World War: Grey Friday

World War II began last week at 5:20 a. m. (Polish time) Friday, September 1, when a German bombing plane dropped a projectile on Puck, fishing village and air base in the armpit of the Hel Peninsula.

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Foreigners have several times conquered Poland, but few foreigners have ever mastered the pronunciation of Polish. It has a peculiar letter similar to L which is pronounced like W; W is pronounced like V or F; CZ like SH; SZ as in the word "azure." Poles also frequently half tick off an extra consonant or two that is hitched in front of many words, and pronounce OW at the end of words as in "woof-woof."

The names of various places and people connected with the War in Poland, together with rough approximations of their pronunciation (suitable for U. S. tongues):

Warszawa (Warsaw): var-sha-va

Bydgoszcz: bid-goch

Wisla (Vistula) : vees-wa.

Tczew: cheff

Poznań: posh-nine

Grudziadz: groo-jaj

Lódź: wooj

Mlawa: Wa-va.

Czestochowa: ches-to-Ao-va

Kraków: kra-koof

Lwów: voof

Rzeszów: shay-shooi

Chojnice: hoy-weet-sa

Katowice: kat-o-veet-sa.

Brześć: shetch

Pszczyna: sh-chee-na

Przasnysz: shas-nitch

Przemyśl: shem-ishl

Puck: pootsk

Luck: wootsk

Smigly-Rydz: shmig-wy-rij

Slawoj-Skladkowski: swa-voy-skwad-kof-ski

Swistoslawski: svis-to-swav-ski

Kasprzycki: kasp-sheet-ski

Moscicki: mo-cheet-ski

Stachiewicz: stahi-evish

Raczynski: rash-een-ski

Lukasiewicz: woo-feasz-evish

Potocki: pot-otski

*In 1927 at the Geneva disarmament talks U.S. Delegate Hugh Gibson said : "This conference has become a matter of hogs, fogs, and bogs."

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