cafebabel.com

Salami strategy: the art of ‘wullfing’

('Annie Rutherford',) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:21:39 -0000

With its Hungarian origins, this sausage of a saying provides European inspiration to help the German head of state Christian Wulff worm his way out of the current corruption scandal

Dinner for one in 2012

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:32:23 -0000

The Brits have spent the end of year in a 'lull' whilst the Germans are going through 'new year's fatigue'. In their new year's addresses at least, Europe's Franco-German leaders warned us it won't be getting any better this new year

Tearjerker tips for Europe in crisis

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:01:07 -0000

Read ‘em and weep: ‘tearjerker’ is a noun which translates practically perfectly into other European languages. It is used mostly to describe a film, book, play or song which moves us to tears. The entertainment industry gets an excessively sentimental Europe down, but these pearls could also abate our crisis-ridden depression

Sexist grammar: the French and German cases

('Sarah Fisher',) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:37:50 -0000

Poor adjectives need take their husband's name no more. Sort of. Whilst one French association has attacked a centuries-old 'oversight', the Germans (or at least their moderate feminists) have taken plural forms to task. In all, the debate succeeds in desexualising our common language

A-Z glossary of European terms of endearment

('Marta Nathansohn',) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:00:11 -0000

From the coasts of Portugal via the Balkans to the Urals, locals become cannibals, zoophiles, astronomers and gastronomists when they give their lovers pet names. Here are some tips on nicknames to use when trying to hit on that cute foreign boy or girl, whether you are serious about hooking up abroad or just having a good-natured laugh

Big city life: Europe’s pigeons

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 11:45:00 -0000

Doves and pigeons are one and the same except that the former got the 'symbol of peace' gig and the latter became the grey critters affectionately known as ‘rats with wings’. Whence the flight of fancy?

Pan-Slavism, Slovio and Polish the 'status symbol'

('Francesca Reinhardt',) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:00:00 -0000

The Slavic languages all have their roots in Proto-Slavic. Since the twelfth century, however, they have drifted apart. One of them reached its zenith in the seventeenth century: Polish

Vetusta Morla, band of the moment in Spain

('Buzz',) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:05:13 -0000

Their debut album One Day In The World ('Un día en el mundo', 2008) turned them into one of the leading bands on the Spanish music scene. Most locals confess to either loving or hating the six-piece, who formed in high school in Madrid. Interview

Post-World Cup guide to language of European rugby

('ZoeBBee',) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:10:57 -0000

On 23 October, France lost to New Zealand at Auckland’s eden park. At the rugby world cup final, France had the 'all blacks' seriously worried, with just a point in it. If you’d have liked a European victory, this little article is your consolation prize: a chance to become multi-rugby-lingual

Holy summer of '63

('Sarah Meleleu',) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:48:08 -0000

Be it the word for ‘dead leaves’ in German, holiness or simple Latin - how European use of the word 'holiday' has evolved

Handbag politics: Italian Thatcher would've eaten pasta from off the top of your head

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:53:24 -0000

To celebrate the former British prime minister's handbag fetching £25, 000 at a charity auction on 27 June, we looked for European equivalents to her famous 'handbag politics' to intimidate those around her. A German or Polish Thatcher would have used lyrical 'sleeves' and 'pockets' to put the pressure on you. Word concept of the week

Censorship: EU vs Turkey's 138 internet domain name ban

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 11 May 2011 15:06:11 -0000

Rated ‘partially free’ in the reporters without borders freedom index, Turkey is the European country with the highest amount of domain name bans. The Turkish telecommunications directorate list of 'expurgatorial words' - for example, you can't use the word for sister-in-law (Bildaz) - was sent to web hosting companies on 28 April. In the EU there are less amusing comparisons

Why would you learn Hungarian?

