Koledzy i Przyjaciele

[Czwartek]

Am I correct in saying that kolega is a false friend of the English word colleague, since the latter refers exclusively to someone known through work, whereas the former makes no implication about the source of familiarity? In fact I've seen and heard kolega used many times where friend would be used in English. Przyjaciel is also friend. So my question is, what is the fundamental difference between kolega and przyjaciel? Is przyjaciel more familiar, used to describe a very close friend, and kogela just someone you see occasionally? Or am I wrong and kolega is an exact translation of colleague?

[arti]

You can have many kolega's, not only from work, but also from school, neighbourhood etc.
But you can have just a couple of przyjaciel's. Definitely przyjaciel means something more than a co-worker or a guy from the same class. It's a person you can trust and share your secrets.
The other matter is that, I think, we rather say while introducing "To jest mój kolega..." than "To jest mój przyjaciel..."
So if we were a close friends and you would call me a 'kolega' I wouldn't be touched, however if we were just co-workers and you would call me 'przyjaciel' I would think something is not ok here

[Заря]

There is also 'znajomy'. This is a person whom I see in work, school etc. but I haven't been in his home, I don't talk to him. Maybe I say 'hi' to him from time to time and that's all. 'Znajomy' can be also a person who had been my friend before I moved out.

'Kolega' is a person whom I know better than 'znajomy'. I talk to him even daily. I could be in his home. And for example we work in the same room, or we go fishing together. 'Przyjaciel' is also 'kolega', so it's ok to call him 'kolega'.

'Przyjaciel' is a close friend. This is a person who knows my secrets, my worst promblems and I know he won't backbite me. Calling someone 'przyjaciel' is kind of distinction, so using it in daily activities is strange and can be embarrassing for the friend.

[Cosi]

I guess that znajomy means exactly "acquaintance". Przyjaciel is rather a close friend, someone very special to you, or even your partner.
Kolega is a very broad term. Of course it can be translated as "colleague". Nowadays it's not common, but you can say e.g. "To jest kolega Kowalski" when you introduce someone in a formal situation. Kolega can also mean your schoolfriend (you can also say kumpel - "pal, mate"). When you talk to someone, who is younger than you, but you don't want to call him by his name, you can use "kolega" + 3rd person singular.

[mafke]

A few times when bosses have been made at me they call me 'Panie Kolego' (Mr. Colleague).

My (non-native) understanding:

znajomy - acquaintance, someone you know and don't dislike, but not necessarily any kind of friend

kolega - someone you have something in common with (work, school, some other activity), can be (but isn't necessarily) a kind of casual or even kind of a good friend but not necessarily someone you'll go out of your way to see.

kumpel - friend that you've known for a long, long time and know backwards and forwards, sometimes also used for new friends where there seems to be a strong immediate rapport (and also may be how a przyjaciel is introduced to a third party 'to mój kumpel')

przyjaciel - very close friend of the kind you'd die for (well maybe not that extreme, but the positive emotional connotations are very, very strong). Used mostly in the third person (calling your przyjaciel 'przyjaciel' is sort of too much) can sometimes be used ironically in the vocative to indicate someone is crossing boundaries they shouldn't. lazy Polish translators use this as their default for translating the English word 'friend' which is very unfortunate.

In opposite sex relationships przyjaciel will often (always?) imply a sexual relationship and IINM same sex couples use the term to refer to each other.

[Czwartek]

Dziękuję za pomoc! I see now that I have been using przyjaciel far too liberally.

But hey, you live and learn.

[pittmirg]

lazy Polish translators use this as their default for translating the English word 'friend' which is very unfortunate.

That's true. Also, you > invariably "ty", the fifth element > piąty element, actual > aktualny etc. etc.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Kiedy byłem w Polsce w ostatnim roku i spytałem moją babcię, czy mogę następny raz przyjść z przyjacielem, trochę później zadzwoniła do mojej ciotki, bo bała się, że może jestem gejem.

Moja mama opowiedziała mi to dopiero po odwiedzinach w obecnym roku, że było takie nieporozumienie, a to zdarzyło się tylko z powodu tego, że też nie znałem różnicy między "kolega" i "przyjaciel". Ale teraz znam i ten błąd już nigdy nie się zdarzy jeszcze raz.

Chcę też powtórzyć (już napisałem to w dyskusji "funny language mistakes"), że oczywiście nie nienawidzę gejów, ale ja po prostu nie jestem.

[Cosi]

Pamiętałem tą Twoją opowieść, dlatego napisałem, że przyjaciel to ktoś bardzo bliski, a czasem nawet partner.
Cóż, człowiek uczy się przez całe życie