Surprise No. 2: 'Polish sausage' and '(polska) kielbasa'

In a previous post to alt.english.usage , I wrote the following, in response to a poster who was writing from Poland:
(begin quote from Usenet post)Just as you can find "Swiss cheese" in a supermarket in the US without any of it having been imported from Switzerland, you can find "Polish sausage" in such a supermarket without any of it having been imported from Poland. For us, "Polish sausage" is a type of sausage, like "Italian sausage," or "bratwurst," or "knockwurst." Perhaps Don of Kansas City, Missouri, who makes sausages as a hobby, could identify the difference between these Polish sausage and other types of sausages.

I could tell you only that the meat in Polish sausage is course ground and they are paler. In length, Polish sausages are straight and are suitable to serve bun, while something like kielbasa comes in a long form (typically sold in the shape of a U) which is curved. On those relatively rare occasions when I buy Polish sausage, it is a national brand: Johnsonville brand Polish sausages.

(end quote from Usenet post)
The poster was amused (his post included the word "hehehe") by this distinction between "Polish sausage" and "kielbasa." He asked for a photo of what we meant by the term "Polish sausage." I posted the following URL:


I also admitted that I had been wrong about Polish sausages being paler than other sausages, that I had confused them with some of the other types of sausage sold by Johnsonville.
Since that time I have been to several different supermarkets, and at each one I have taken a look at the sausage area of the meat section. I was surprised, first, to see that the term "kielbasa," by itself, was nowhere to be found. Most kielbasas were referred to as "polska kielbasa," such as in "Klements Smoked Polska Kielbasa." I found one use of "kielbasa" modified by the word "turkey": "Jennie-O Turkey Kielbasa."
"Healthy Choice Polska Kielbasa" was, unlike the others, which were presented in the shape of a U, presented in a package of two long sausages, at least as long as two ordinary Polish sausages such as those represented by the JPG image cited above. And one product, "Hillshire Farm Polska Kielbasa" contained sausages which were the same size as those Polish sausages. It may very well be, then, that the usual distinction in American English between "Polish sausage" and "(polska) kielbasa" is one used for marketing only, with the product itself being essentially the same.

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com