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Tower of Babel
Shitstorm
What do an elephant hunted by an outed Spanish king and a poem critical of Israel by a German nobel prizewinner have in common? The German internet world called them ‘shitstorms’ of current news situations, picking up on a stateside phrase whose usage doesn’t seem to have spread across the EU
Rain check
With the final round of the French presidential elections and the early yet long-awaited Greek and Serbian parliamentary counterparts cropping up all on 6 May 2012, there's a variation in the number of citizens who are tempted to 'pass' on voting after the month of showers...
tower of babel, change, sport, vote, greece, citizens, economical crisis
Europe's merry month of March
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
tower of babel, weather, henning studte, translation, languages
When the shit hits the fan
It's not just the last century - Europe has a long history of getting into problems. Thus, it is not surprising we have a rich tradition of expressions that warn us to get out 'before the shit hits the fan' as the English would say. The Hungarians have also understood that trouble is bad news
tower of babel, netherlands, idioms, hungary, languages, bulgaria
Do 'Turkish toilets' deserve their name?
There are many clichés that Europeans attribute to the Turks. One which emphasises a common and biased stigma comes from the French language - about a facility called the 'squat toilet' which technically also has Bulgarian, Greek or Japanese roots...
tower of babel, mustafa kemal atatürk, turkey, lifestyle, stereotype , france
Skin of your teeth
It’s war between Spain and France, and Germany and Italy have had to hand over their accounts. At the moment, European countries are fighting tooth and nail. While the EU walks a tight-rope, who will be first in the photo finish?
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
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, plagiarism, christian wulff, multilingualism, hungary
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, cinema, christmas, germany, 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, cinema, entertainment, culture, music, economical crisis
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, united kingdom, spain
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, belarus, alcohol, esperanto, poland, ukraine, russian federation
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, politics, montenegro
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
