# Looking good!



## bjoleniacz

Hi, I'm wondering how to say "Looking good!" in Polish.  I don't know if you would actually say something like 

Wyglądasz dobrze!!!


to compliment someone who is dressed nicely, in top form, or just very good looking physically, or if there is a more idiomatic way to say it.  I'm looking for encouraging phrases that have the same excited, colloquial feel to them and don't sound stilted like "You are dressed nicely today," but also aren't vulgar.  

Dziękuję!!


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## BezierCurve

Hi,

"Dobrze wyglądasz" is a good and simple option. Works for both genders. Mind, some people obsessed with their weight might get offended though (= "You look a bit fat" is what they'll make out of it).

If you intend to use it on a woman, maybe go for "Ładnie wyglądasz" ("...looking nice") or even "Ślicznie wyglądasz" ("... looking beautiful").

If that's for a man stick to "Dobrze wyglądasz".

Wait for other ideas.


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## dreamlike

I would go for "Dobrze wyglądasz". Using the other two on women might be regarded as an attempt to pick them up by some of them, especially "Ślicznie wyglądasz". But it depends on who's at the receiving end of your compliment.


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## LilianaB

If this is somebody mature, 18 and up, you should definitely use Pan/Pani, if you do not know the person very well. ładnie Pani wygląda. I do not think you should compliment a man, maybe Dobrze Pan wygląda, if he was sick before.


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## majlo

First of all, being mature is not automatically connected with age. Secondly, if you address an 18-year old girl (and even older ones) as "Pani", she might frown upon you so to a big extent you're misleading here.

Also, there's nothing wrong with paying a compliment to a man.


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## LilianaB

I think it is better if they frown upon you than that they think you are rude. What would you say to a man as a man if you wanted to compliment him? A person who reached the age of maturity, let's change it.


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## majlo

I don't know any 18-year old girl (and I know many of them) who would think of you as rude if you didn't address her as "Pani". But I see that you're smarter again.

What I would say to a man if I wanted to pay a compliment to him depends solely on the context.

The formal age of maturity has very little to do with the real maturity and the real maturity is what counts in interpersonal relationships, not the formal one.


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## LilianaB

I think you are supposed to refer to people over 18 by Pan Pani in formal situations, especially offices and if you do not know the person regardless if they are mature mentally or not. Wouldn't one be fired from an office if he or she referred to a customer without using that form? Maybe first warned and then fired, perhaps, if this was happening on regular basis? Plus this is not about who is smarter: this is what one thinks and what is right in that person's opinion. Do you want to censor what people think or feel?


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## majlo

Let me quote you:



LilianaB said:


> If this is somebody mature, 18 and up, you should definitely use Pan/Pani, if you do not know the person very well.



That's not true. You don't have to address an 18-year old girl as Pani even if you don't know her very well. And that's what I was referring to when I said you were being smarter again. You're opining on things you have limited knowledge about since you don't live in Poland. Of course everything depends on the context and since you mentioned offices and other formal situations I think the form "Pani" could be used. Although I would personally prefer to avoid it and I don't think I would be fired because of that since there are other things in such situations that count, for example warmth and general attitude to the other person.


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## LilianaB

I am not talking about relationships between 18 year old girls and 18 or 20 year old boys: that might be different. I am referring to formal situations. I do not think this would be tolerated in bilingual offices in the US, if a person kept referring in the informal way to customers or clients. Maybe the situation in Poland has changed. By the way what compliments could be said to men, I am just wondering, simply out of curiosity, no other intentions. Ladny ma Pan kapelusz, perhaps. Bardzo mily pies, gdzie go Pan kupil? Czy gryzie.


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## Szkot

To me (eastern hemisphere) 'You're looking good' refers more to how someone is dressed, made up etc, and would be inappropriate in some formal circumstances.   On the other hand 'You're looking well' refers to a healthy appearance, and can be used to anyone.

Is 'dobrze' the best word in both cases, or can you suggest alternatives?


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## dreamlike

"Dobrze wyglądasz" can be used both for complimenting someone on "healthy appearance" and the way somebody look like. Although I think that the former usage is prevailing and as regards the latter you can also say "Ładnie wyglądasz". But they're interchangeable.


