Germanic & Slavic

Evelien | 21 | Medical Diagnostics student | I speak Dutch, Polish and English | learning Norwegian | Interested in other Germanic and Slavic languages | I have a lot of homework, so I might be less active here... (main blog https://www.catnipkittens.tumblr.com)

[linguistness]

English vocab for level B2 and higher #5

-> definitions from Cambridge Dictionary & Collins Dictionary

to sway: to move slowly from side to side; to cause something to move or change; to persuade someone to believe or do one thing rather than another

dun: of a greyish-brown colour

formidable: causing you to have fear or respect for something or someone because that thing or person is large, powerful, or difficult; strong and powerful, and therefore difficult to deal with if opposed to you

to concede: to admit, often unwillingly, that something is true; to admit that you have lost in a competition; to allow someone to have something, even if you do not want to

steeple: a pointed structure on the top of a church tower, or the tower and the pointed structure considered as one unit

to rebuke: to speak angrily to someone because you disapprove of what they have said or done

notorious: famous for something immoral or bad

mottled: covered with areas of different colours that do not form a regular pattern

in the dumps: not successful; feeling very depressed and miserable

infallible: never wrong, failing, or making a mistake

to precipitate: to make something happen suddenly or sooner than expected

to bristle: (of hair) to stand up; to react angrily

zeal: great enthusiasm or eagerness

reticence: an unwillingness to do something or talk about something, for example because you are nervous or being careful

genial: friendly and pleasant

torpor: the state of not being active and having no energy or enthusiasm; the state of reduced activity that some animals experience during the winter

seedy: looking dirty or in bad condition and likely to be involved in dishonest or illegal activities

sallow: pale yellow and unhealthy looking

[er-cryptid]

Emotions (Spanish)

love = amor

worried = preocupado

angry = enojado

sad = triste

embarassed = avergonzada

afraid = asustado

kind = tipo

happy = feliz

amazed = asombrado

delighted = encantado

bored = perforado

tired = cansado

sensitive = doloroso

hate = odio

[wonderful-language-sounds]

Websites to learn languages by reading

Hyplern

Language Crush

Readlang

Vocab Tracker

[chiara-klara-claire]

funny idioms

My personal selection of idioms collected here and there. my posts - resources masterpost | aesthetic idioms | words with cute literal meaning

Icelandic 🇮🇸

Ég borga bara með reiðufé 🐑💰 - I only pay with an angry sheep: Okay, but I don’t have to like it

að taka einhvern í bakaríið 🥯 - to take someone to the bakery: used as a threat, often in sports, when your adversary is about to experience a heavy defeat.

Finnish 🇫🇮 @finnish-sayings

kissanristiäiset 🐱 - a cat’s christening: an unimportant event or holiday

nakki ja muusi 🍲 - in the year sausage and mashed potatoes: long ago

Ilma on kuin linnunmaitoa 🥛🐦- The weather is like bird’s milk: The weather is wonderful.

Hänella ei ole kaikki muumit laksossa - he/she doesn’t have all the moomins in the valley: they’re crazy

Norwegian 🇳🇴 @hazel3017

Nappe seg i løken 🧅 - Yank the onion: a man who masturbates

Høy på pæra 🍐- High on pears: someone who is arrogant (head gets so big it looks like a pear)  

Det er helt Texas! : That’s completely Texas! That’s crazy!

Swedish 🇸🇪( @escapenorth-blog )

Den är paj 🥧 - It’s pie. “It doesn’t work.”

du är ute och cyklar! 🚲 - you’re out and riding your bike! “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Fårskalle 🐑 💀 - sheep skull ; hissen går inte gela vägen upp- the elevator doesn’t go all the way up: stupid

släng dig i väggen - throw yourself against a wall: take a hike 🌲

Danish 🇩🇰 @vikinglanguage

der er kommunister i lysthuset*- communists are in the funhouse: when someone has their period 🩸🏠

skide grønne grise 🐖 💩 - to shit green pigs: be extremely frightened 😰

gåsevin 🍷🦆– goose wine: Water

pølsetysker 🌭 🇩🇪 – sausage german: a very German German or just a way to call Germans you dislike

ikke helt appelsinfri* 🍊 - not entirely orange-free: drunk 🤠

at tale flydende svensk* 🗣🇸🇪 - to speak Swedish fluently / tale i den store hvide telefon**☎️- talk in the big white telefon / ringe til Ulrik** 📞 : to call Ulrik: to throw up 🤮

at skyde papegøjen 🦜🔫- to shoot the parrot: to have luck

Dutch 🇳🇱

Helaas Pindakaas 🥜 - too bad peanut butter (“peanut cheese”): too bad, which rhymes with pindakaas = 🇩🇪 Schade Marmelade: same as Dutch, but with jam

German 🇩🇪 this post by @for-the-love-of-wolves-studies and this @moami

einen Clown zum Frühstück essen/frühstücken 🤡 🍽️- eating a clown for breakfast: not behaving decently/having bad humor

bekannt wie ein bunter Hund 🐶 🌈 - known as a colorful dog: someone known all over town

fuchsteufelswild 🦊 - fox devil wild: super mad

einen Vogel haben 🐦 - to have a bird: to be crazy

Ich glaub mein Schwein pfeift 🐷 - I think my pig whistles: I think I’m dreaming  

die Gurkentruppe 🥒 - cucumber brigade: bunch of bunglers  

Durch den Kakao ziehen 🍫-  throw someone into chocolate: to make fun of somebody or something, to roast someone

die beleidigte Leberwurst spielen 🌭 - to play the offended liver sausage: being very resentful

Hans Wurst 🌭 - Hans Sausage: name to call a stupid person (both m/f)

jetzt haben wir den Salat 🥗 - now we have the salad: look at this disaster that we now have 

nah am Wasser gebaut 💧- built close to the water: someone that is easily moved to tears

italian 🇮🇹

Cascare dal pero 🍐 🌳  - fall from the pear tree - find out about something when you were supposed to know it

Far venire il latte alle ginocchia 🥛- make milk come from one’s knees: being a pain/ annoying,

Andare a rane** 🐸 - go (as) frogs: something like online connection is lagging

fare la figura del cioccolataio 🍫 - make a chocolatier’s impression: to make a fool of yourself, be responsible for embarrassing cockups

Che pizza! 🍕 - What a pizza!: “Nuts!”/ used Wien you are bored or annoyed at something

Essere alla frutta 🍎 🍌 - to be at [the moment of] fruit: when the situation is very bad (meals usually end with eating fruit), to emphasize this some people might say al caffè, al dolce ☕️ 🍰(coffee, dessert time)

Un limone 🍋- a lemon: a make out session

French 🇫🇷 this

Chanter en yaourt - sing in yogurt: singing in gibberish, random sounds pretending to sing in [English]

Poser un lapin 🐇 - to put a rabbit: To stand someone up

Avoir le cafard 🪳 - to have the cockroach: To be depressed

Tomber dans les pommes 🍎🍏 - To fall in the apples: To faint

Donner sa langue au chat 👅 🐈- to give one’s tongue to the cat: I have no idea/I give up. used to say you don’t know about something and are unable to give an answer.

Polish 🇵🇱 @pol-ski this post

można z konie kraść 🐎- you can steal horses with him: a trustworthy person

co ma piernik do wiatracka - what does gingerbread have to do with a windmill: it’s irrelevant

*: apparently not used much but wanted to include them cause they’re hilarious; **: maybe regional/use limited to an area

Thanks for contributions: @dasloddl (de), @tetsunabouquet (nl)

[chiara-klara-claire]

Soo apparently a lot of Danish idioms I included are not really used, but they are so hilarious I couldn’t just remove them. So I left a * to signal that. (tak to @vikinglanguage for the additions!) 🇩🇰

🍊 I found an explanation (in Danish) for “not entirely orange-free”, here’s my summary: The saying originated in the beginning of the 20th century with proihibitionism, which wasn’t esthablished only in the US but also in Nordic countries. Alcohol was thus prohibited, but it was possible to sell fruit, with oranges being particularly popular because of higher percentage of alcohol you could get from them.

Also added a couple idioms 🇫🇮 🇮🇹 :)

[adventuresinlearningfinnish]

I made a game with ChatGPT where we learn Finnish by doing a dungeon crawl 🗡️. I can only imagine how much fun this will be when it's all hooked up with video and voice acting!

[solecito-study]

Vocabulario de los postres 🍦

El pastel, la torta - cake

El bizcocho - spongecake

La torta, el pay - pie

La magdalena - cupcake

El flan - flan

La magdalena, el pastelito, el cupcake - cupcake

La esponjita, el bombón (mex.) - marshmallow

El helado - ice cream

La paleta de hielo - popsicle

El bastón de caramelo - candy cane

El chicle - gum

La galleta - cookie

El batido, La malteada (LatAm.), el licuado (LatAm.) - milkshake

La paleta (LatAm.), el piruela (Spain) - lollipop

La gominola - gummy candy

La rosquilla, el dónut, la dona (LatAm.) - donut

Sabores/tipos - flavors/types

de chocolate - chocolate

de pecana - pecan

de fresa - strawberry

de vainilla - vanilla

de limón - lemon

de queso - cheese

de manzana - apple

de calabaza - pumpkin

[polyglot-thought]

Language Study Resource Recommendation: Internet Archive’s Open Library website!

