- Forum >
- Topic: Polish >
- "Mężczyzna je kanapkę z masłe…
"Mężczyzna je kanapkę z masłem."
Translation:The man is eating a sandwich with butter.
20 Comments
358
I think that should be accepted - much more natural English than "a sandwich with butter."
- 688
But bread and butter isn't usually in the form of a sandwich, it's usually just a slice of bread with butter spread on it, which is a different thing
Do you mean that you need a second slice of bread to make a sandwich? Or that just bread and butter is not enough to make a sandwich because you need cheese or ham or something else?
If it's the first one, then a one-slice-of-bread sandwich is an obvious thing in Poland. If I'm eating at home, then I am unable to understand why someone would put a second slice of bread, it really doesn't make anything tastier and adds a lot of calories... if I make myself a sandwich to take to school/work, then of course the second slice is necessary or otherwise it would be difficult to take it ;)
If it's the second one, then I kinda agree, but "kanapka z masłem" still sounds okay to me. Also some people don't normally put butter on a sandwich... my brother absolutely hates butter :D
In British English, a sandwich with only one slice of bread is an "open sandwich". Sandwich means, "two pieces of bread with cheese, salad, or meat, usually cold, between them."
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sandwich
Kanapka was a useful word in Gdańsk.
So a "kanapka" could mean a single slice of bread with something, like butter, cheese, etc? For me (and I believe many others) to be a sandwich it needs two slices of bread. I am not trying to be one of those nosy guys, just merely trying to understand the Polish culture and language better :)
A Google Image search suggests that it does not necessarily include two slices of bread.
That's why we use dictionaries. ;) With one slice of bread it's an "open sandwich"
- 585
An English person will certainly tell you that a sandwich needs a second slice of bread. But the word has spread around the world and some other interpretations may be found...
- 139
An 18th century English nobleman, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, is reputed to have ordered his servant to bring him meat between two slices of bread so that he wouldn't have to leave the gambling table while he ate. And a club sandwich is made of 3 slices of bread (Chicken and Lettuce Under Bacon).
It would be unusual to have a butter sandwich, more likely to have buttered bread, which is also the most likely form of kanapka.
But in English we'd say "bread and butter" even though it is in fact buttered bread.
Does this mean two slices of bread with butter in between or a slice of bread with butter on it or both?
Both are possible, probably depending on whether he is eating it at home or at work.
It's way less likely in a sentence like this (just one sandwich, no mention of 'one per day' or something like that), but we accept it.
