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baniak

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Ukrainian баня́к (banják, cooking pot).

Noun

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baniak (plural baniaks)

  1. (humorous derogatory slang, chiefly italicized) A fool.
    • 1981: Andrew Suknaski and Dennis Cooley, In the name of Narid: new poems, Porcupine's Quill, p 114:
      baniak baniak you ole fucker! | you’re tighter than hogan’s goat!’ | baniak only smiles | a perfect smile
      [footnote] baniak: Ukrainian for cooking pot.
    • 1986, Janice Kulyk Keefer, The Paris-Napoli express, Oberon Press, page 78:
      What woman could ever consent to be his wife, to lose all her dignity and position with a bunyak like that?”
    • 1987: Janice Kulyk Keefer, “Unseen, the cuckoo sings at dawn”, in Jars Balan ed., Yarmarok: Ukrainian writing in Canada since the Second World War, Edmonton: CIUS Press, p 103:
      “What did I keep telling you, Oleh—you baniak, you elephant's arsehole?
    • 1987: Michael John Nimchuk, “The day my grandad died”, in Jars Balan ed., Yarmarok: Ukrainian writing in Canada since the Second World War, Edmonton: CIUS Press, p 172:
      No . . . no. She doesn't give damn for you. Thinks Ziggy good boy but stupid. A baniak a real woman would leave first chance.
    • 1988: Levi Dronyk, “The puck artist”, in Doug Beardsley ed., The rocket, the flower, the hammer, and me, Vancouver: Polestar Books, pp 161:
      Baniak, eh? ¶Literally, a baniak is a pot; in the vernacular, it becomes a “dummy.” Among Ukrainians it's used in a self-deprecating context, or, as with Sammy, an endearment. If “the English” used the word, or the malicious “bohunk,” which amounted to calling a Ukrainian a “nigger,” to address us, a fistfight usually resulted.
      Baniak, quiet, sshh,” Sammy frowned. “Why you have to be so noisy? How come?”
    • 1995, Michael Ewanchuk, Reflections and reminiscences: Ukrainians in Canada, 1892-1992, M. Ewanchuk, page 36:
      As someone said, that even one with a university degree, BA, could be called “Baniak”, or an empty pot, if that individual isolated himself from the community to which he naturally belonged.
    • 1995, Nika Rylski, “Just a kommedia”, in Aviva Ravel, editor, Canadian mosaic: 6 plays, Dundurn Press, page 130:
      God. What a Banyak . . .

Usage notes

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Usually italicized as a foreign term not fully naturalized in English.

Anagrams

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

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From bania +‎ -ak.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈba.ɲak/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɲak
  • Syllabification: ba‧niak

Noun

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baniak m inan (diminutive baniaczek)

  1. (colloquial) carboy, demijohn
    Synonyms: gąsior, sagan

Declension

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Noun

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baniak m inan

  1. (colloquial, humorous) head
    Synonyms: bania, baniak, baśka, głowa, główka, głowina, łepetyna, łeb, pała, (literary) skroń, makówka

Declension

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adjective
adverb
nouns

Further reading

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  • baniak in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • baniak in Polish dictionaries at PWN