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Europe-gate. Or how to name criminal investigations across Europe
Things are hotting up in Spain’s courts with the 'Gürtel' case. How does a Spanish juridical affair end up with a German name? European investigation titles go on trial
Salami strategy: the art of ‘wullfing’
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
tower of babel, corruption, germany, hungary, christian wulff, multilingualism, languages
Dinner for one in 2012
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
tower of babel, christmas, germany, cinema, new year´s eve, united kingdom, television
Itanglish: new Italian dialect?
With their trendy gossip over social media, sometimes in a chat live online, Italians have integrated English words into their common vocabulary to a surprising extent. Does Italy still speak Italian? Or has the country switched to Itanglish, the new Anglo-Italian hybrid dialect?
tower of babel, italy, techno-media, society, multilingualism, language
European words of 2011
Whilst lexicographers from the UK, Germany, France and Spain have released their sometimes odd ‘words of the year’, we’ve taken the liberty of grading the results from 1-10 and naming our own favourites
tower of babel, angela merkel, nick clegg, david cameron, nicolas sarkozy, 'indignant citizens' movement, language
Tearjerker tips for Europe in crisis
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
tower of babel, love, music, idioms, entertainment, culture, cinema
A-Z glossary of European terms of endearment
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
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?
tower of babel, italy, germany, animals, europe, spain, united kingdom
Pan-Slavism, Slovio and Polish the 'status symbol'
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
tower of babel, russian federation, belarus, alcohol, languages, esperanto, bulgaria
Post-World Cup guide to language of European rugby
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
'Pie chart' becomes 'camembert' chart in French class
The current economic climate is enough to give you indigestion, but I rue our European economics experts having the idea of using charts resembling food. It gives students like myself grumbling tummies everytime we attend economics class
tower of babel, food, europe, economical crisis, multilingualism, language
ABV guide to learning your Serbian (from your Croatian, Montenegrin and Bosnian)
To hail the European day of languages on 26 September, cafebabel.com tries to learn Serbian. The short rocket takes us past planet Cyrillic alphabet and planet Latin alphabet, before speeding through planet lexical history and firing off into next-door neighbour space
tower of babel, paris, bosnia and herzegovina, croatia, serbia, montenegro, politics
Holy summer of '63
Be it the word for ‘dead leaves’ in German, holiness or simple Latin - how European use of the word 'holiday' has evolved
Why the English love a bit of German ‘angst’ or Spanish ‘macho’
We simply can’t help it. It’s practically impossible for a European to speak his or her native language entirely. Expressions crop up which have (almost) been taken on word for word from other European languages. Maybe the Norwegians should exercise caution though with their 'Vor-' and 'Nachspiels'...
Holy wow!
Are you more a Sacre bleu! or a Gosh-Golly-Goodness squealer? Do you Mamma Mia! or prefer a bit of Jesus Christ in that equation? Blasphemy and the art of exasperation are part and parcel of the phrase of the week, as seen through cafebabel.com's six official tongues
Champagne socialism: rewriting the left
When the left become part of the bourgeoisie, the journalistic expressions describing them often take on an expensive culinary flavour. It’s almost as though the press had an appetite for delicious scandals…
Germans ban ‘I Like’ facebook button, Spanish want to ‘Dislike’
The north German state Schleswig Holstein has announced that it is banning facebook’s famous ‘I like’ button, with websites which haven’t removed it before the end of September facing fines of up to 50, 000 euros (44,000 pounds). Whilst Germany and the UK have raised more general concerns, the Spanish were there first
tower of babel, germany, spain, united kingdom, google, social networks, copyright
Pass the buck, Murdoch and Brooks
During the British parliamentary hearing of the news tycoon Murdochs on 19 July, a friend analysed the 'father-and-son's game of patty-cake': 'I pass the buck to you, you pass it back. Pass pass pass pass, oh, and then pass it to competitor papers, because it's clearly their fault. And then pass it to News of the World because how can one or two men be responsible for a company that's just SO big?' Is it a phrase which translates well to other European idioms?
tower of babel, scandal, idioms, society, newspaper, media, united kingdom
Handbag politics: Italian Thatcher would've eaten pasta from off the top of your head
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
tower of babel, churchill, margaret thatcher, politics, languages
One man show
Ultimately, 'babelians' all self-identify as one-men shows of sorts: young journalists who write, take photos, film reports, translate and freelance as well as look for other jobs on the side. But enough about us. Idiom of the week
tower of babel, culture, jasmine revolution, revolution, politics
