Yes Tomas, you know what fika is now. The word has just advanced a bit so it´s fika when you take too or juice or whatever. In the word fika you can also add that stuff eat if for example a bun, a cake, a sandwich, biscuit etc etc. I mean if have a picnic out in the forest and you take a foodbreake that foodbreke will go under the word fika in Swedish. So fika is a short small meal. In Sweden we also use "fik" and it´s a synonym to the word café. Lagom is harder toexplain but now everyone knows not lagom much about it but, roughly what it means.
Are there unique words in your language?
Re: Naco - The word is more Mexican than Spanish.
http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/naco
Other translations of 'naco' are "tacky", "cheesy" and "low class". >
It also means trashy, it's used to describe a person without a trace of education.
A naco can be a person with or without money.
http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/naco
Other translations of 'naco' are "tacky", "cheesy" and "low class". >
It also means trashy, it's used to describe a person without a trace of education.
A naco can be a person with or without money.
What about "nacos" (the meal) - does it belong to the "cheap and nasty class" or is it a made up word by English speakers?
What about "nacos" (the meal)>
Well I am Mexican and I never heard that word to describe a meal in my whole life.
Well I am Mexican and I never heard that word to describe a meal in my whole life.
Or "nachos" perhaps.
There were a couple of words when I was learning Polish which I couldn't really find an equivalent for in English. One such word was "lamperie" which I believe is also a word in German, and probably comes thence.
It refers to the lower half of a wall which is panelled or painted in gloss paint to prevent it being damaged. I haven't seen this kind of arrangement in many houses in Britain, so perhaps we just don't need the word.
There are also various food words which don't exist in English, but ceratainly exist in the languages of neighbouring countries. English lacks as amny words for different types of dumpling, for example. On the other hand the word "ciasto" (and similar words in other Slavic languages) has a range of meaning much wider than any English equivalent and can encompass cake,biscuit,dough, pancake batter etc etc. This often causes confusion, especially when people insist on using the American English term "cookie."
All this business of wider and narrower meanings is fascinating and I believe mush more time should be spent on it when teaching or learning a language, as this kind of subtle difference can cause all sorts of problems of communication.
There were a couple of words when I was learning Polish which I couldn't really find an equivalent for in English. One such word was "lamperie" which I believe is also a word in German, and probably comes thence.
It refers to the lower half of a wall which is panelled or painted in gloss paint to prevent it being damaged. I haven't seen this kind of arrangement in many houses in Britain, so perhaps we just don't need the word.
There are also various food words which don't exist in English, but ceratainly exist in the languages of neighbouring countries. English lacks as amny words for different types of dumpling, for example. On the other hand the word "ciasto" (and similar words in other Slavic languages) has a range of meaning much wider than any English equivalent and can encompass cake,biscuit,dough, pancake batter etc etc. This often causes confusion, especially when people insist on using the American English term "cookie."
All this business of wider and narrower meanings is fascinating and I believe mush more time should be spent on it when teaching or learning a language, as this kind of subtle difference can cause all sorts of problems of communication.
Nachos - I think its how you spell it, with corn chips, salsa, avacado, guacomole, cheese melted on top, yoghurt etc etc
Nachos - I think its how you spell it, with corn chips, salsa, avacado, guacomole, cheese melted on top, yoghurt etc etc >
Yeah nachos it's a "botana" and it does exist.
And it's guacamole not guacomole.
Yeah nachos it's a "botana" and it does exist.
And it's guacamole not guacomole.
A naco as a food item is a taco with tortilla chips and extra cheese in it. It is a combination of nachos and taco.
A taco is a kind of a shell that is made of corn chip that holds things inside.
Some more or less unique words from Hungarian (as far as I know):
"baki" - a funny slip of the tongue, especially when speaking "live" in public or on TV, radio, etc (the verb form is "bakizni")
"suta", "balog" - both mean a left-handed person (and the latter is a rather common family name as well - are we a left-handed nation?)
"tészta" - a word denoting dough, pastry, batter or pasta (a Slavic loanword, the equivalent of "ciasto/tjesto" mentioned by Stephaniel P. Spaniel)
"pogácsa" - a salty "cake" (for lack of a better word), usually round, often baked with "töpörtyű" (see next entry), cream or cheese mixed into the leavened dough (some Slavic cuisines also have something similar, but I have included it here because it is impossible to translate it into English properly)
"töpörtyű" - a food made of animal (usually pork or poultry) skin, left over after removing the fat by frying (it is often used as an addition to "pogácsa")
"paprikás" - a food similar to a stew, made of meat or fish, with hot, red peppers as a spice, and often cooked together with potatoes (some Slavic languages also have it, but the food originates from Hungary)
"gyepü" - an uninhabited fringe area used as pasture in the time of the settlement of Magyars in the Carpathian Basin
"táltos" - a person or animal with magic powers (if a person, similar to a "shaman"), "táltos" horses usually feature a lot in Hungarian folk tales
Not a unique word, but a false friend, commonly translated in the wrong way:
"cimbalom" - a large dulcimer, i.e. a percussion instrument with strings that are hit with two sticks, often used in Gypsy orchestras (it has nothing to do with cymbals, i.e. the percussion instrument consisting of two metal plates, as it is often mistakenly translated)
In addition, let's not forget an unique word in Finnish:
"sisu" - a complex virtue, denotes persistence, perseverance, stamina and a lot more (something similar to but more complex than Latin "virtus")
"baki" - a funny slip of the tongue, especially when speaking "live" in public or on TV, radio, etc (the verb form is "bakizni")
"suta", "balog" - both mean a left-handed person (and the latter is a rather common family name as well - are we a left-handed nation?)
