I was talking to a Polish friend the other day. We discussed the Polish word for grandmother. Apparently, a common mistake in the US is to use the word Busha or Busia for your Polish grandmother. You’ve probably heard this word used. According to my friend, this is incorrect. The polish word for grandmother is babcia, pronounced “bob-cha” or “bop-cha”. Interesting.
So how did this mistake come about? Was it babies mispronouncing the word? Perhaps. But I think the obvious answer here is Barbara Bush. I think people came to this country and saw her as First Lady and likely also as first grandmother. Due to their love of their country they started calling their own grandmothers Busha. Or Busia.
Hey, it doesn’t take a genius to figure this stuff out.
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