cafebabel.com

Ivana Simic Bodrozic and co: more women on Croatia literary scene

('sladana perkovic',) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:28:30 -0000

The Zagreb-based poet and writer's coming-of-age drama Hotel Zagorje is the theme of a literary event in Paris. Though her debut novel stays true to a tradition in contemporary Croatian fiction, the 29-year-old gets her audience in a flurry with the book's themes of war, women, the past and an inevitable future together

Monster-in-law

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:00:00 -0000

'Give up all hope of peace so long as your mother-in-law is alive!' So goes the first century AD jibe by Roman satirist Juvenal. In many respects, Europeans share a common opinion when it comes to the woman who gave birth to their other halves. Be she a Spanish suegra, Italian suocera or Portuguese and Catalan sogra, mother-in-law universally translates into all languages as ‘monster-in-law’!

Knecht Ruprecht and his motley crew of Christmas meanies

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 12:03:26 -0000

Santa Claus is coming to town...and so what? Europe’s christmas traditions don’t always bring nice surprises

Schweinsteiger or Pig-Climber?

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:30:00 -0000

Foreign names are not often translated into Spanish in Spain: you don’t usually hear people talking about Guillermo Shakespeare or prime minister 'Shoemaker' (Zapatero) abroad, for example. But, what would happen if foreign names were translated in every language?

Chicken!

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:50:51 -0000

'Da lachen ja die Hühner,' cackle the Germans. 'Even chickens would laugh!' - it sounds so ridiculous that it's actually unbelievable! But don't undermine the global power of chickens, you cowards; these south-east Asia originating birds have oft harmed global markets and relations

Uncommon first names: 'Europa'

('Sarah Turpin',) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:00:00 -0000

As the launch of a new online database exploring the origins of strange surnames is announced in the UK, we think of the Scarletts, Nikes and Solidarities in this EU world

Rings a bell

('Annie Rutherford',) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:00:00 -0000

The French will call you a poor bell, the Italians will warn you to stay in earshot of a bell and the Spanish will advise you not to swing it too high. Idiom of the week

Baby language

('Paulina Dominik',) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:31:41 -0000

Scientists and parents were shaken by a recent discovery: newborns cry in tune with the melody line that they have most often heard while still in their mothers’ placenta. To that, we say ga ga - baby phrases of the week

Catchy songs

('Andrew Christie',) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Creepy-crawly expressions for the irritating musical attacks of the ear-worm in Europe. Expression of the week

It's like talking to a Berlin wall

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0000

140 kilometres of wall crumbled in 1989 and hundreds of European expressions arose as it fell. The idiom of the week is flavoured by the 9 November event

Sourpuss

('Sarah Pybus',) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Being 'as sour as vinegar' is a saying that's recognisable across the continent, but why? It starts with the word itself - vinum acetum means 'wine turned sour'. Idiom of the week

Is your gran a 'silver surfer'?

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:57:36 -0000

French grandmas in stinging nettles, German grandpas at the European parliament and Polish grannies working in communist toilets - there's a visually colourful variety of 'ageing' expressions across the European continent

The Beatles rock again in videogame

('Darren Thompson',) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:00:00 -0000

On 9 September 2009, a remastered version of their albums and the videogame 'The Beatles: Rock Band' was released. The Beatles jukebox hasn’t stopped since. And what better date than 09/09/09 to release revamped versions of a group that on average released an album every nine months. Long live The Beatles!

Bun in the oven

('Sarah Gray',) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0000

According to Eurostat, 5.4 million babies were born in 2008. Lithuanians are the most industrious breeders, while Germans are at the bottom of the chart. Some of Europe's expressions for motherhood

All good things come in small packages

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:00:00 -0000

French and Italian heads of state Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi are shorter than average but, depending on the country, this is not necessarily a fault! High heels ahoy: it's the weekly tour of European expressions

Tree huggers

('Aatish Pattni',) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:00:00 -0000

The times in which eco-warriors and nature lovers raged unrest in the downtown areas whilst kitted out in hand-knitted wool jumpers and Birkenstocks are now over. Now that the trend of being eco-aware has come to the forefront of society, the whole of Europe is witnessing a bloom in eco-green ‘cusswords’

Europe's fugly munters and mingers

('Aatish Pattni',) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:16:18 -0000

'Ugly' is relative. Europe is creative with names when someone is ‘offensive to the eyes’. Tuna fish, veils, mussels or middle-aged pop stars beware - when Europe maligns ugliness they all have to pay the price…

Throw your toys out of the pram

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:06:59 -0000

The Irish kick off after a 'scathing electoral defeat', whilst the Germans can be heard to 'wail like cats'. Weekly language expressions from around Europe

The principle behind 'fishing for compliments'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:15:00 -0000

That’s what our outgoing Italian editor was constantly doing to us at cafebabel.com. In tribute (to herself), she looks at how the act itself is about man hunting for humanity, especially when confronted with globalisation and the atomisation of modern society

Europe’s ‘women drivers’

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:05:18 -0000

Women in the EU enjoy cheaper car insurance than men, because they take less risks. So what of these sexist clichés about how they drive? Round-up of cliches ranging from Russia to Spain. Weekly tour of Europe's expressions

EU election expressions: politics makes for strange bedfellows

('Lindsey Evans',) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0000

As a third of voters in Europe get set to vote in the European elections between 4-7 June, we ponder expressions ranging from 'election sausages' in Poland to 'rolling balls around' in France. Weekly sayings

Tongue twisters

('Annie Rutherford',) — Wed, 20 May 2009 11:00:02 -0000

Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry - and its European counterpart expressions to say over, and over, again. From Poland's Jerzy to Spain's coconuts, it's the weekly language tricks

Describing a graduate all-rounder in Europe

('Annie Rutherford',) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:00:00 -0000

The Germans have coined young, entry-level employees in Europe 'the egg-laying woolly milking sows' - rundown of other timely nicknames for other young European graduates in these times of crisis

Europe's merry month of March

('Lydia Bigos',) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:29:15 -0000

Spring, which officially begins on 21 March, has a habit of keeping us waiting. Here, European expressions take us through March, April, May and June in the hunt for some sun. Idioms of the week

'You'll get a fat bitch for that'

('Lindsey Evans',) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:16:43 -0000

When dogs are mentioned in European sayings, it can range from anything to being related to money, your inner self or the weather in Poland - idioms of the week, plus audio

I love you my dropping

('Lydia Bigos',) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:23:00 -0000

My bunny-bear, baby, cabbage, sugar slug - just like Europe, love knows no boundaries. Yet some terms of affection for loved ones vary from being rather unsavoury to overly sickly on the continent – romantic sayings of the week, with audio

Talk of the city

('Annie Rutherford',) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:06:57 -0000

Madrid, Krakow, Rome? Europe discusses its genius loci

Chucking up, European-style

('Lindsey Evans',) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:47:14 -0000

Did you have one too many? Was it something you ate? When Europe's head is over the toilet bowl, what kind of language comes out? Listen to the editorial team 'vomit'

Anne-Marie Autissier: ‘Albania was the North Korea of its time’

('Helen Moorhouse',) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:00:00 -0000

The French senior lecturer at the Institute of European Studies and former cultural attaché to Albania, 50, has her finger in every pie with one common factor: a cultural Europe

'Butter wouldn't melt' in Bernard Madoff's mouth

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:00:00 -0000

2009 - the American investor, believed to have perpetrated the biggest financial scam in history, didn't look like he broke plates, say the Spaniards. How else do Europeans describe someone who looks innocent, but is not? Fishy situations and more in the weekly run of idioms and audio

Idioms: Europe gets stuffed this christmas

('Astrid vW',) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:00:00 -0000

Warning! Over the holidays, the turkey with chestnut stuffing is waiting to ambush you. A little Christmas story about European languages

Never mind the European bollocks

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0000

In an ode to my continental colleagues – why, and how male reproductive glands have them all wrapped up in idioms

Yes-man

('Jessie L.',) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:59:08 -0000

Don't be alarmed if you hear a Spaniard declare that he's 'up for a bombing'. He doesn't intend to launch an attack; he's just an enthusiastic person, which can be misinterpreted as being a bit loopy

Audio: comic strip expressions

('Helen Swain',) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:15:00 -0000

A punch sound like POW in English but ALA in Polish. Weekly idiom comparisons

Bikini body

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:01:20 -0000

You can be as hungry as a wolf, pig or blind dog in Europe

‘Ch’tis’: most successful French film since 1945

('Luise Franke',) — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:53:11 -0000

One million more tickets, and ‘Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis’ (‘Welcome to the Sticks’) will become the most successful film in France since 1945. Can the French comedy break all box office records?

Gesundheit

('Sarah Gray',) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0000

Undie party

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0000

Paul 'Macca' McCartney

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0000

Ahhh, love in the time of McCartney. The tabloid war to cover the tense divorce proceedings between former Beatle Paul McCartney and his former wife of four years, Heather Mills, has proved that Britain’s most gossipy journalists certainly have a tongue for linguistics

Violins

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Snob

('Sarah Turpin',) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0000

One-horse town

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:31:00 -0000

The language of the republic is French

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Alsace and Moselle’s bilingualism has just weathered a political storm. From now on, electoral documents will have to be written only in French. Yet, the German language has opened a window of opportunity in Europe. Debate

Ho Che Anderson: I never actually said 'hey mom, this is my sex book'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0000

The London-born Canadian graphic novelist, 38, is relaxed and frank as he discusses being chosen as the only black cartoonist to portray Martin Luther King, a series which took him ten long years to complete

Curt Ficcions: 35mm short film to zero

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The Academy of Spanish Cinema undermine short films by excluding the medium from the world of television. Spanish short films are currently airing in francophone territories

Being left on the Kosovan shelf

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The cut throat

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The X-factor

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0000

A letter for all seasons

It's clear as mud that the Pope is Catholic

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Drunk as a skunk

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0000

We all know that everyone always accuses their neighbour of his own flaws. And on the subject of legal faults, European languages all have their own scapegoats