That's Really What “Syfy” Means in Polish?
Chalk up another victory for the bloggers.
Kib Bibens, COO of the ABC Language Exchange in New York confirmed to B&C that “Syfy”-the name Sci-Fi channel has adopted as part of its recent re-brand-is in fact Polish slang for syphilis. The term “syf” in Polish is also used informally to mean garbage or warts. Bibens did point out that both terms are used infrequently.
The sci-fi blogosphere was teeming with rumors this week that Syfy meant any number of things in the Polish language that a company would not want to be associated with: Garbage…filth…scum…warts…zits…syphilis.
The revelation that it does mean at least some of those things doesn’t sound like good news for Sci-Fi, whose re-brand has already been met with a barrage of consternation among hardcore fans.
In the spirit of investigative journalism, we also spoke to Pawl Maciag, press attaché for the Polish Embassy, who seemed utterly confused but did pass along that, to his knowledge, “syfy” in Polish can also be used to mean the same thing it does in English-an abbreviation for science fiction. Maciag was unaware of any slang derivatives (which seems to reinforce Bibens claim that the slang terms are rarely used).
Still, Syfy may be wondering if it’s too late to re-think their rebrand.
Syfy Rebrand; A Fan Reacts from Broadcasting & Cable on Vimeo.
Angie commented:
Another case of someone who didn't do enough research before they made a decision!
Andrzej commented:
The key term to understanding Mr. Maciag's comments is "utterly confused." This from a press attache? "Syfy" does mean "syphilis, warts, dirt and garbage"; it's not a slang term, but (slight) vulgarism, and has been part of vernacular Polish for decades. Every Pole knows exactly what it means (except Pawel Maciag) "Syfy"is not interchangable with "sci-fi"; nor do they have similar pronunciation. Government jobs normally do not attract the best and the brightest, but this guy sseems to be really weak. Or did he think that a negative comment about Syfy(R) will cause an international incident?
Srebrna commented:
Ask an embassy press attache about slang and sure he'll know lots about it. Kids at school use "syfy" for "zits", "syf" for "dirt", "unspecified STD", "syphilis". And they will laugh so hard they will roll on the floor :)
Ellestra commented:
If we want to say SF in Polish we don't say SyFy we say eSeF
Syf (singular) is usually used to mean mess or crap or filth. It can be used to describe the state of your bedroom or bad situation your in e.g. the situation Sci-Fi channel got itself into can be called syf.
It also means zits. And disease (not just syphilis), anything ugly and contagious.
Syfy is just plural.
mark-from-poland commented:
Well, it depends on the pronounciation. If you pronounce "syfy" just like "sci-fi" in English, it does not have the syphilis conotation.
However, the plural of "syf", the slang word for syphilis (and filth, scum, etc.) is indeed spelled "syfy", though pronounced more-less like "see-fee".
I can't wait till Sci Fi Channel Poland rebrands. It's gonna be really funny. :)
An equivalent of the pseudo-English word "syfy" meaning "sci-fi" in Polish is "sajfaj", which is the pronounciation of the English words written as if it was a Polish word.
arczi commented:
He might have been confused if he had not seen the word in writing. Pronounced as one would Sci-Fi, it means exactly the same as the term in English. "Syfy" is pronounced "sih-fih", and whoever was talking to him (over the phone, I assume) might have failed to convey the term correctly.