I Ask You, You Ask Me

Ah ha, bet you thought I was going to miss today's post too eh? I'll admit, the thought was tempting -- the coughing and sneezing and nappy-filling continues unabashed here at Chez Jim. But then I thought, come on old chap, can't let the readers down again eh? Bad form that. Shame it's not a Bad Article though eh? We could write about that. Ha ha, Jim said, and we toasted our own brilliant wit.

Hours later, when the worst of the fever had passed, I awoke to concerned looks. Are you alright?, my family enquired. You were raving and laughing to yourself for a while there. Hmm, thought I, briefly recollecting what I had assumed to be a lucid mental debate. Better play stupid here and get on with the blogging thing. Fine thanks, I replied, and hurried off, abandoning the back-to-front jacket on the way.

And so here we are again, and after that rather lengthy introduction, let's get down to business. Whilst I was drifting in and out of reality this week, an unresolved bit of Polish had flitted about my brow, driving me madder than usual. My friend, a human Anglo-Polish Słownik is on holiday in Sweden this week, so I couldn't ask her. So instead, I'm going to ask you, and in return, you can ask me any question you like about the whole English/Polish thing. Cultural, linguistic, anything, okay?

Alrighty then, since I'm here and you're all... there... I'll go first: When do I use ciebie, and when do I use tobie? I'm aware that ciebie is something that I use a lot, and I'm also aware that sometimes I should say tobie instead, but try as I might, I can't nail the distinction.

So, answers below, or email them to the address above and to the right, and don't forget to ask a question of your own! And hey, even if you don't know Polish and can't answer the question, feel free to ask something about English anyway! Tomorrow we're going to start a new ball rolling, all about idiom and slang -- again, email if there's some bit of English slang or idiom you'd like explained -- so until then, ufam tobie! (but why?).