Polish Language Question

[cmhbob]

Novel takes place in the US. Characters are all Americans.

Two people find a pile of documents important to the problem. One guy with a smattering of foreign language knowledge thinks they're written in Polish by the bad guys (they are).

I know from Google Translate that "Federal Bureau of Investigation" translates to "Federalne Biuro Śledcze." But would Polish bad guys refer to the American FBI as the Federalne Biuro Śledcze (or FBS), or would they just say FBI? The document makes several references to a mole in the Bureau. One of the characters comment, "I'm going out on a limb here though and guessing that 'FBI' means what we think it does."

Is this reasonable? It's easy enough to fix; I just want to get it right.

 

[cornflake]

Novel takes place in the US. Characters are all Americans.

Two people find a pile of documents important to the problem. One guy with a smattering of foreign language knowledge thinks they're written in Polish by the bad guys (they are).

I know from Google Translate that "Federal Bureau of Investigation" translates to "Federalne Biuro Śledcze." But would Polish bad guys refer to the American FBI as the Federalne Biuro Śledcze (or FBS), or would they just say FBI? The document makes several references to a mole in the Bureau. One of the characters comment, "I'm going out on a limb here though and guessing that 'FBI' means what we think it does."

Is this reasonable? It's easy enough to fix; I just want to get it right.

Do English speakers refer to it as the KGB or the CSS?

Unless it's something that legit goes by two names (MSF for instance), people refer to the original. It's not as if other words don't simply cross in their own form. They're pierogis, tak?

 

[cmhbob]

Touche. Thanks.

 

[frimble3]

And, I think that the FBI is pretty well-known, even in Eastern Europe. From movies and TV if nothing else. Being the bad guys, they are probably very aware of them. I'd go with FBI.

Don't know what your bad guys are like, but, if nothing else, it might seem the more 'modern' and 'up to date' choice, rather than using the Polish term, which makes them sound like they don't get around much.

In the same way that, if caught by the FBI, who say that there are also warrants in Canada, the guys might nod knowingly, and say "Ah, the Mounties."

 

[Tocotin]

Hi, I'm Polish, and yes, we usually say FBI.

 

[cmhbob]

I appreciate everyone's input.