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## Ben Jamin

Szkot said:


> To me (eastern hemisphere) 'You're looking good' refers more to how someone is dressed, made up etc, and would be inappropriate in some formal circumstances.   On the other hand 'You're looking well' refers to a healthy appearance, and can be used to anyone.
> 
> Is 'dobrze' the best word in both cases, or can you suggest alternatives?



In “older times” people used to tell each other “dobrze wyglądasz” if the person praised was definitely not thin, but rather bulky. Today, when the ideal is to be slim, it may be used as a somewhat ironic remark meaning “you eat too much, and it is visible”. In other cases (with no irony intended) it may mean that the addressee looks healthy and/or handsome. If you want to appreciate somebody’s clothes, then you use “dobrze *w tym* wyglądasz” (you look well in *these* clothes), or “jesteś elegancki” (you look elegant). If a man wants to compliment a woman he may say “pięknie/świetnie wyglądasz”. If he does not want to spare compliments he may say “wyglądasz cudownie/fantastycznie” (you look marvelous/fantastic). But it is not possible to use an adjective (dobry) instead of adverb (dobrze).


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## majlo

LilianaB said:


> I am not talking about relationships between 18 year old girls and 18 or 20 year old boys: that might be different. I am referring to formal situations.


How am I to guess what you are referring to if you didn't write it?



> By the way what compliments could be said to men, I am just wondering, simply out of curiosity, no other intentions. Ladny ma Pan kapelusz, perhaps. Bardzo mily pies, gdzie go Pan kupil? Czy gryzie.


_Świetnie jeździsz _among other things.


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## LilianaB

Thank you.


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## majlo

Does this single example really help you in any way?


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## LilianaB

I was just curious how men would compliment men in Polish, this is all. Thank you.


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## majlo

And you now know?


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## LilianaB

I am not sure, I just thought that men usually did not compliment other men in Polish, but I could have been wrong.


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## dreamlike

Well, we usually do not shower each other with compliments as flattering as those we tell a women, but if other man deserves a praise, why shouldn't he receive it? By the way, what is "in Polish" suppossed to mean? Isn't that biased and stereotypical thinking, something you despise?


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## LilianaB

No, it is not biased, just a cultural observation, although I am not even sure if this is true. Maybe men in general do not say too many compliments to one another.


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## BezierCurve

True. We need someone to invent a Polish version of "no homo" phrase to free us from our cultural bounds first.


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## dreamlike

Cultural observation, as every observation, can prove to have nothing do with reality. But well, it would be safer to say that we, men, actually praise each other. Complimenting is not the best choice of word here as it often assumes some... feelings towards a person we compliment. Unless a man is, erm, that way inclined. Then "compliment" would be fine I guess


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## bjoleniacz

Thanks for the help, everyone.  

_Świetnie jeździsz - _you ride terrifically?  Is this a compliment for clothing?
jesteś elegancki - could this be used for both men and women?
wyglądasz cudownie/fantastycznie - what about this- for both men and women?

Also, do these have the same informal, colloquial feel as "Lookin' good!!!", as in, something that a friend would say to a friend, instead of a stranger to a stranger? I see they are in the "ty" form (apart from the Pan/Pani discussion)...But when I was in Poland a few years ago I feel like I picked up that Poland is more formal than the United States.


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## Rusak963

Indeed Poland is more formal. Normally you adress strangers sir or ma'am unless and not always, you are the same age (this is not a rule though). As for _świetnie jeździsz, _your translation is correct and it is not a compliment for clothing, just a remark on ones riding manner so to speak. _Jesteś elegancki _applies to men (elegancka to women) though it can be ambiguous. I would say _wyglądasz elegancko _to be clear, which applies to both men and women. You are correct about the last one but be aware that it's unlikely to occur during man to man conversations unless you want to sound gay. Men don't really compliment one another.