('Silvia Alexe',) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:45:00 -0000

I could be daydreaming on the soft sand with a women’s magazine at my feet and a little sunburn on my shoulder. Unfortunately, it’s my Hungarian grammar book in the room I am sharing with two other students. They, too, decided to sacrifice their holiday month of July to improve their Hungarian

Bunga bunga: European hanky panky guide for Mr. Berlusconi

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:45:00 -0000

The Italian fairytale has caused waves across Europe. We Italians can be proud to have exported a word out there amidst our Ferraris and mozzarella. The prime minister has revived the myth of the dying Italian stallion with a term Colonel Gadafi loaned to him, from ‘female harem’, for his orgies. Berlusconi stands trial for abuse of office on 6 April in Milan

Google Books Ngram Viewer: scan ‘Europe’, ‘crisis’ and ‘unemployment’

('Naomi R',) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:00:00 -0000

The new online search tool can trace the history of each of the 500 billion words words in google’s 5.2 million scanned books, dating back 500 years. As Europe’s medias select their words of the year, is it time to take a step back from the terms which defined 2010?

Julian Assange pisses outside the pot

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 11:00:00 -0000

The Italians have a colourful expression to describe how the Australian founder of the whistleblowing site has 'crossed the line'. Other European heads of state must be ruminating on similar lines after the avalanche of revelations which have been appearing each day on the internet site WikiLeaks. Final idiom of 2010 to mark the story of 2010

Polish vs Lithuanian language: is your surname 'bitch' or 'vulva'?

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:50:56 -0000

Whilst the likes of The Economist alarmedly predict a major energy-security-everything conflict between Lithuania and Poland over spelling, many in both countries aren’t even aware that the issue has reached such diplomatic heights. In fact Poles in general might be unaware of it at all - language dispute of the week

‘Learning German is pointless’: British students abandon foreign languages

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 10:51:10 -0000

Could the British actually be getting worse at language learning? Apparently so. In a 21st century UK, more young people than ever are questioning why they should learn a second language at all

Romain Galati: 'In ten years people will be speaking more languages'

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 18:03:22 -0000

To mark the European day of languages on 26 September 2010 we spotted a project where learning languages and promoting integration went hand in hand. Meet the founder of Language Exchange International (LEI)

A Spaniard orders milky coffee in France

('niclaws',) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:11:40 -0000

You don’t have to head for the French capital to have problems at the café counter. In Malaga in southern Spain, you can order a 'cloud', a 'shadow' or a 'half', whereas in France you order a 'nut' ... anecdote

Boobquake: best of European cleavage expressions

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:27:22 -0000

When the French refer to a curvy woman's best assets, they note that 'there are a lot of people on the balcony', whilst the Spanish remark that a woman has a 'great breast-onality'. Eyebrow-raising expression of the week

Thick as thieves in Europe

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:15:00 -0000

It's better to proverbially be 'like ass and shirt' ('comme cul et chemise') in France than to be 'getting on like a house on fire', like they say in England and Germany - surely? Touring Europe's round of expressions to denote the most inseparable of friends

Not going on holiday? You're on 'staycation'

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:00:00 -0000

It seems an eternity, but the financial crisis is only just celebrating its second birthday. The US has spawned a side effect phenomenon, a neat little neologism called the 'staycation'. The term contradicts the notion of going away on 'vacation'. People can't afford holidays and are 'staying' home. Is it clear enough?

Film dubbing is not only stupid and evil

('nisimasian',) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:13:24 -0000

It's also wrong and economically counterproductive, says a UK-based, Italian member of the gang behind the latest blog on cafebabel.com, from the European youth cinema network Nisi Masa

Swiss singer Sophie Hunger: former jazz 'fascist'

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:30:00 -0000

It's promo promo promo in Paris for the folk singer-songwriter, who's finishing up a tour of Europe via Glastonbury to shows in the Czech Republic and Austria. The mellow 27-year-old from Zurich is on the French festival circuit to continue the escape from the 'sad' studio

Private parts

Wed, 26 May 2010 12:19:50 -0000

We stand on the doorstep of a subject which is a lot more intimate than we think. Here is the key to another dimension of European integration - a small dictionary of sexual terminology

Greek, Romanian, Albanian: why are these racist terms in Europe?

