Austriackie gadanie

Meaning:

Lit. “Austrian talk”. This expression is used to describe long discussions or speeches without any results, a wasted time. Also, to point that someone’s argument is, at best, questionable or makes no sense whatsoever. The best context to put it to use is politics, which is also where austriackie gadanie comes from.

The term was coined in late 19. or early 20. century when Polish state had not existed and areas on which Poles were a majority belonged to Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary. The latter was a much more liberal state giving its Polish citizens significant rights, including a wide representation in its parliament. However, the Habsburg monarchy was also an inefficient and precarious state. Its parliament was to many Poles a place where they talked much but did not have any power, hence the expression.

By the way, this one is rarely used and when you actually hear or see it, you can be sure the person using it has a pretty good command of Polish language.

Examples:

Za każdym razem gdy czytam w Austrii formularz urzędowy lub najprostszą umowę, trafia mnie szlag i rozumiem skąd pojęcie „austriackie gadanie“.

Powyższe potwierdza moją tezę, że giełda jest rodzajem totolotka. I gadanie o inwestorach i spekulantach to tzw. austriackie gadanie.

Poseł uprawiający austriackie gadanie, czyli obstrukcję, mógł opowiadać o smaku kociego mleka, o kształcie kogucich jaj na targu w Kołomyi, mógł powiadomić Wysoką Izbę o numerze butów swojej niedoszłej teściowej — zawsze musiał być z uwagą i do końca wysłuchany”. To tylko krótki cytat z artykułu “Austriackie gadanie”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *