# majteczki



## Encolpius

Hello, I saw a Polish film made in 1960's and I heard the word "majteczki" I could not see what it was but the contexts was clear it must have been a male underwear. Did majteczki mean male underwear in 1960s as well??? I think it could have been "majteczki (gimnastyczne)". You know guys/gals male underwear fashion was different in 60s. Thanks.


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## zaffy

It is a diminutive form for pants/underpants. We use 'majteczki' when addressing very small kids only, plus mostly girls. You could use it to an adult woman in a sexual context, e.g. 'Załóż kochanie jakieś seksowne majteczki' or "Hmmm, te majteczki pobudzają mnie". If you said 'majteczki' to an adult male, I would just burst out laughing. 
I don't think 'majteczki' referred to males in 1960's, unless small boys.

ps. we say 'spodenki gimnastyczne', not 'majteczki gimnastyczne'


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## Encolpius

Thanks. Interesting, I found majteczki gimnastyczne in my large POlish-Czech dictionary (2012)


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## zaffy

Well, that might be possible if they are very tight, perhaps kids training athletics might wear such. Yet, these days, with the problem of paedophilia, it does sound risky. If a male PE teacher said to the parents something like "Proszę ubierać dzieci w majteczki gimnastyczne", the parents could start feeling suspicious or I would, at least.


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## Encolpius

Yes, I think the year 1960 makes the problem a little bit more complex. But you still think, majteczki was for kids only, no normal male underwear?


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## zaffy

yes


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## jasio

Actually, when I was a kid (70s), saying "majteczki gimnastyczne" was quite ok. Apparently they went out of use since then.


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## Encolpius

I think we need a person in his 70s or 80s to understand the languages in 60s. I think fashion expressions can be a hard stuff (mostly for men).  
# Jasio: And you just uses the short word majteczki, not "majteczki gimnastyczne" right?

I made some research (I do not want to provoke anybody, my Polish is poor) but what do you think about this (briefs used to be popular even in 1980s

*POLSKIE MAJTKI SLIPY MĘSKIE BAWEŁNA L JAKOŚĆ*


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## jasio

Firstly, using "majteczki gimnastyczne" back then was justified, because in early 70s I was a child - so diminuation was quite in place (as @zaffy pointed out, it still is when referring to child's garments). At the time  I used to wear "majteczki", "koszulki", "spodenki", "buciki". Nowadays I wear majtki, koszule, spodnie i buty instead. Only "skarpetki" remained unchanged, and I use them as often as "skarpety". ;-)

Secondly, I prefer "spodenki gimnastyczne", because similarly to "spodnie" the word refers to the outerwear (which is a paradox, because the word 'spodnie' itself literally means  'underwear'. But the fashion changes). "Majtki", "majteczki" sound too intimate for a piece of cloth which is designed to be worn outside. I'm not sure how today's mothers call their sons' gymnastic shorts, but referring to grownups' garments they are called 'spodenki gimnastyczne' or simply "spodenki". I'm not a sports fan, but still I cannot imagine phrases like 'Lewandowski założył białą koszulkę i czerwone majteczki' being broadcasted, while wearing red 'spodenki' is quite ok. The same would apply to Deyna or Lubański, btw.

Thirdly, "majtki" is quite regular and neutral, albeit I have an impression that nowadays "slipy" or "slipki" is used more often for male pants - at least to name the commercial products, because for obvious reasons I do not talk about "majtki" with other people too often. If you have to, it's typically being replaced by "bielizna", which is a more general term.


PS. If you shared more details about the film you referred to, and perhaps a specific scene, it could be easier to discuss the details, as we still do not have the specific context.


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## Encolpius

I think I get the point now. The problem is not the word, but the diminutive, right? You wrote: "I wear majtki". 
So majtki is OK, majteczki sounds uncommon?


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## zaffy

'Majteczki' is* very *common when referring to small kids, especially small girls, aged anywhere between 0-5, I would say.  As Jasio said, when talking to kids, we *love *diminuation. So this refers not only to 'majteczki', but any garment, e.g.,  spodenki, koszulka, bluzeczka, śpioszki or pieluszka. I have a 5 year old daughter and I often say to her "Ubierz piżamkę i do spania." or "Przebierz majteczki'


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## Ben Jamin

jasio said:


> ….  the word refers to the outerwear (which is a paradox, because the word 'spodnie' itself literally means  'underwear'.


Are you sure that "spodnie" got its name from the "underwear" function? What about denoting a garment worn on the lower part of the body?


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## jasio

Ben Jamin said:


> Are you sure that "spodnie" got its name from the "underwear" function? What about denoting a garment worn on the lower part of the body?


Spodnie były noszone pod spodem - pod żupanem, który był odzieżą wierzchnią. Jedna z przyczyn, dla których w Polsce wyśmiewano modę cudzoziemską, bo dla współczesnych mężczyźni wyglądali, jakby w samych gaciach chodzili.


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## Tyskie

Sorry to bump an old thread but I must say, I found it very interesting to read!

I'm a Pole - born in Britain but still consider myself Polish, as I was raised as such; Polish was my first language, we always spoke Polish at home and I was taught about the culture and history of Poland, thanks to my patriotic parents/grandparents. That being said, although I did go to a Polish "Saturday school" (3 hours per week), I was formally educated in the English language and so lost my Polish accent and my knowledge/level of the English language surpassed that of my knowledge/level of the Polish language. Unfortunately, growing up in a small town in the '90's, I didn't have any peers who were Polish who were as interested in Polish culture or the Polish language as I, so, naturally, I did not have the means to 'polish' my Polish (pardon the pun!) to an advanced level. 

That all changed when Poland joined the EU and I am now constantly trying to improve/expand my knowledge of the Polish language, written and spoken (including colloquial). I only ever thought of using the word majteczki to refer to women's pants (UK version of the word), never to a young boy's pants! But thinking about it, opting for the word "majtki" over "majteczki" when speaking to a small boy does seem odd! I guess I'll start to find these things out when I have kids of my own! As stated by zaffy, the Poles *love* diminution (please note the spelling - NOT "diminuation"). That's one of the things *I love* about the Polish language.

Lovely to meet you all and I hope to be active on this forum, to improve my own knowledge and hopefully help out when I can.


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