# Złoto w łomie



## questin

Dear friends,
I have to translate the following sentence on deportations from Lithuania to Poland after Second World War:
"Nie mogli zabrać książek, map, złota i platyny w stopach, proszku czy łomie."
I think it means (sorry, I don't speak good English):
"They could not take with themselves books, maps, gold or platinum alloys, neither in powder or raw."
I think there might be a mistake in the original because online I just find "złoto w *z*łomie" but not "złoto w łomie".
Can you help me, please?
Thanks in advance,
Miguel


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## zaffy

yes, that must be a typo, złoto w złomie. 'Łom' is a kind of a bar you might need while breaking into someone's home


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## questin

zaffy said:


> yes, that must be a typo, złoto w złomie. 'Łom' is a kind of a bar you might need while breaking into someone's home


Thanks!


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## marco_2

I wouldn't be so sure it is a typo - we have "łom skalny", "łom czekoladowy" which means that the stuff is reduced to rubble or in blocks and it could be the case here.


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## questin

marco_2 said:


> I wouldn't be so sure it is a typo - we have "łom skalny", "łom czekoladowy" which means that the stuff is reduced to rubble or in blocks and it could be the case here.


So, in your opinion, it would be something like a gold bar/sztabka złota?
Thanks in advance.


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## marco_2

I think that gold bars have more regular shape, though I am not a specialist - some goldsmith should be consulted here. Besides, the word *łom *in such a context is rather obsolete nowadays, but when the Poles were deported from Lithuania, it might have been used much more often.


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## jasio

questin said:


> So, in your opinion, it would be something like a gold bar/sztabka złota?


"Łom" is a word related to "łamać", "break, smash, crack", so I would look for the meaning around broken gold objects, while bars are made in purpose. 



marco_2 said:


> I think that gold bars have more regular shape, though I am not a specialist - some goldsmith should be consulted here. Besides, the word *łom *in such a context is rather obsolete nowadays, but when the Poles were deported from Lithuania, it might have been used much more often.



Indeed, I've found it in a Doroszewski's dictionary: łom – Wielki słownik W. Doroszewskiego PWN (meaning #4). But indeed, as of today I would rather use a word "złom" in this context (albeit I'm not a goldsmith). 

PS. "some goldsmiths" but "a goldsmith" - not "*some goldsmith". In many contexts (though not always) the meaning of "jakiś" can be expressed quite well by a simple indefinite article.


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