# obdzielić, znachorką



## dijkstra

Hello guys! 
I started to learn Polish a few days ago, and since I focused on phonetics from the start, my grammar knowledge is too shallow to be considered.
Anyway, I like to "translate" stuff to accostumate myself with the language, and this time I picked up a song called "Chiński Urzędnik Państwowy". My method is a combination of Google Translate and extensive search in the internet. 

The main reason I am posting here is that I want to know how the words _obdzielić_ and _znachorką_ should be translated (they were the hardest ones to get a meaning). I could find easily enough the translation for _dzielić_, and many other words with different preffixes, but nothing for *ob*_dzielić_.



Giving a context to my doubt, this is part of the song:

_Jesteś jak chiński urzędnik państwowy,
Co stemplem odmowy zniweczył mój plan.
Jesteś jak ojciec co niedzielnym szpondrem
obdzielił wszystkich po równo, prócz mnie.
Jesteś handlarzem, co jabłko z robakiem
I w sińcach mi wcisnął na targu.
Jesteś rosyjską znachorką,
co złych ziół mieszanką wpędziła w chorobę..._

And this is what I could understand from the lyrics (remember my method of translation, many things may be wrong, and I tried to get a meaning, not a proper translation):

_You're like a Chinese government officer
whose rubber stamp's refusal dashed my plans.
You're like my father, who distributes evenly
the Sunday brisket, except for me.
You're a trader who thrusts me in the market like a 
bruised and wormy apple.
You're a Russian healer, whose bad mixture of
herbs brought me a disease..._


How accurate is my version?
Thanks in advance for the help!


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## LilianaB

You understood most of it correctly. I have no idea what _szponder_ is - it may be some kind of meat or perhaps the father's wip. It is not a word from the literary register. _Obdzielić _-- this was used in refrence to what the father did with the _szponder_, whatever it is, not _znachorka_ -- a medicine woman. _Obdzielić_ is a typically Polish word which consists of the prefix _ob_ and the main verb _dzielić_ - _to divide_. _Obdzielić_ means _to divide among_ people, to put it briefly.

Whose song is that?


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## dijkstra

LilianaB said:


> I have no idea what _szponder_ is - it may be some kind of meat or perhaps the father's wip. It is not a word from the literary register.


_szponder_ is the nominative form of _szpondrem_, right? This one was tough to find, it's a very specific cut of beef called _brisket_ in English.



LilianaB said:


> _Obdzielić_ is a typically Polish word which consists of the prefix _ob_ and the main verb _dzielić_ - _to divide_. _Obdzielić_ means _to divide among_ people, to put it briefly.


This is _really_ helpful!



LilianaB said:


> Whose song is that?


It's from _Hey_


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## LilianaB

Yes, _szponder_ is the Nominative -- _szpondrem is the Dative.  _Yes, it is a kind of beef _-- _I just found out. 
I am not sure if people use this word in ordinary life -- you have to find out from someone who lives in Poland. I would think it was just something a butcher would use. I might be wrong.


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## rzrz

Wouldn't "szpondr*em*" be the instrumental rather than the dative case?


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## Piotr_WRF

Yes, _szpondrem_ is instrumental case, dative would be _szpondrowi_.


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## LilianaB

Yes, you right. It is. Anyhow, is the word used among general population, other than butchers. I have been just wondering.


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## dijkstra

Well, I tried to translate the second part of the song. It is as follows:

_Jesteś napadem szaleństwa chwilowym,
Co zdarza się w jednej z tych sekund przed snem.
Jestem wnętrzności rozstrojem
I przykrym migotem zastawek, powieką co drży.
Jesteś tą nutą z najniższych rejestrów,
Co wwierca się w umysł głęboko.
Krwią, co wzburzona z impetem
Uderza potwornym w mej żyły falochron.

You're a temporary madness attack that happens
in one of those seconds before going to bed.
I'm the upset bowels and the unpleasant
cardiac arrhythmia, and eyelids that tremble.
You're the lowest register note
that drills deep into the brains.
Blood, agitated with vengeance, 
strikes monstrously my femoral veins._

This one _"Jestem wnętrzności rozstrojem / I przykrym migotem zastawek, powieką co drży."_ was pretty hard to understand, it took a long while to make a proper sentence...

Still accurate? hahaha


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## dreamlike

LilianaB said:


> Yes, you right. It is. Anyhow, is the word used among general population, other than butchers. I have been just wondering.


It's certainly not - I, for one, wouldn't know what it is, but I'm rather ignorant of cooking. Still, I think that most of the Poles are not familiar with the word.

As for your translating attempts dijkistra, you did very well  There is one bit that translates differently, though:

_Jesteś handlarzem, co jabłko z robakiem
I w sińcach mi wcisnął na targu.
_You're like a pushy stallholder at the market,
 who made me buy a bruised and wormy apple.


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## dijkstra

Thanks, dreamlike! 
My translation is rather funny, now that I'm comparing with the correct one hahaha

Many words here were really hard to find (even though I believe not _all_ of them are frequently used)
Is there a good polish dictionary online? Wiktionary contains a lot of words of several languages, but it's quite incomplete in Polish.


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## dreamlike

Someone provided the translation of this song? It's not one of these pieces of music that is very likely to have an English translation, I first heard the song after visiting this thread, although the band is (was) very popular.

As for the dictionary, try this.


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## BezierCurve

Here's another one that will help you find the basic form of any given word: http://www.sjp.pl/


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## dijkstra

dreamlike said:


> Someone provided the translation of this song?


I didn't find any. That's why I tried to translate, to understand the song. 
I believe you're asking this because my previous comment was ambiguous. The "correct translation" I mentioned was the one you gave me, not a translation of the whole song.
(the funny difference I said was about someone _forcing_ her [the singer] a bad apple, and someone _treating_ her _like_ a bad apple, which doesn't make any sense)

Thanks a lot for the dictionaries, dreamlike and BezierCurve! It'll certainly be very helpful.


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