They offer thousands of books in many different languages. To find books in languages other than English; First click browse, and then click Subjects. Scroll all the way to the last subject and you’ll see a title that says “Books by Language,” and under this you will see choices for all kinds of languages, with a ‘see more’ tab for even more languages.

Open Library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Read, borrow, and discover mor

I don’t know much else about this website however because I just found out about it today.

[an-american-in-norway]

i hytt og vær willy nilly

Meaning

helt i det blå, på måfå, uten mål og mening

Finn noen som kan hjelpe deg med å finne problemet slik at du ikke kjøper komponenter i hytt og vær uten at du får løst problemet. Find someone who can help you find the problem so that you don't buy components in the cabin and weather without solving the problem.

Background

Det er usikkert hva som er opphavet til ordet 'hytt,' men det kan komme fra et ord som betydde 'slumpetreff.' I dag bruker vi ordet bare i dette uttrykket. Det er mulig at uttrykket har sammenheng med 'å tale bort i været,' som vi finner i Bibelen. I dag ser vi at uttrykket ofte forekommer i formen 'i hytt og pine,' som skyldes sammen blanding med uttrykket 'død og pinne.' 'Død og pine' er en ed eller forbannelse, men er ikke så stygt i dag og brukes som utrop eller interjekson. It is uncertain what is the origin of the word 'hytt,' but it may come from a word that meant 'random hit.' Today we use the word only in this expression. It is possible that the expression is related to 'spoken in the weather,' as we find in the Bible. Today we see that the expression often occurs in the form 'i hytt og pine,' caused by blend with the term 'død og pine (death and torment).' 'Død og pine' is an oath or curse, but is not as ugly today and is used as exclamation or interjekson.

[goodplan-ipromise]

[goodplan-ipromise]

[useless-catalanfacts]

Some weird insults in the Catalan language, from the Instagram account dailycatalan.

[adito-lang]

Preposisjoner i tidsuttrykk ⌛️📅

Just some charts/diagrams/notes I made while studying Norwegian temporal prepositions. 

When something happened in the past ➡️ for … siden

When something will happen in the future ➡️ om / til 

How long something is lasting ➡️ i / på / siden

How long it takes to do/complete something ➡️ på

Sorry, no charts for…

før (before) - før jul (before Christmas)

etter (after) - etter ferien (after the holidays)

fra … til … (from … to …) - fra fem til sju (from five to seven)

i løpet av (during) - i løpet av studiene (during the studies)

under (during - *ongoing through or during the time something lasts*) - under krigen (during the war)

innen (by, within) - innen fredag (by Friday)

omkring (about, around) - omkring ti minutter (about ten minutes)

omtrent (approximately) - omtrent 20 barn (approximately 20 children)

And here’s a summary I made… I also included the matching German prepositions (in blue) and German translation of the example sentences.

Time adverbials in Norwegian-Germam-English - comparison

In Norwegian, adverbials (which tell you when, where, how, or why something is done) can be first or last in a sentence. In German, adverbials coming first is also not a problem. If the adverbial is first, in both Norwegian and German the verb will come second. In English, the subject still comes before the verb:

Nå skinner sola i Oslo. / I Oslo skinner sola nå.

Jetzt scheint die Sonne in Oslo. / In Oslo scheint jetzt die Sonne.

Now the sun is shining in Oslo. / In Oslo the sun is shining now.

However, in a sentence where both time and place are mentioned together after the verb in Norwegian, place is usually before time in the sentence (like in English). In German, time comes before place.

Sola skinner i Oslo nå.

Die Sonne scheint jetzt in Oslo.

The sun is shining in Oslo now.

[er-cryptid]

Patreon | Ko-fi  

[an-american-in-norway]

å syde, verb to seethe, to roil koke, bruse, fråde "De holdt på å le seg i hjel ved middagbordet når jeg fortalte om mine kamper med Robbie... fremdeles sydende av raseri." They cracked up at the dinner table as I recounted my battles with Robbie, still seething.

å bebreide, verb to reproach legge skyld på "Der en annen foresatt kanskje ville ha bebreidet et barn for å være frekk mot en voksen, slik jeg hadde vært, lot de også det ligge." And where another parent might have scolded a kid for being sassy with an elder as I had been, they also let that be.

obsternasig, adjektiv obstinance stri, egensidig, oppsetsig "Når jeg ser tilbake på det nå, tror jeg foreldrene mine satte pris på min obsternasighet, og jeg er glad for det." Looking back on it now, I think my parents appreciated my feistiness and I’m glad for it.

