I founded this thread for all funny stuff you find on internet and it's something related to MyCR / Czech language etc (better than to create a thread for every such single thing): Bad character coding on postcard Don't copy a text without thinking (It should be probably "Malé Náměstí 2".)
Wow! Okay, while it's not really a found item, it is what my friends and I call "found dialogue" and I thought this would be an appropriate place for this... Speaking to a coworker recently... He heard that I was leaving this summer and asked where I was going. When I told him the Czech Republic, he asked me if that was in Africa. Africa!! He wasn't kidding either... Most people I've talked to, while they may not be familiar with the Czech Republic, at least know that it is in Europe, but Africa??? :shock:
Yes, I heard a lot of people think CR is in Africa. Maybe due to "Republic" in its name (it can sound like "banana republic" :lol. BTW e.g. France is also a republic - its official name is "French Republic" (see the Wikipedia info). However other countries have also their "short" names, but CR doesn't - resp. here's more info about it from Wikipedia:
I think maybe because Czechia sounds a lot like Chechnya, so to avoid unwanted confusion, people opted not to use it. A lot of people here still refer to CR as Czechoslovakia rather than its correct name.
a lot of people here refer to the CR as Czechoslovakia because they don't know any better - they don't really pay much attention to the rest of the world.
I think Czechia is a perfectly logical short form, and I don't understand why nobody uses it...sometimes I do and people who are not geographers, linguists, or, in fact, intelligent in any way smirk at me and say, "That's not a country's name!" Idiots. I also think usonian is a more accurate adjective for something from the United States, but nobody agrees with me on that either. The band Black 47 has a song called "Czechoslovakia" - the fifth song under "Green Suede Shoes". It's funny that it's called that and mentions communists, since the album it's on came out in '96. Maybe the song was written before that though. Unfortunately, it's not one of the sample songs on their site, so you can only read the words. But trust me, it's a catchy tune.
In my neck-of-the-woods, people either say "Czech" for the country, or "Czechlands" . I don't like the sound of "Czech" - semehow it sounds very abrupt, and that's what we call the citizens of the country, so it's confusing. I do like "Czechlands", though.
Now this is funny... from bohemica.com...What happens when you translate czech idioms literally... http://www.bohemica.com/czechupdate/2005/funny-idioms/ (by the way, I was happy to see your reference to The Princess Bride, Ceit (in your signature)!! I love that movie!)
Here's the original site where they got it, which includes a lot more: http://www.slovodne.cz/slovodne/nadstavba/ Stop knitting my head!
Nice , I miss there: Christopher the Bastard from Up-to-Spoons and Without-Satellites aka Kryštof Harant z Polžic a Bezdružic.
I find these idioms very interesting. It would help those of us trying to learn Czech, if you could tell us the idiom in English as well as a literal translation. Friends taught me nebuďte labuť when walking along Dvořákova Cesta on the bank of the Vltava from Nelahozeves to Kralupy, when we saw some swans.
These are hilarious! :lol: I wouldn't really call most of them idioms (see Wikipedia). There are no equivalent English idioms for many of the phrases on SlovoDne.cz. There are only correct English translations of the phrases. Their humor is often based on the fact that one of the words in the Czech phrase can have multiple meanings and the English translation is not using the correct meaning. You asked for it, here it is: Sayings škoda mluvit: damage to speak x not worth mentioning škoda - damage; waste idiom > nebuď labuť: don’t wake up a swan x don't be a swan (means "don't be silly") odpočívej v pokoji: relax in the living room x rest in peace pokoj - room; peace, tranquility idiom > kde se vzala, tu se vzala: where she married herself, here she married herself (literal translation using the word "vzít" in the meaning of "to marry") x "she appeared out of nowhere" (the original sentence is basically impossible to translate) Phrases nezvratná pravda: unvomitable thruth x irrevocable truth zvrátit - to vomit; to revoke svařené víno: welded wine x mulled wine svářet - to weld; to boil kabelová televize: hand-bag TV x cable TV kabel - cable kabela - a large handbag spodní prádlo: from-under-her laundry x underwear spodní = spod (from under) + ní (her) prádlo - laundry; underwear tažní ptáci: pulling birds x migrant birds táhnout - to pull; to migrate (birds) trávicí ústrojí: poisoning