You, too, can fit in with the Polish community!
Welcome 2 Greenpoint kurwa
with Vladimir Ilyich Lenin the first leader of Soviet Union
and sign of the G train
with Vladimir Ilyich Lenin the first leader of Soviet Union
and sign of the G train
What a delightful little shirt. Nothing says lovin’ like Lenin calling you a whore.
I’m the author of the t-shirt and I think I have to explain you something. “Kurwa” came form Latin (which was most common “foreign” language in Christian world for almost twenty centuries; a universal language that had huge influence to all language groups: Romanesque, Germanic and Slavic etc). “Curvus” means “a bend, corner” or “crooked” (a King of Poland Boleslaw Krzywousty (Wrymouth) was called “Curvus” not because he was a “whore” but because he had asymmetrical lips see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boles%C5%82aw_III_Wrymouth).
I don’t know when “kurwa” gain the meaning “whore” but originally it meant someone “not straight” “hunchbacked” “lier” “pervert”. For many decades (centuries?) the vulgar power of the word was so huge that was socially forbidden. Recently it is most common word in Polish slang not because of popularity of the “whore” in Polish culture and barbaric seeing the world (people) around but because it has losten the impact and the meaning itself – it has evolved to an emotional expression. Basically Polish “Kurwa” in 99% fulfill English “fuck” “shit” as a word that helps vulgarly express your anger, surprise, disappointment, delight, happiness, fear… So interpreting whole sentence only you could tell if it means “whore” or means an emotional expression only (see “Under the Tuscan Sun” or type “kurwa” on youtube).
OK. Now Greenpoint. In Polish literature, music and movies it’s a sarcastic symbol of a tough emigration. And an anymyth of The American Dream. (see “Hunting for cockroaches”; East Village is a plot of the book but it’s not about a geographical place – rather about the symbol).
Lenin. Why Lenin? He wasn’t Polish. What he has to do with Greenpoint? He is a symbol (again symbol – hehehe – but see the movie “Goodbye Lenin”) for all generation of Poles who had nothing but Lenin for a half century. Who were dreaming about different lifes, were fighting with the system or collaborating with and after all they found themselves on a platform of Greenpoint G-train station. And so Lenin did. Kurwa.
I just realized that I did not say it clearly enough: there’s no way that you could read it “as welcome to greenpoint whore”. cheers
Personally, I like the shirt!
I’m glad that you do. Send me an email if you would like to have one. Free of charge. P.S.: sorry about my “typing” errors.
Polish Community?
The dirty little secret about Greenpoint is that it is ridiculed to no end in Poland. It’s universally known as the place that all the poor, unsophisticated and vulgar folks from rural bumblefuck (mostly northeastern parts of Poland) moved to (but mostly got their start). This has all but stopped to a trickle since Poland joined the EU. As a representation of Polish Americans, it’s a truly surreal place frozen in time somewhere circa 1992. I enjoyed living there for a few years but please don’t think that Poland is anything like Greenpoint!
This makes perfect sense to anyone