak, Australian Football League player
• Maralyn Lois Polak, American writer

• Elizabeth Polack (fl. mid-19th c.), English playwright
• Israel Polack (1909–1993), Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian, Chilean, and Israeli textile industrialist
• Jan Polack (1435–1519), Polish painter
• Joel Samuel Polack (1807–1882), first Jewish settler in New Zealand

• Karel Poláček
• Tomáš Poláček

• Jerzy Polaczek

• Alan W. Pollack, musicologist
• Andrea Pollack (1961–), swimmer
• Ben Pollack (1903–1971), drummer and bandleader
• Brittany Pollack, New York City Ballet dancer
• David M. Pollack, (1982–), American football linebacker
• Egon Pollack, Australian footballer
• Eileen Pollack, novelist, essayist and writer
• Frank L. Pollack (1876–1957), science fiction writer
• Harvey Pollack (1922–), statistician
• Henry Pollack (1961–), radio host
• Henry Pollack, professor
• Howard Pollack, professor
• James B. Pollack (1938–1994), astrophysicist
• Kenneth Pollack (1966–), CIA intelligence analyst
• Lew Pollack (1895–1946), composer
• Neal Pollack (1970–), satirist, novelist and writer
• Olaf Pollack (1973–), road racing cyclist
• Rachel Pollack (1945–), science fiction author and comic book writer
• Reginald Pollack (1924–2001), painter
• Robert Pollack (biologist), biologist
• Rocky Pollack, Manitoba judge
• Sydney Pollack (1934–2008), film director, producer and actor

See also

• Anti-Polish sentiment
• Polish joke at times referred to as "Polack joke"