Pazki (POONCH-key)

[DonaldSmith]

Pazki (Pronounced POONCH-key,  "oo" as in "foot")  (Sometimes there is s little tail on the "a") 

 

Around Detroit, with its Polish heritage, the few days before Ash Wednesday bring out the Pazki (poonchkey), the puffy doughnut-type, jelly stuffed pastry, for which people line up early at the bakeries to buy dozens at a time. 

 

The event is heralded multiple times in the local news.  The talking heads get the pronunciation right, but like most people, they get the number wrong (the word Pazki (poonchkey) is plural.  There are no Poonchkeys.) 

 

And few people, such as trivial buffs like me, know the the singular for Pazki (are you pronouncing it right by now?) is Paczek (PON-check). 

 

Altogether now, after me:  "Fewer that two Pazki (Poonchkey) is one Paczek (PONcheck).  

 

Speaking of "fewer than",  most stores say "Less than 12 items..." which is not grammatically correct.  Our local Meijer stores correctly say  "Fewer that than 12 items..."  But it does sound strange. 

Edited February 17, 2015 by DonaldSmith

[mrwrstory]

You been sittin at too many stoplights (or is it signal lights?) on Woodward    

[Niel Hoback]

Thank you, Don.  It never hurts to learn something.  Now, if I can just remember it!

[Mark D]

I got home from work last night and was treated to a Gołąbki dinner!   And being that tonight is Tuesday, it is the traditional night that I hang out with my buddies at the Polish American Vets club.

[DonaldSmith]

mrwrstory:  Yep, on Woodward its stoplights, or more formally, traffic signals.  If you get caught running it, it's disobeying a "traffic control device".

 

Neil:  You'll have trouble searching for the thread, if you can't remember how to spell Poon (How's it spelled, now? Oh.) Pazki.  It's the old dictionary problem- how to look up a word you can't spell.  Nowadays, if you can Google it close, it'll suggest what it thinks is the right word. Sometimes it is.

[Young Ed]

Pazki (Pronounced POONCH-key,  "oo" as in "foot")  (Sometimes there is s little tail on the "a") 

 

Around Detroit, with its Polish heritage, the few days before Ash Wednesday bring out the Pazki (poonchkey), the puffy doughnut-type, jelly stuffed pastry, for which people line up early at the bakeries to buy dozens at a time. 

 

The event is heralded multiple times in the local news.  The talking heads get the pronunciation right, but like most people, they get the number wrong (the word Pazki (poonchkey) is plural.  There are no Poonchkeys.) 

 

And few people, such as trivial buffs like me, know the the singular for Pazki (are you pronouncing it right by now?) is Paczek (PON-check). 

 

Altogether now, after me:  "Fewer that two Pazki (Poonchkey) is one Paczek (PONcheck).  

 

Speaking of "fewer than",  most stores say "Less than 12 items..." which is not grammatically correct.  Our local Meijer stores correctly say  "Fewer that 12 items..."  But it does sound strange. 

 

We have a couple places around here that have them. There is a fairly large Polish population in NE Minneapolis. Thanks for the pronunciation lesson

[deathbound]

So, would "paztang" be pronounced "poontang"?

[plymouthcranbrook]

Got a dozen this morning.

[DonaldSmith]

True, sad story, a mystery:

 

I bought two pazki this morning and ate one.  Now I have looked everywhere for the second paczek, but can't fine it.  I have till midnight to find it and consume it.  

 

We don't have a dog, and my wife can't have gluten.  Did someone sneak into our house?  Did I sleepwalk during my nap and gobble the pastry down?  No powdered sugar on my face. 

 

Hmm!

[Dan Hiebert]

I was introduced to paczki when we moved to Michigan.  One of our neighbors was Polish, and I asked him how you get "poonchkey" out of paczki, he would only say "it's a Polish thing".  Someone brought some into the office one Fat Tuesday, and it became a bit of a tradition or someone to bring a box in every year, although no one at the office was Polish.  Man!  What gut bombs they are, but they sure are good!  They would have paczki eating contests in Hamtramck, a big Polish suburb of Detroit, I think the record when I left MI was "only" 12.  There's a big Polish contingent here in western New York, too.  Here they have "Dyngus Day", which is a big celebration of Polish heritage, and quite a hoot!