Whole lot of fussin'*

A word that come in in three lessons this week, a word that's so naturally English, that's so commonly used in all its forms - and yet a direct translation is missing in Polish. When incidents of 'linguistic white spaces' are noticed, I look for cultural differences.

So then. "To fuss", "to make a fuss", "fussy", "fussiness". Dictionaries offer a wide palate of Polish words, yet none capture the essence of the word "fuss".

Stanisławski: "Fuss. s. 1. zamieszanie, wrzawa, hałas, awantura, historia, podniecenie. 2. krzątanina, zachody, zabiegi, to make a fuss of somebody nadskakiwać komuś, kręcić się koło kogoś 3. ceremonie 4. denerwowanie się drobiazgami. II vi 1. awanturować się, z/robić zamieszanie 2. krzątać się; być zaaferowanym; podniecać się (drobiazgami itp.) 3. zabiegać (over somebody, something koło kogoś, czegoś); denerwować, się (about something czymś) III vt 1. niepokoićl pot. zawracać głowę (somebody komuś) 2. denerwować. Fussy adj. fussier, fussiest 1. grymaśny; kapryśny; rozkaprysznony; zrzędny 2. drobiazgo; to be fussy robić trudności 3. ruchliwy 4. denerwujący 5. (o ubiorze, stylu) wyszukany; przeładowany ozdobami

As a child, I was a fussy eater. At primary school, I would dread having to eat school dinners. [note: not school lunches, though school dinners were indeed served at lunchtime]. There would usually be a fuss between the dinner lady and myself, pushing gristle around my plate. Relaying this at home to my mother, she'd escalate the issue, upgrading it from a fuss to an awantura (a word of Italianate origin, sharing the same root as the English word 'adventure').

In England, one can make a fuss about getting short-changed in a shop. It's not impolite to do so. What would you do w polskim sklepie if pani ekspedientka gave you one zloty change instead of two? Would this be described as a fuss, or robienie trudności/ wrzawy/ historii/ awantury?

How would you translate into Polish: "A group of parents were fussing around their children before the school play" or "my boss is very fussy when it comes to protocol"? In the latter, the word drobiazgowy has a pejorative sense that's missing in English.

Over to you, dear bilingual readers - how would translate fuss and fussy without inflating the issue or getting pejorative about the subject?

A very useful English language resource that reader AdTheLad has posted me is Bill Bryson's Troublesome Words. (Link to this book online on Google Books here)

*The title of this post comes from James Brown and the JB's excellent song I'm Payin' Taxes, But What Am I Buyin'? - "A whole lot of fussin' and everybody's cussin' " Given Mr Brown's history of troubles with the US Inland Revenue Service, in this context, it's clearly an awantura.

This time last year:
Mediterranean Kraków

This time two years ago:
Warsaw's in-between places

This time three years ago:
Plans for Nowa Iwiczna and Mysiadło

This time four years ago:
Golden Time of Day