Polish ministry to rename service whose acronym spells swearword

Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work!

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland’s digital affairs ministry has said it will rename a recently launched government service whose acronym – KURDE – spells a Polish swearword.

The unfortunate name, which stands for Qualified Registered Electronic Delivery Service (Kwalifikowana Usługa Rejestrowanego Doręczenia Elektronicznego), has drawn public criticism and ridicule, prompting assurances from officials that a change is underway.

“Of course there will be a change,” deputy digital affairs minister Michał Gramatyka said in an interview with broadcaster RMF FM. “First of all, we [the government] do not use this acronym at all. The fact that the acronym is such an unfortunate word is indeed an oversight.”

The word “kurde” is commonly used as a euphemistic swearword in Polish. Its usage and offensiveness is similar to the English “frick”, although it could also be translated as “damn” or “shit”.

Controversy around KURDE gained traction after a citizen filed a formal petition calling attention to the issue, reported Rzeczpospolita, a leading Polish daily.

“The phrase KURDE in colloquial language is commonly used as a euphemistic swearword, officially appearing in the PWN Dictionary of the Polish Language,” the petitioner wrote.

His concerns were echoed by renowned linguist Jerzy Bralczyk. “The abbreviation KURDE may amuse many people, but the intentions of the author of the petition are right, as it indeed compromises the seriousness of state institutions,” Bralczyk said.

The same petitioner also raised questions over a similar acronym – PURDE – used to refer to the Public Registered Electronic Delivery Service, arguing that “it can evoke similar associations, only one letter is swapped”.

Digital affairs ministry spokeswoman Monika Gembicka responded to the criticism by saying that neither acronym is officially in use. Despite this, both acronyms have gained traction online, raising concerns that they may become embedded in public discourse, reported online news service Gazeta.pl.

The ministry also noted that the name has existed since 2020 and was introduced when the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government was in power. The service itself, however, was only launched in April.

The service is part of the Polish government’s e-Delivery system, which uses certified seals and timestamps to enable secure, registered digital correspondence between public authorities and individuals and companies.

Poczta Polska, the state post office, uses the name Q-Deliveries (Q-Doręczenia), sidestepping the problematic acronym altogether.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Kaboompics.com / Pexels

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.