baniak

English

Alternative forms

• banyak
• buniak
• bunyak

Etymology

From Ukrainian баня́к (banják, “cooking pot”).

Noun

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

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

Anagrams

• Abnaki

Polish

Etymology

From bania +‎ -ak.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈba.ɲak/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɲak
• Syllabification: ba‧niak

Noun

baniak m inan (diminutive baniaczek)

1. (colloquial) carboy, demijohn

   Synonyms: gąsior, sagan

Declension

Declension of baniak

	singular	plural
nominative	baniak	baniaki
genitive	baniaka	baniaków
dative	baniakowi	baniakom
accusative	baniak	baniaki
instrumental	baniakiem	baniakami
locative	baniaku	baniakach
vocative	baniaku	baniaki

Noun

baniak m inan

1. (colloquial, humorous) head

   Synonyms: bania, baniak, baśka, głowa, główka, głowina, łepetyna, łeb, pała, (literary) skroń, makówka

Declension

Declension of baniak

	singular	plural
nominative	baniak	baniaki
genitive	baniaka	baniaków
dative	baniakowi	baniakom
accusative	baniak	baniaki
instrumental	baniakiem	baniakami
locative	baniaku	baniakach
vocative	baniaku	baniaki

Related terms

adjective

• baniasty

 

adverb

• baniasto

 

nouns

• bania
• baniastość
• banieczka
• baniecznik
• baniopień
• bańka
• bańkarz

 

Further reading

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