I have been trying to get together a list of English words that are priceless and are missing in the Czech vocabulary . This is what I came up with so far: 1.homesick (in Czech: styska se mi po domove...so long!!) 2.errands ..and I forgot the 3rd one :? Anyone has anything to add?
what about valedictorian - student pronášející řeč na rozloučení se školou (I´m not sure, if it is also used in UK too) I think it will be at the end of your list.
There is no need for that word in czech. The word "valedictorian" however does not look very english, so if english can borrow it from latin, in case of need czech could borrow it as well ;-).
Hi, Well, but I guess that "homesick" alone doesn't form a phrase as stýská se mi po domove - I guess that some verb is need, as "I feel homesick" or something like that, so Czech version isn't that long. By the way, this list can be made the other way round, as with word letos (this year) that's not common in many languages as this blog points out. Good bye.:
homesick (noun) = stesk po domově, or nostalgie from Old Greek νόστος (nostos, “a return home”) + αλγος (algos, “pain, suffering”)
“Homesick” is adjective as far as I know. The noun is “homesickness”. I agree with Tagarela, there is no need for this word in Czech. In fact, I consider the Czech verb “stýskat se” more useful. And remember we can use the verb alone, so “I feel homesick” could be translated as “stýská se mi”. Interesting note on “letos”, Tagarela. I never noticed the exceptionality of the word. But it is really exceptional, it is missing even in Slovak. But there is something like that in Austrian German, they use the adverb “heuer”.
Nostalgia, at least in English, typically implies a longing for times past (usually in the distant past), and not necessarily a longing for home. Homesickness does not usually imply longing for past times.
Hi, Yes, Wer, homesickness is the noun. Milan Kundera in The ignorance (originally written in French, without a Czech edition yet I guess) makes a short analysis of how to express nostalgie, missing, stesk, saudade (Portuguese), añoranza (Spanish) etc in many languages, it's interesting. But I think that the discussion on words lacking on any language could run into a non profitable topic full of nationalism ^^. And how Alexx said about valedictorian, it's hard to tell sometimes wether a word is really part of a certain language. Good bye.:
I don't think there is a true equivalent of the English word "friend". To me neither kameradka, pritelykne nor znami fit the bill. Or maybe I am just affected by the connotations of comrade that I hear in the word "kamerad" so that I am uncomfortable using it.
"kamarád" in Czech does not have anything to do with word "comrade" in English (except for common etymology). In Czech it is quite neutral word. The translation of "comrade" in Czech is "soudruh" which is tainted heavily by the former regime.
Yes, I realise that but unfortunately the common etymology kills it for me..... So how would you say "we have been friends for 50 years" where the implication is of a deep friendship?
"Jsme přátelé už 50 let." In this case, the word "přítel" is definitely better as it is more profound than mere "kamarád".
Unfortunately, nowadays the word "přítel" also means a "boyfriend". Which is confusing, because when someone says "byl jsem s přítelem", you don't know what to think unless you know the "context". Therefore, many people rather use the word "kamarád" in order to avoid a potential misunderstanding, but its meaning is not as deep as the meaning of "přítel".
I realise this, but not in plural. "Moji přátele" is always "my friends" and cannot mean "my boyfriends". So if one says "jsme přátelé už 50 let", there is no misunderstanding.
Oh, my coment wasn't made in response to yours. It was just a general observation. I definitely agree that "jsme přátelé už 50 let" is clear beyond doubt.