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Word of the Week: KREMŠNITE or KREMŠNITA

31/3/2013

This week we're entering the culinary realm for the first time, but not to look at well-known savory German fare like bratwurst or sauerkraut. Some of the Austro-Hungarian empire's fabulous desserts and cakes live on as national specialities in the Balkans. Kremšnite (Croatian) or kremšnita (Slovenian), formerly known as Cremeschnitte, is a case in point.

For those of you who like baking, there's a recipe here.

The picture is from ambrokan.blogspot.com.

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Word of the Week: WI(C)HAJSTER

25/3/2013

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Did you recognize the origin of this word? I learned from my friend Zuzanna Fruba that in Poland, wie heißt er (literally: what's he called) has turned into wihajster or wichajster. It is a useful substitute for any word you don't know or can't think of quickly enough - in other words, the Polish "thingy". There's even a Polish cartoonist who calls himself Wichajster. But in the ad above, the original plan was probably to replace wichajster with the technical term before publication.

Click here for further reading for Polish speakers, courtesy of my colleague Monika Kokoszycka.

The picture is from www.wiocha.pl.

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Word of the Week: LANGLAUFEN

17/3/2013

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Spring is in the air, but winter hasn't completely left us yet, so let's give it one last warm thought before we say good riddance! I suppose it doesn't come as much of a surprise that the Dutch don't have their own word for cross-country skiing, but use the German langlaufen instead. They have actually taken more skiing terms from their "Eastern neighbors", as they like to call us Germans, but more about that later.

The picture is from www.vasasport.nl

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Word of the Week: KEGEL'BAN - КЕГЕЛЬБАН

11/3/2013

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Few German words used in other languages have to do with entertainment, so this week's pick is exceptional. The German Kegelbahn (bowling alley) has morphed into кегельбáн in Russian and Ukrainian. As usual with Russian, the pronunciation sticks very closely to the original. The stress, however, moves from the first to the last syllable.

If you fancy going to this кегельбáн in Kharkiv, Ukraine, I would recommend that you get a new set of very long legs to start with - the door does not seem to be made for ordinary mortals.

The picture is by Rejgan318, www.panoramio.com

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Word of the Week: ARUBAITO - アルバイト

4/3/2013

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This week's gem is brought to you with the help of my friend and colleague Stefano Suigo. The Japanese have turned Arbeit (work, a job) into arubaito (アルバイト). However, arubaito is used exclusively for casual, student-type jobs, not for the serious business of a real job. Much like jobben in German, in fact! Can we detect a pattern here? Do you know of any other languages that borrow slightly disparaging terms for "work" from other languages?

The picture is from http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/htm/4812415667.html

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Word of the Week: KREMŠNITE or KREMŠNITA

Word of the Week: WI(C)HAJSTER

Word of the Week: LANGLAUFEN

Word of the Week: KEGEL'BAN - КЕГЕЛЬБАН

Word of the Week: ARUBAITO - アルバイト

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