Greetings
Dzień dobry / Do widzenia
jane DOH-bry / do vee-DZEN-ya
Good day and goodbye. Said on entering and leaving a shop, a lift or a waiting room. Skipping it reads as rudeness, not reserve.
Pyrsk!
pirsk
The old Łódź greeting, from the city's between-the-wars slang. Rare now but instantly recognised, and using it marks you as someone who has read about the place.
Social
Pan / Pani
pan / PAH-nee
Sir / madam, and the grammatical subject of the sentence. Polish has no neutral 'you', so every sentence commits you to formal or informal.
Daily life
PESEL
PEH-sel
Your national identification number. Nothing digital in Poland works without it — tax, NFZ, e-government, most banking.
Profil zaufany
PRO-feel za-oo-FA-ny
The government digital identity. Since 27 April 2026 you cannot file a residence application without one, and the fastest way to get it is your bank's app.
Kamienica
ka-mye-NEE-tsa
A nineteenth-century tenement. Łódź has more of them than anywhere in Poland and they range from immaculately restored to structurally condemned, sometimes on the same street.
Karta Łodzianina
KAR-ta wo-dzya-NEE-na
The resident's card. It requires filing your income tax in Łódź and it holds transport prices at the pre-increase level, which is worth real money each month.
Migawka
mee-GAV-ka
The MPK season ticket, and the card it lives on. 'Kupić migawkę' is how anyone here describes buying a monthly pass.
Ryczałt
RY-chowt
The lump-sum tax on revenue that most Polish IT contractors elect — 12% for software development. The choice is annual and the deadline is unforgiving.
Culture
Ziemia obiecana
ZHEM-ya o-bye-TSA-na
'The Promised Land' — Reymont's novel and Wajda's film about the city's brutal textile boom. The phrase is how Łódź talks about its own nineteenth century, without much romance.
Filmówka
feel-MOOF-ka
The National Film School, founded here in 1948. Polański, Wajda and Kieślowski went through it, and it is why Łódź has been a UNESCO City of Film since 2017.
Emergency
112 / 999
—
112 for any emergency from any phone, in Polish or English. 999 goes directly to an ambulance dispatcher.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.