# Mieszkaliśmy w blokach z wielkiej płyty.



## Encolpius

Hello, the only word I have found is "bloki z wielkiej płyty". Czechs call it "panelák", a rather simple colloquial word, so my question is: what do you call those buildings in colloquial Polish?  Maybe just: bloki? So you would say: Mieszkaliśmy w blokach.  Thanks.


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## Karton Realista

Blok is not colloquial, it's a normal name for panelák.
It's the first time in my life that I hear the expression "bloki z wielkiej płyty", it looks like some sort of engineer jargon.
Mieszkaliśmy w bloku.
Mieszkaliśmy na blokach (colloquial), we lived in an estate full of blocks of flats (Sk. plné panelákov, I don't know how would it be in Czech ).


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## marco_2

And I heard the expression _bloki z wielkiej płyty _quite often because this technology was introduced in Poland in 1960s and before that time blocks of flats had been built of bricks (I myself live in such a block, built in 1961) - they weren't tower blocks of course, but still blocks.


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## Karton Realista

marco_2 said:


> And I heard the expression _bloki z wielkiej płyty _quite often because this technology was introduced in Poland in 1960s and before that time blocks of flats had been built of bricks (I myself live in such a block, built in 1961) - they weren't tower blocks of course, but still blocks.


This technology is way older than me, so it's no wonder I haven't heard of it. 
I wouldn't even know if my block is that type or another, I'm not an architect :3


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## Szkot

A quick google shows it is widely used e.g. here, including by people living in them.  Some talk of living 'w wielkiej płycie' without 'blok'.


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## jasio

Karton Realista said:


> This technology is way older than me, so it's no wonder I haven't heard of it.
> I wouldn't even know if my block is that type or another, I'm not an architect :3



If you lived there, you would probably know.  Paneláks have a number of inherent quality flaws with right angles, thermal insulation, etc.
On the other hand, I was surprised to learn that there were also shorter buildings (4-6 floors) constructed with this technology, often higher in quality.

A sidenote: typically paneláks were constructed massively, leading to whole quarters of blocks which were very similar in shape and often difficult to distinguish ("blokowiska"). Since they were often settled by poor people (factory workers, peasants moving to the cities) it lead to creating a subculture of frustrated young people without perspectives ("blokersi").


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## Ben Jamin

jasio said:


> If you lived there, you would probably know.  Paneláks have a number of inherent quality flaws with right angles, thermal insulation, etc.
> On the other hand, I was surprised to learn that there were also shorter buildings (4-6 floors) constructed with this technology, often higher in quality.
> 
> A sidenote: typically paneláks were constructed massively, leading to whole quarters of blocks which were very similar in shape and often difficult to distinguish ("blokowiska"). Since they were often settled by poor people (factory workers, peasants moving to the cities) it lead to creating a subculture of frustrated young people without perspectives ("blokersi").


Originally there were no flaws with the thermal insulation because there was none. The blocks were insulated only much later, beginning in the 1990-s.
The blokersi phenomenon is also much newer than the blocks themselves. As far as I know it didn't begin before the 1980-s.


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## bibax

In Czech "blok" means a city block (Häuserblock) = the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. The centre of Prague is full of bloks. The paneláks (mieszkałem w tym panelakie nalewo ) in suburbs usually are not arranged in blocks.

*panelák* = _wyraz potoczny_ for _"panelový dům"_;


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## Karton Realista

bibax said:


> (mieszkałem w tym panelakie nalewo )


That case ending for panelak, if there was such a Polish word, would be -u
Na lewo is written separately in Polish. Same goes for nie and verbs 
Here I would rather use "po lewej", although it's just a personal preference.
Sorry for that, I just couldn't resist 

So, in short, Polish and Czech bloks don't have anything to do with one another.


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## bibax

Już nie będę pisać po polsku, ślubuję.


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## Karton Realista

bibax said:


> ślubuję


Jezu, nie rzucaj takich ciężkich słów na wiatr, jeszcze komuś na łeb spadną i dopiero się narobi


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## jasio

Ben Jamin said:


> Originally there were no flaws with the thermal insulation because there was none. The blocks were insulated only much later, beginning in the 1990-s.


If you like picking on people, consider that the walls themselves are also a sort of a thermal insulation. The simplest proof is that a temperature inside is different than the temperature outside - which would be impossible without interrupting heat transfer. 



Ben Jamin said:


> The blokersi phenomenon is also much newer than the blocks themselves. As far as I know it didn't begin before the 1980-s.


And?


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## jasio

bibax said:


> Już nie będę pisać po polsku, ślubuję.


Don't take it too personal. Some people here just love showing others' mistakes even if it does not make much sense.
Just take a beer.


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## Ben Jamin

jasio said:


> If you like picking on people, consider that the walls themselves are also a sort of a thermal insulation. The simplest proof is that a temperature inside is different than the temperature outside - which would be impossible without interrupting heat transfer.


No picking intended. Insulation is a precisely defined technical concept, a layer of a special material that has only an insulating function. The element blocks built from the 1960-s to 1980-s had only structural concrete element, with no insulation at all.


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## Karton Realista

We've gone off-top, "guys".


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## Chrzaszcz Saproksyliczny

To answer your question, I am very well aquainted with "bloki z wielkiej płyty", "mieszkać w wielkiej płycie" but also simply "mieszkać w bloku". To make it more interesting, as cities grew in 1970s, every place started calling the blocks their way. Some of these slang words stuck up to this day. And so,
in Poznań, you will hear about "deska" (pl: "deski"), meaning a board, or a plank.
in Gdańsk, they have "falowiec" (pl: "falowce"), for the long version which looks like a wave from a birds-eye.
in other cities some people live in "mrówkowiec" (pl: mrówkowce), literally meaning an anthill
Perhaps there are more. Technically, "blok" itself is a colloquial term, but is used nowadays in standard Polish. Don't confuse them with "familok" - these are a much earlier concept


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## Ben Jamin

Chrzaszcz Saproksyliczny said:


> To answer your question, I am very well aquainted with "bloki z wielkiej płyty", "mieszkać w wielkiej płycie" but also simply "mieszkać w bloku". To make it more interesting, as cities grew in 1970s, every place started calling the blocks their way. Some of these slang words stuck up to this day. And so,
> in Poznań, you will hear about "deska" (pl: "deski"), meaning a board, or a plank.
> in Gdańsk, they have "falowiec" (pl: "falowce"), for the long version which looks like a wave from a birds-eye.
> in other cities some people live in "mrówkowiec" (pl: mrówkowce), literally meaning an anthill
> Perhaps there are more. Technically, "blok" itself is a colloquial term, but is used nowadays in standard Polish. Don't confuse them with "familok" - these are a much earlier concept


Both "falowiec" (a long building, up to 400 meters legth, looking like a wave when seen from the air") and "mrówkowiec" (a huge, long and tall block, in a straight line) describe the external form of the building, not the construction type. So replacing "blok z wielkiej płyty" with "falowiec" or "mrówkowiec" can't be correct. By  the way, I know this kind of buildings only from Gdansk, Zaspa District, where I once lived. Do they exist also in other places?


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## Karton Realista

Ben Jamin said:


> Do they exist also in other places?


Mrówkowces (that's not a correct plural, I assume ) are also in Warsaw, obviously
Falowiec was built only in Gdańsk and Poznań.


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