How Do You Say - "HOW DO YOU SAY"?

Ok, so this one took some work from my Polish friend, Kristina, to figure out what it was I was trying to ask:

Me:  Kristina, how do you say, how do you say... in Polish?

Kristina:  How do you say what?

Me:  How do you say, well, 'how do you say' in Polish?

Kristina:  Tell me what you want me to say and I will translate in Polish for you.

Me: Ok, that's what I'm trying to do.  How do you say... you know, like... 'how do you say... '

Kristina:  I don't know what you want!

Me: Grrrrr.. lol (I gave up and started to walk away since I had to get back to work before the boss came.)

Kristina:  Ah, you want me to tell you how to say, "how to say"?

Me:  Yes! Yes! That's it!

Kristina:  Yak to poviejiech....



So she finally told me and now I use it all the time around her but I would like to know
how to spell it right or is there another way of saying it? 
How do you say it to a male?