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## kknd

as for compliments: „świetnie wyglądasz” sounds just perfect for both sexes.

and about formality: i'm just in somekind of transition period – sometimes people are refering to me as „pan” (mr./sir) sometimes just by „ty” (you). it depends on many things; in most cases i feel it's right if people i consider older or same age are referring to me directly („ty”); if i am in some kind of formal situation like aforementioned office or even shop i'd be rather asked for attention by use of „pan”.

my trick for not being rude towards somebody i don't know and i know nothing about his/hers attitude towards using particular phrasing is to use impersonal constructions (sometimes i just don't want to acknowledge somebody's position as 'above' myself), ie. „czy mógłby pan otworzyć okno?”/„możesz otworzyć okno?” » „można otworzyć okno?”/„moglibyśmy otworzyć okno?”; „nie wie pani może gdzie mogę znaleźć kino?”/„nie wiesz może, gdzie jest kino?” » „gdzie mogę znaleźć kino?” or „była pani kiedykolwiek w rosji?”/„byłaś kiedyś w rosji?” » „a co z rosją? udało się kiedykolwiek odwiedzić?”. as one can see sometimes it's quite difficult to sound naturally and neutral… ;p


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## LilianaB

Yes, I agree it sounds great. You have to know the person though, to say it.


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## Ben Jamin

Rusak963 said:


> Indeed Poland is more formal.


Why do you say that? What criteria do you use?
If you think that the use of ‘you’ to everybody means informality, then you have misunderstood that all. 



Rusak963 said:


> Normally you adress strangers sir or ma'am unless and not always, you are the same age (this is not a rule though).


Nobody addresses strangers ‘sir’ or ‘madam’ in Poland. The usual address form between adult people that are not friends or relatives is ‘pan’ and ‘pani’.
Translating these forms into English as ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ is in most situations wrong. People do not call each other ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ in USA, it is only one of the parts of the conversation that calls the other ‘sir’ or ‘madam’: the person that is in a socially lower position, subordinate, or in a service situation (a waiter to a guest, for example). ‘Sir’ and ‘madam’ are not reciprocate, but ‘pan’ and ‘pani’ are. These terms, can, however, be translated to German as ‘Herr/Frau’, French: Monsieur/Madame, Italian: signor/signora, and so on in many other languages. These are reciprocate.


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## majlo

I would never ever think that a man paying a compliment to another man would sound gay. 

P.S. I'm not gay.


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## Rusak963

Ben Jamin said:


> Why do you say that? What criteria do you use?
> If you think that the use of ‘you’ to everybody means informality, then you have misunderstood that all.
> 
> *I didn't mean the usage of "you". I meant that Polish people tend to be more distanced towards each other and thus use formality more. *
> 
> Nobody addresses strangers ‘sir’ or ‘madam’ in Poland. The usual address form between adult people that are not friends or relatives is ‘pan’ and ‘pani’.
> Translating these forms into English as ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ is in most situations wrong. People do not call each other ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ in USA, it is only one of the parts of the conversation that calls the other ‘sir’ or ‘madam’: the person that is in a socially lower position, subordinate, or in a service situation (a waiter to a guest, for example). ‘Sir’ and ‘madam’ are not reciprocate, but ‘pan’ and ‘pani’ are. These terms, can, however, be translated to German as ‘Herr/Frau’, French: Monsieur/Madame, Italian: signor/signora, and so on in many other languages. These are reciprocate.



As for your second remark, I was talking about "pan" and "pani". You may be correct that "ma'am" is not that frequent but "sir" is. I'm not saying that these are the only ways to translate "pan" and "pani". You can also use Mr or Mrs. Also, I think, "madam" is a very formal version of "ma'am". 
How would you translate these expressions then? For example in: Excuse sir but can you tell me what time it is?


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## majlo

I wouldn't say "madam" is formal, all the more not "very formal." It's just a non-abbreviated form which may seem more formal because it's non-abreviated, but I don't think it's very formal.

As for the translations, without context there will always be something lost in it. Therefore I'd stick to the Polish words 'pan' and 'pani.'


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## Rusak963

If it's not formal than what is it? How often do you hear "madam" and how often "ma'am"? I've only seen it used in formal or humorous contexts. What do you mean with those translations? I didn't suggest any different ones.


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## majlo

When I lived in London my manager never used "Ma'am" when referring to customers. He always said "madam." That's one instance. I'm not able to give more because on the whole I don't hear that word too often. However, just because "madam" is a non-abbreviated form "ma'am" doesn't automatically mean it's formal. Just like, I believe, "advertisement" isn't more formal than "ad."




Rusak963 said:


> What do you mean with those translations? I didn't suggest any different ones.