mechanism x digestive tract trávit - to digest; to poison výběrové řízení: selective driving x selection procedure řízení - driving; procedure klínové písmo: crotch writing (or rather "lap writing") x cuneiform script klín - lap (as in "sit on my lap"); wedge klínový - wedge-shaped vinné sklepy: guilty basements x wine cellars vinný - guilty; wine (adjective) párek milenců: sausage of lovers x a couple of lovers párek - sausage, frankfurter; couple husí brk: goose burp x goose quill/feather brk - quill, flight feather; burp Celebrities Boleslav Polívka (a Czech actor) - Paincelebrate Soup Boleslav = bolest (pain) + slavit (to celebrate) polívka - soup Ladislav Mrkvička (a Czech actor) - Tunecelebrate Littlecarrot Ladislav = ladit (to tune) + slavit (to celebrate) mrkvička - little carrot Martin Dejdar (a Czech actor) - Martin Give-a-present Dejdar = dej (give) + dar (present) Miroslav Horníček (a Czech actor) - Peacecelebrate Littleminer Miroslav = mír (peace) + slavit (to celebrate) horníček - little miner Švanda Dudák (an opera by Jaromír Weinberger called "Švanda the Bagpiper") - Fun Titman švanda - fun dudy - bagpipe; tits Jaroslav Ježek (a Czech composer) - Springcelebrate Hedgehog Jaroslav = jaro (spring) + slavit (to celebrate) ježek - hedgehog Sentences and phrases je mazaná jako liška: she is lubricated like a fox x she is cunning as a fox mazaný - cunning, clever; lubricated veškerý vodík se asimiloval v roztoku: all the hydrogen probably made love in the solution x all the hydrogen assimilated in the solution asimiloval = asi (probably) + miloval (made love) vrhl na ni dlouhý pohled: he vomitted a long postcard on her x he threw her a long glance vrhnout - to throw; to throw up (rare) pohled - postcard; glance tvé oči září: your eyes September x your eyes shine zářit - to shine září - September seděla na mezi: she was sitting on between x she was sitting on a balk mezi - between mez - balk (a ridge between fields) idiom > necítím se dnes ve své kůži: I am not smelling myself in my leather today x I don't feel myself (in my skin) today cítit - to smell; to feel kůže - leather; skin přestaň mi plést hlavu: stop knitting my head x stop confusing me plést - to knit; to confuse idiom > podělal se: he afterdid himself x he made a mess in his pants (literally "he did all over himself") podělal = po (after) + dělal (did) mistr světa v tancích na ledě: world champion in tanks on ice x world champion in figure skating (literally "in dances on ice") tanec - dance tank - tank v tancích - in dances; in tanks Words polovina - half half-blame = polo (half) + vina (blame) překlep - typo overgossip = pře (over) + klep (gossip) prostořekost - flippancy, impertinence simplegreeknes = prostý (simple) + řekost/řeckost (greekness) zabezpečení - security behind-without-baking = za (behind) + bez (without) + pečení (baking) potkan - rat potkat - to meet "potkan" could theoretically be a Czech word for "meeter" křeček - hamster křeč - spasm "křeček" could theoretically be a Czech word for "spasmer" neohrabaný - clumsy neo-raked = neo + hrabaný (raked) pořízek - a stout/strong guy aftersteak = po (after) + řízek (snitzel) podvraťák - mutt, mongrel, bastard undergater = pod (under) + vrata (gate) duchna - duvet, feather quilt ghostess = duch (ghost) + the feminine suffix -na Student translations into Czech Easter - Východňár (someone from the east) Pubescent - ten, kdo smrdí hospodou (he who smells like a pub) general Failure reading disc C - generál Failure čte disk C: (an army general named Failure is reading disc C) I passed the exam - propásnul jsem zkoušku (I missed the exam); proPÁSnout - to miss Sportswear - sportovní nadávka (sport swear) he stopped smoking - přestalo se z něho kouřit (smoke stopped coming out of him) close relatives - zavřít příbuzné (to put relatives in jail) to deliver - odjátrovat (to de-liver, to remove liver)
Gosh, thanks Dana! They are so funny! I can see where things are coming from now - and appreciate the jokes.
the verb mazat usually means to lubricate = to apply a lubricant, the purpose is to minimize friction but in certain cases the purpose is to gain a protective shield, not to be slippery; maybe anointed is the proper word člověk všemi mastmi mazaný - lit. a man anointed by all ointments - denotes someone who has applied all possible protective/magic ointments (a clever man) hence mazaný člověk = a clever man; another term is pomazaný (křižmem) = anointed by chrism but it is not funny
Fun site, though my czech is not good enough to understand all of them... http://www.jokes.cz/ I like this one though: V pivu je vitamínů málo, proto ho musíme pít hodně! There are few vitamins in beer, therefore we must drink more of it! (rough translation, but you get the idea :wink: )