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What is plywood pole?
a person who claims to be Polish, despite not speaking the Polish language, not being raised in Poland and usually only having a single Polish person in their family tree, which is how the 'Plywood Poles' explain their supposed ethnicity. They often use words not found in contemporary Polish language (like calling gołąbki dish 'golumpki', or calling their grandmothers 'busia' instead of 'babcia'), or bastardizing the traditional polish dishes by filling the pierogi with cheddar cheese
The meaning comes from a pessimist description of Poland by its citizens as "Country made from plywood and cardboard" ("kraj z dykty i kartonu") when referring to failures made by the government. As such, a 'plywood pole' is someone who tries to be Polish for the sake of having any ancestry to be proud of, but fails.
"I'm Polish, actually, my great-grandfather immigrated from Poland to the US in 1946"
"Do you speak Polish?"
"No, but I love golumpkas and pierogis"
"Heh, you're just a plywood pole then"
plywood pole - video
