I do not speak Polish, but my grandfather, who was an attorney in Warsaw before World War II, once told me a story in which, during the war, he ended up as a refugee in Uzbekistan, with no money and not knowing anyone. He was standing on the street corner and made a motion to a passerby asking if he could spare a cigarette. The passerby approached him, stared at him, and then addressed him by a respectful term of address used when addressing an attorney. It turned out the passerby was one of his law clerks. (My grandfather had been in a Siberian labor camp and lost a lot of weight, which is why the law clerk didn't recognize him immediately.) I used to know what that respectful term of address was, but I have forgotten it. I have a feeling if someone said it, I might recognize it. Any suggestions?