('Helen Swain',) — Mon, 17 May 2010 10:30:00 -0000

It's a fine line between risky jokes and racist innuendo. Those who manage to be funny while staying on the right side of that line are pretty smart. Nevertheless, at a time when calls to reject that protean scapegoat, the Other, are growing throughout the four corners of the continent, a little self-examination in Europe might not be a bad thing

France's anti-anglicism crusade

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:00:00 -0000

On 30 March 2010, English words like 'newsletter' and 'buzz' ceded their place to expressions created in 'Francomat', a French student contest. Will this initiative by Alain Joyandet, secretary of state for Francophonie, catch on in the rest of Europe?

The Sardinian link to 'feet' expressions in Europe

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:39:33 -0000

Essential but mistreated – that is the foot’s sad fate, more often than not used as a vehicle for negativity. It’s a destiny which unites all feet throughout Europe, even chiropodists from the Old Continent, who cannot make head nor tail of it all, and who start every day 'on the wrong foot'

Agop J. Hacikyan: 'I don’t feel I am translating my culture into English'

('RenataB',) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:44:37 -0000

The playful Armenian-Canadian author talks his latest novel - hailed as a 'love letter to Istanbul' - straddling continents and his opinions on Turkey in the EU

PIIGS unwelcome in the EU parlour: war of words rocks Eurozone

("naomi o'leary",) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:00:00 -0000

Despite Silvio Berlusconi’s dreams, the next member of the Eurozone is unlikely to be Israel; even Croatia or Turkey have taken a back seat. The current pan-EU squabble is over who should have been admitted to the eurozone in the first place

Brussels: young, gifted and going nowhere fast

('Nicola Potter',) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:00:00 -0000

They’re over-qualified, multilingual and come from every corner of the European Union. They moved to the Belgian capital to find an internship or job. A short report from the heart of this bustling microcosm

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

Domain names: internet puts accent on EU languages

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:47:13 -0000

Typing европа.eu (europe.eu in Bulgarian) into an internet search bar is now possible. Special or non Latin characters can be used when using addresses ending with .eu. Many more nationalities will be able to express themselves on the net

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

Babelblogs on bureaucracy: a Lithuanian looks for medical help in Tel Aviv

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:16:21 -0000

Health insurance is not institutionally universal here in Israel. My advice? Don't go to live in Israel unless you're perfectly healthy and have no inclination towards extreme sports, and so on. And don't wear high-heels, just in case

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

David Lescot: 'Europe is nothing more than a piggy bank for artists'

('Darren Thompson',) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0000

The fearless French playwright, musician and director, 38, attacks the concept of Europe in his latest show 'L’Européenne', a wacky commentary on a continent that is still seeking to find itself

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

When pigs fly

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0000

On Saint Never's day, a blue moon rises in the sky and the scene is like Noah's Ark. The creatures climb on board, in an attempt to prove that an event will never happen: they are hairy frogs, toothy chickens, flying pigs, flying donkeys, whistling crawfish and dark Germans .... it's the 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

Five reasons why Italian should be Europe's lingua franca

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:00:00 -0000

There are various solutions to fortifying Europe and creating mutual understanding. As far as I am concerned, Dante’s language is perfect for the common good of all Europeans

French citizens ‘Balkan-level’ skill at the English language

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:07:08 -0000

The nineteenth-century attitudes to language learning here are not just wasting people’s time, but wasting an extraordinary amount of their money, opines a young Irishman who teaches English in Paris, capital of a country which an 'archaic' education system

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

Are you a hipster, a bobo or a bananowe dziecko?

('Diane Choi',) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:00:00 -0000

These slang terms have defined generations of a decadent middle-class youth, from the US to Poland via France and the UK, since the 1940s. Overview

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

Brussels: a city of life-long interns

('rhiannon_nicolson',) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:26:52 -0000

We meet young foreigners in a capital full of multinationals, institutions and the need for multilingual interns

Why would you not do Erasmus?

('Hayley Wood',) — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:00:00 -0000

In France, around 4000 Erasmus bursaries found no takers in 2008. But why say no to an experience abroad? Efficiency, money, elitism…here an assortment of experiences shed some light on the situation surrounding the student exchange programme in Europe

Don’t let the bedbugs bite

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:48:44 -0000

'Goodnight, sleep tight ...' be it cockroaches or communists under the bed - you never know what might be lurking around at bedtime in Poland or the UK. Weekly European idioms

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