"tészta" - a word denoting dough, pastry, batter or pasta (a Slavic loanword, the equivalent of "ciasto/tjesto" mentioned by Stephaniel P. Spaniel)
"pogácsa" - a salty "cake" (for lack of a better word), usually round, often baked with "töpörtyű" (see next entry), cream or cheese mixed into the leavened dough (some Slavic cuisines also have something similar, but I have included it here because it is impossible to translate it into English properly)
"töpörtyű" - a food made of animal (usually pork or poultry) skin, left over after removing the fat by frying (it is often used as an addition to "pogácsa")
"paprikás" - a food similar to a stew, made of meat or fish, with hot, red peppers as a spice, and often cooked together with potatoes (some Slavic languages also have it, but the food originates from Hungary)
"gyepü" - an uninhabited fringe area used as pasture in the time of the settlement of Magyars in the Carpathian Basin
"táltos" - a person or animal with magic powers (if a person, similar to a "shaman"), "táltos" horses usually feature a lot in Hungarian folk tales
Not a unique word, but a false friend, commonly translated in the wrong way:
"cimbalom" - a large dulcimer, i.e. a percussion instrument with strings that are hit with two sticks, often used in Gypsy orchestras (it has nothing to do with cymbals, i.e. the percussion instrument consisting of two metal plates, as it is often mistakenly translated)
In addition, let's not forget an unique word in Finnish:
"sisu" - a complex virtue, denotes persistence, perseverance, stamina and a lot more (something similar to but more complex than Latin "virtus")
There is a nice Romanian word, I think of Gypsy origin. I am not sure how to write it down : Smecer (?) "Shmecker" - it seems to mean a kind of chancer or spiv, a dishonest and shallow materialistic character.
I think pogacsa is the kind of food word which would be translated as 'dumpling' in English. All kinds of dishes get termed 'dumplings' by lazy travel writers. If they were in Italy they wouldn't call their various combinations of flour, eggs and water 'dumplings,' but that is because Italian food is fashionable. The same 'gnochi' or 'pasta' served in Central Europe would be called 'dumplings,' with all the connotations of stodgy, unappetising fare that that word carries.
Now I really should stop writing stuff on this forum today, and go out into the sunshine with the other children.
I think pogacsa is the kind of food word which would be translated as 'dumpling' in English. All kinds of dishes get termed 'dumplings' by lazy travel writers. If they were in Italy they wouldn't call their various combinations of flour, eggs and water 'dumplings,' but that is because Italian food is fashionable. The same 'gnochi' or 'pasta' served in Central Europe would be called 'dumplings,' with all the connotations of stodgy, unappetising fare that that word carries.
Now I really should stop writing stuff on this forum today, and go out into the sunshine with the other children.
I think every language has a lot of unique words especially if they are conserned the national culture or cutoms, traditions, something unique for the country. Well, just some words having come to my mind:
Russian:
pochemuchka - person who asks many questions
valenki - special winter boots
samovar - looks like a big teapot, but it's not, i have no idea how to explain this.
silovik - person who is from army or KGB, or was connected with Russian/Soviet intelligent services and now he has power and works in president administration
tusovka - word of contemprory russian slang which is difficult to explain even in russian, but everyone understands it.
List is infinite....
Russian:
pochemuchka - person who asks many questions
valenki - special winter boots
samovar - looks like a big teapot, but it's not, i have no idea how to explain this.
silovik - person who is from army or KGB, or was connected with Russian/Soviet intelligent services and now he has power and works in president administration
tusovka - word of contemprory russian slang which is difficult to explain even in russian, but everyone understands it.
List is infinite....
silovik - person who is from army or KGB, or was connected with Russian/Soviet intelligent services and now he has power and works in president administration >>
Linguist, interesting that you mention that word. I remember an article in the 'Economist' a year or two ago called something like 'The Rise of the Siloviki'. So I guess it's kind of known in English too these days, although maybe not to many people!
Linguist, interesting that you mention that word. I remember an article in the 'Economist' a year or two ago called something like 'The Rise of the Siloviki'. So I guess it's kind of known in English too these days, although maybe not to many people!
"pogácsa"
Easterner,
we use it too in Bosnia. It is written as "pogača" and pronounced as "pogacha".
Easterner,
we use it too in Bosnia. It is written as "pogača" and pronounced as "pogacha".