Maybe I'm confused but weren't there some discussion about translations of "pan" and "pani" into English in the last posts from you and Benjamin? I don't know what's meant here. Is "sir" or "madam" used in Poland? I think extremely rarely and only by people who speak English (obviously) and only in very specific contexts.


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## Rusak963

I'm a bit confused now too. BenJamin claimed that translating pan(i) into sir/madam is in most cases incorrect and I disagreed. I wanted him to translate a sentence into Polish. I didn't judge the formality of the word madam based on it being abbreviated or not. Strange what you're saying about this manager. Maybe I was wrong.


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## majlo

Come to think of it, this kind of situation is formal so maybe you're right after all. Although I still find it improbable that it's very formal. A native speaker would have to opine on that.


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## bjoleniacz

I grew up in the Southern United States, where "Ma'am" is used ubiquitously and "Madam" is never used.  I have heard that up North people don't use "Ma'am" at all because it sounds rude.  I wouldn't know because I never lived up north.

I do think Pan and Pani are technically untranslatable in English, because they actually mean "you," whereas Sir and Ma'am don't mean "you" but instead are vocative tags put on the end of phrases.  You never say "Would sir care for another glass of iced tea?"  You always say "Would you care for another glass of iced tea, sir?"  In the same way, you never say "It's good to see ma'am again,"  but "It's good to see you again, Ma'am."  So the second person personal pronoun remains "you," but sir and ma'am are added at the end of the phrase.  However, I do think Sir and Ma'am are the closest thing English has to Pan and Pani, so it's the only basis for comparison.

In conclusion to my question, I think "wyglądasz cudownie!" seems like my best option.  This is for a clothing product sold by an acquaintance of mine which will be sold throughout Europe which will have little phrases like "Looking good!"  "You're red hot!" and stuff written on the packaging in the different languages.  If I'm right, this means "You look miraculous!" which seems quite colloquial.  Is that right?


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## dreamlike

Is it suppossed to be some kind of slogan which will flatter a buyer, something along the lines of "Because _you_'_re worth it_"? If so, "Wyglądasz cudownie!" would be just fine.


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## bjoleniacz

dreamlike said:


> Is it suppossed to be some kind of slogan which will flatter a buyer, something along the lines of "Because _you_'_re worth it_"? If so, "Wyglądasz cudownie!" would be just fine.



Thank you!


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## LilianaB

What would you use in other languages, could you quote two translations into other languages. I am not sure if this would really be what you want. It would mean exactly _you look wonderful_. Is this what you want?  Pan/Pani in function is more similar to Spanish usted.


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## Ben Jamin

Rusak963 said:


> As for your second remark, I was talking about "pan" and "pani". You may be correct that "ma'am" is not that frequent but "sir" is. I'm not saying that these are the only ways to translate "pan" and "pani". You can also use Mr or Mrs. Also, I think, "madam" is a very formal version of "ma'am".
> How would you translate these expressions then? For example in: Excuse sir but can you tell me what time it is?



Try it the other way.
Take  a Polish conversation between a customer (C) in a shop and a shop assistant (A): 
A: Czym mogę panu służyć?
C: Czy mógłby mi pan pokazać mi te buty z górnej półki?
How will you translate ‘pan’ i the sentence C?


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## Ben Jamin

bjoleniacz said:


> I do think Pan and Pani are technically untranslatable in English, because they actually mean "you," whereas Sir and Ma'am don't mean "you" but instead are vocative tags put on the end of phrases.  You never say "Would sir care for another glass of iced tea?"  You always say "Would you care for another glass of iced tea, sir?"  In the same way, you never say "It's good to see ma'am again,"  but "It's good to see you again, Ma'am."  So the second person personal pronoun remains "you," but sir and ma'am are added at the end of the phrase.  However, I do think Sir and Ma'am are the closest thing English has to Pan and Pani, so it's the only basis for comparison.



I agree, of course, with what you say about _pan_ and _pani_ being formal pronouns. But they are also used as what you call vocative tags (with added _proszę_), and in this case they can be translated as sir or madam only in an utterance from a person in subordinate (deferential) position to a person in a superior position. A manager in USA or Britain does not address his employees with ‘_sir_’. In Poland he often calls them ‘_pan_’, if they have not dropped the titles.
Besides, I think that discussion about _madam_ versus _ma’am_ is irrelevant here. The word was used as a generic example, and any local variations are another matter.


