Why Europe Rocks: Reason #31

I know a lot of these WERs are about language, but so much of what makes life fun & funny is trying to navigate in one's non-native language.

In Czech, there are some great words/phrases that don't translate well...but I wish they did.

ponorka n. (lit: submarine) When you spend a lot of time with one or more people and you kind of get a little sick of them. Ex: After two days of meetings I have a little ponorka.



domluvit v. To arrange, agree upon, figure out, plan, decide...domluvit is so all purpose. Ex: I'm not sure now when we can meet, but I'll call you and we can domluvit on it. I have to domluvit with the English teacher when we can go to her class.

šikovný (she-cove-knee) adj. This word doesn't translate well at all. The dictionary says "dexterous" but really it means something like graceful, smart, handy, cool...on and on. Ex: Mark Cox is way šikovný.

There are also some English words that don't go smooth into Czech, like awkward. The closest is "uncomfortable," but it's just not the same. And all my multi-cultural friends, feel free to add your own!