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In the contemporary English language, the noun Polack ( and ) is a Pejorative, primarily used in North America, referring to a person of Polish people origin. (2025). 9780199571123, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199571123 It is an anglicisation of the Polish language masculine noun Polak, which denotes a person of Polish ethnicity and typically male gender. Definition of Polak in PWN dictionary:Some sources connect the feminine form Polka to the Polka; others link the latter to Czech pulka, meaning "half" and likely referring to the half steps performed by the dancers or the dance's 2/4 as opposed to 4/4 time signature. However, the English loanword is considered an ethnic slur. (2025). 9789027210609, John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 9789027210609
In an Irish-published edition of Hamlet by the Educational Company, Patrick Murray noted: "Some editors, however, argue that Polacks should read as pole-axe, and that Horatio is remembering an angry King Hamlet striking the ice with his battle-axe".The Educational Company, William Shakespeare's Hamlet edited with notes by Patrick Murray, p. 54.
On 26 July 2008, The Times featured a comment piece by restaurant reviewer and columnist Giles Coren entitled "Two waves of immigration, Poles apart", where he used Polack to describe Polish immigrants who can "clear off", in reference to such immigrants leaving the UK in response to low-paying construction jobs drying up. "Two waves of immigration, Poles apart" – The Times.
In Iberian languages, polaco is a mild slur for people from Catalonia, Why are the Catalans called 'polacos'? – Polska Viva . though it is a completely neutral way of referring to Polish people in all Ibero-American countries except Brazil, where it became a politically incorrect term, and the noun used for Polish people nowadays is polonês (such term is absent from Spanish and other Portuguese variants).
In Ukrainian, the old exonym Lechites ( lyakh, lyakhy) is now considered offensive Ляхи (Lyakhy) in Ukrainian Wikipedia. In Russian the same word, formerly often used with negative connotations but not generally offensive, is obsolete. In both languages it was replaced by the neutral поляк ( polyak).
Another common Russian ethnic slur for Poles is пшек ( pshek), an onomatopoeia derived from Polish phonology: prepositions prze- and przy- are quite common, with rz corresponding to the sound of "zh", and the sibilant-sounding speech (e.g., przepraszam ("excuse me") transcribed as "pzheprasham") has been a target of mockery in Russian culture. пшек, Словарь русского арго, ГРАМОТА.РУ. В. С. Елистратов. 2002.
In Polish language, the term polaczek (sometimes capitalised as Polaczek; plural: polaczki) which is the diminutive of the word polak is seen as a disrespectful or offensive term for Polish person. In Polish-language media, it is usually also used as a direct translation for English term Polack. Nazwy członków narodów, ras i szczepów. In: Wielki słownik ortograficzny. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. (in Polish)
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