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## kknd

Ben Jamin said:


> Try it the other way.
> Take  a Polish conversation between a customer (C) in a shop and a shop assistant (A):
> A: Czym mogę panu służyć?
> C: Czy mógłby mi pan pokazać mi te buty z górnej półki?
> How will you translate ‘pan’ i the sentence C?



this 'reciprocity' is probably the problem with shop assistants (less) or officials/clerks (more) in poland—they just fill they're equal with clients or even more important than them… nasty thing! ;p

p.s. i'd use 'mr.' for C in opposition to 'sir' in A  (if i'd like to be somewhat literal; if not, just to convey the message, i'd propose just 'you' as you probably suggested.)


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## majlo

Mr. in C? How come? Could you write the whole sentence?


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## dreamlike

kknd said:
			
		

> this 'reciprocity' is probably the problem with shop assistants (less)  or officials/clerks (more) in poland—they just fill they're equal with  clients or even more important than them… nasty thing! ;p



Can you think of any reason why shop assistant/official/clerk and customer shouldn't be considered to be on equal footing? We have no good word for "sir" in Polish and you can't possibly expect to be adressed "Jaśnie panie", or can you?


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## LilianaB

The Polish Pan/ Pani is not about inequality: it is about equality. Everyone is Pan/Pani if the person is over 18 or looks that. In the past it was an indication of inequality;Jasnie Pan pozwoli


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## dreamlike

LilianaB said:
			
		

> The Polish Pan/ Pani is not about inequality: it is about equality.



Even if it was I don't know why one should feel superior to official or shop-assistant and expect to be adressed with word other than Pan or Pani. 



			
				LilianaB said:
			
		

> Everyone is Pan/Pani if the person is over 18 or looks that.



It doesn't work this way. I came of age in September and am still adressed "you" in most cases. Only in highly formal situations people say "Pan" to me, which is good and it's fine by me.


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## LilianaB

The times have changed. The last time I was in Poland you would have to address somebody who was even sixteen and looked older as Pan/Pani, out of respect. There is nothing about being superior if you expect that a shop assistant would address you as Pan/Pani in Polish. If fact you have to address the shop assistant the same way.


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## dreamlike

I can't imagine 16 year old person being adressed as Pan/Pani, it would strike me as very odd. As regards the second sentence, I'm well aware of that. I was referring to kknd post who apparently thinks that customer and shop-assistant are not on equal terms.


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## LilianaB

In the past, apparently they referred to 15-16 year old girls as Panienka. I have not witnessed those times fortunately, but this was the case. My grandfather would sometimes use it, when he spoke Polish.


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## dreamlike

I think "Panienka" was quite popular back in time, especially among elderly people. But I haven't heard it for ages, and I think people would be unlikely to say it these days.


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## LilianaB

Yes, I think it was popular before World War Two, especially in certain circles.


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## Rusak963

Ben Jamin said:


> Try it the other way.
> Take  a Polish conversation between a customer (C) in a shop and a shop assistant (A):
> A: Czym mogę panu służyć?
> C: Czy mógłby mi pan pokazać mi te buty z górnej półki?
> How will you translate ‘pan’ i the sentence C?


I won't translate it at all. I see your point now. You meant that "pan" shouldn't be translated at all in certain cases, whereas I thought you meant that there should be some other translation for "pan" different from "sir". I misunderstood. You have a point there.


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## Ben Jamin

Rusak963 said:


> I won't translate it at all. I see your point now. You meant that "pan" shouldn't be translated at all in certain cases, whereas I thought you meant that there should be some other translation for "pan" different from "sir". I misunderstood. You have a point there.



The problems with translating address forms between English and Polish are:
- _pan _and _sir/Mr_ are equivalents only in certain situations, mostly not
- _pan_ is not only a “title” but also a pronoun
- _sir_ is not a reciprocal title (while “my lord” was between two aristocrats of equal rank)
- _pan+surname_ in vocative can be rude in Polish (while _pan+first name_ is a kind of intimate courtesy)


It is also a wrong notion that the use of pan in Polish makes the Polish ways more formal. You can abuse somebody while still caling him _pan_: “Pan jest idiota!”


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