Today, we’ll be learning some Polish! Specifically, I’ll tell you some popular phrases we use for pseudoscience and woo. Thanks to the power of speech synthesis, I even included pronunciation audio for you. Enjoy.
Altmed
Short for “alternative medicine” (treatments not supported by scientific evidence, such as homeopathy or acupuncture).
Antyszczepionkowiec (plural: antyszczepionkowcy)
An anti-vaxxer (a person who opposes vaccination).
Foliarz (plural: foliarze)
A tinfoil hatter (a person who believes in all sorts of conspiracy theories). They are associated with wearing tinfoil hats, which are supposed to protect against microwaves, mind control waves, or other stuff like this.
Płaskoziemiec (plural: płaskoziemcy)
A Flat Earther (a person who believes the Earth is flat). Seriously, I can’t believe there are still people who believe this in 21st century. To add insult to injury, the Flat Earth Society Twitter account has a “verified” badge. I’m not kidding. See for yourselves.
Proepidemik (plural: proepidemicy)
Pro-disease (a more pejorative term for anti-vaxxers).
Ziębita (plural: ziębici)
A supporter of Jerzy Zięba, one of the most notorious snake oil salesmen in Poland. He’s famous for his “Hidden Therapies” books, selling molecular water filtration systems for $750 (basically some incredibly overpriced water woo), breast expansion through hypnosis, and, quite recently, his advice to stop a heart attack by stimulating an area between your upper lip and your nose with a pointy item such as a toothpick.
Unsurprisingly, he’s not a doctor – he graduated from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, Poland and has a master’s degree in mechanics.