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Polish · The Essential Ten

stary

STAH-rih · /ˈsta.rɨ/

Dude / man / mate — the standard buddy vocative.

1/5 Grandma-safe

mild, playful; fine on daytime TV

Literally

"old man"

Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.

How to use it

Literally "old one," but between friends it's simply "dude": "stary, nie uwierzysz" (dude, you won't believe this). The feminine "stara" exists but is riskier — to some women it's friendly, to others it lands as calling them old. Behind their backs, "stary" and "stara" also mean your dad and mom, or your husband and wife ("moja stara" = my old lady — bar-talk, not for her ears). Grandma-safe among friends; just don't call an actual stranger old man.

Heard in the wild

Stary, musisz to zobaczyć.

Dude, you have to see this.

Where it lands

Poland (universal); casual register

Quick answers

What does "stary" mean?
In Polish, "stary" means "Dude / man / mate — the standard buddy vocative.". Literally it's "old man". Literally "old one," but between friends it's simply "dude": "stary, nie uwierzysz" (dude, you won't believe this). The feminine "stara" exists but is riskier — to some women it's friendly, to others it lands as calling them old. Behind their backs, "stary" and "stara" also mean your dad and mom, or your husband and wife ("moja stara" = my old lady — bar-talk, not for her ears). Grandma-safe among friends; just don't call an actual stranger old man.
Is "stary" offensive?
It's on the mild end — 1/5 (Grandma-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. mild, playful; fine on daytime TV.
How do you pronounce "stary"?
Say it "STAH-rih" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈsta.rɨ.

Related in Polish

kurwa KOOR-vah Fuck / damn / shit — the load-bearing word of Polish, and its most common comma. cholera kho-LEH-rah Damn / darn it — the respectable person's curse. kurde KOOR-deh Darn / crap — kurwa with the fuse removed. kurczę KOOR-cheh Shoot / darn — the softest rung of the euphemism ladder. no co ty! noh TSOH tih No way! / Come on! / You can't be serious. masakra mah-SAHK-rah A disaster / unbelievable / total carnage — the all-purpose 'this is insane.'

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