# mała (term of address)



## loveyoulove

Im American and I'm living in Poland dating a Polish man. He calls me Mala, i know it means "little" but is it good that he call me that? I don't know it's exact meaning... Is it degrading or is it sweet?


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## POLSKAdoBOJU

There is nothing degrading about mała in this context. In Polish we tend to use diminuitives when talking to loved one, ex: kotku, misiu, żabko. Mała is used along the same lines.


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## LilianaB

There is nothing good and nothing bad about it. It is more like girl, or something like that. Not really like kitten, something neutral in my opinion, but Polish man probably know better what the exact intention of this word is. I have never heared a Polish woman call her boyfriend maly: it may mean something else, and I think this could be degrading towards a man.Mala, from what I have seen around, is a standard form how Polish man refer to girlfriends.


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## dreamlike

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with "mała", it's a common term of endearment in Poland. It's entirely up to you what to make of that, though - I know of some girls who don't like  being referred to as "mała", just like some of them frown on "żabka"  They are not disparaging, though, not even in the slightest - it's more of a personal preference thing.


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## kknd

dreamlike said:


> There is nothing intrinsically wrong with "mała", it's a common term of endearment in Poland. It's entirely up to you what to make of that, though - I know of some girls who don't like  being referred to as "mała", just like some of them frown on "żabka"  They are not disparaging, though, not even in the slightest - it's more of a personal preference thing.


i pretty agree with that—i also knew a girl who didn't like it much (even if having her posture it was just first thing that would come to your mind to address her in endearment… ). all depends on a person; nonetheless i don't consider it disparaging… (one rather cannot say i'm little or small… )


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## LilianaB

There is nothing nice about it, but I don't know what Polish girls like. You should conduct some research, a poll, or something like that.


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## loveyoulove

So its not a bad things,  its more of a sweet gesture. That is good to know. Thanks you all.


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## arturolczykowski

It's quite similar to American usage of "babe"....


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## dn88

Personally, I don't find it particularly sweet. It actually feels quite neutral and I would expect something along the lines of "maleńka" in a romantic setting... But maybe that's just me.


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