å fryde seg, verb to take pleasure in glede seg over (også med skadefryd) "Som barn kunne jeg bare ane det - friheten han følte bak rattet, hvordan han frydet seg over å ha en jevn motor og perfekt avbalanserte dekk summende under seg." As a kid, I could only sense it—the liberation he felt behind the wheel, the pleasure he took in having a smooth-running engine and perfectly balanced tires humming beneath him.

å streife, verb to roam farte, flakke "Når vi dro for å handle på kjøpesenteret, pleide han å slå seg ned på en benk, tildreds med å passe veskene eller snike seg til en lur mens resten av familien streifet fritt omkring." When we went shopping at the mall, he’d park himself on a bench, content to watch the bags or sneak in a nap while the rest of the family roamed freely.

*Example sentences taken from Becoming/Min Historie by Michelle Obama

[an-american-in-norway]

(et) pågangsmot, substantiv courage, drive mot til å gå på "Jeg var antagelig ikke bedre enn de andre elevene hennes, ikke mindre famlende, men jeg var full av pågangsmot." I was probably no better than her other students, no less fumbling, but I was driven.

opprømt, adjektiv excited glad, munter, i høy stemmning "Jeg fikk en slags opprømt tilfredsstillelse av det." I got a buzzy sort of satisfaction from it.

ærbødig, adjektiv respectful som viser stor aktelse eller respekt "Det er mulig at vi kunne ha fortsatt på denne måten, Robbie og jeg, hadde jeg vært mindre nysgjerrig og mer ærbodig når det gjaldt pianometodene hennes." It’s possible that we might have continued this way, Robbie and I, had I been less curious and more reverent when it came to her piano method.

en kverulant, substantiv a complaining, argumentative person person som stadig klager og føler seg forurettet, trettekjær person, kranglefant "Jeg var en kverulant, men kunne også ha en tendens til å bli diktatorisk..." I was lawyerly and also veered toward dictatorial...

langdryg, long and boring langvarig, kjedelig "Pianotimene ble en langdryg prøvelse, noe som for en stor del skyldes at jeg nektet å følge den foreskrevne metoden..." Piano lessons became epic and trying, largely due to my refusal to follow the prescribed method...

*Example sentences from Becoming/Min Historie by Michelle Obama

[spanishskulduggery]

Spanish fun fact!

The Spanish equivalent of "Friday the 13th" as far as a really unlucky day is actually Martes 13... literally "Tuesday the 13th"

There's a really old expression that's still in use in Spanish about superstitions surrounding Tuesdays; en martes ni te cases ni te embarques literally "On Tuesday, don't get married or get on a ship"; though embarcarse in this context literally means "to get on a ship" it could also mean "to go on a journey" or "to travel"

Sometimes specifically people say martes y trece ni te cases ni te embarques which is literally "Tuesday and 13 do not marry or go on a journey"

martes is generally considered the most unlucky day of the week for Spanish-speakers... not sure exactly why, possibly religious, possibly because martes gets its name from Marte or "Mars", the Roman god of war

The number 13 being linked to bad luck is pretty common in English-speaking countries and certain parts of Europe though

-

Though if the date is literally "Friday the 13th", then you do say viernes 13 ...which is the title of that slasher movie, so a little lost in translation

[an-american-in-norway]

det er bare blåbær

it's peanuts

Meaning det er en enkel, lett sak, det er bare småtteri

it's a simple, easy matter, it's just petty

De som velger å kjøre med piggdekk må jo betale kr 10, og forurensingen fra piggdekk er bare blåbær sammenliknet med partikler fra diesel-eksos. (adressa.no/meninger/)

Those who choose to drive with studded tires must pay 10 kr, and the pollution from studded tires is peanuts compared to particles from diesel exhaust.

Uttrykket kan sammenlignes med den engelske bruken av peanuts i omtrent samme betydning, og som for øvrig også er innlånt i norsk: <<EUs klimamål er bare peanøtter.>> (nettavisen.no) Svenskene tyr derimot helst til poteten når de vil beskrive en liten og ubetydelig sak: <<Sådana saker är bara småpotatis.>>

The term can be compared with the English use of peanuts in roughly the same sense, and which is also borrowed in Norwegian: "EU's climate goal is only peanuts." (nettavisen.no) The Swedes, on the other hand, prefer to turn to the potato when they want to describe a small and insignificant thing: "Such things are just small potatoes."

*Information from the book Prikken over i-en og andre uttrykk