-->

Pages

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Word Wednesdays >> Favorite Foreign Words

French: pamplemousse = grapefruit. I remember learning this in high school, and my best friend and I exchanging looks like o.O! It became our favorite word to say randomly since it's so much fun, and apparently it's a lot of other people's favorite word, too, as there's a wonderful duo band with the name Pamplemousse and I've seen several blogs with it in the title.

German: Quietsche Entchen = Rubber Ducky. My sister somehow found a recording of Ernie from Sesame Street's Rubber Ducky song in German techno when I was in middle school and I thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. I still like to listen to it on occasion and have a good laugh. Go check it out!

Irish Gaelic: Sláinte = health: a common toast. This was the first Irish word I learned while sitting at a Bennigan's, as it was printed on their coasters; my sister had been to Ireland, so she told us the proper pronunciation (slahn-tche), and I thought it sounded so cool and mature. I also like that it's somewhat useful, as opposed to a random word like grapefruit that might be hard to work into a conversation... ;)

Italian: amore = love. Who doesn't love love in other languages? It always makes me think of the Dean Martin song "That's Amore," which I love:) "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie..."

Russian: красный (kras-nee)= red, красивый (kras-ee-vee)= beautiful. I love these words because of their history. The word красный used to mean both red and beautiful, so that when the Red Square (Красная площадь) in Moscow was renamed after being Pozhar, it wasn't named that just because it was red, but also because it was beautiful; therefore, when a new word for "beautiful" was formed (though still very similar), the name of the square lost half of its meaning. (And I believe the Red Square was partially named after a nearby cathedral that was made of the same material.)

Spanish: cariño/a = darling. Before I started taking Spanish in high school, I had a boyfriend (my first!) that was Mexican who was super sweet. He would text me goodnight and started calling me cariña in those texts. Of course, to be cute, he wouldn't tell me what it meant for awhile, and I loved the feeling of having a cute nickname in Spanish. It's little moments like that that make language fun and bring language into your heart.

Zulu: Siyahamba (ekukhanyeni kwenkos') = We are marching in the light of God. This is an African hymn that became popular in the U.S. in the 90s, and I got to sing it in my church choir in high school. It is a simple tune, but lots of fun to sing, especially with a djembe, and I shall never forget it! The song was even included in the new Celebrating Grace hymnal produced here a few years ago! YES! Have a listen!

What are your favorite words in foreign languages?


4 comments:

  1. Chelsea this is so cool! Hmmm... I like Cioccolata (Italian) because it's the only word that can be both masculine and feminine! Really it should just be feminine....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, that's neat! I'd like to learn Italian... I just don't know when I'll get around to it! Why do you think it should just be feminine?

      Delete
  2. I like Word Wednesdays! Here are some favorites of mine: in French, pomme de terre (potato, but it literally translates earth apple.) I have so many favorites in Spanish that it's hard to pick one. I'll go with susurro, a whisper. It sounds so whispery. The German ones are food associated, like Spaetzel and schnitzel and liebkuchen. In Italian, volare, I'll fly.
    Looking forward to the next Word Wednesday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, I like susurro! I'm gonna go around whispering that now... :) I like food words, too, because they're usually easier to remember since I enjoy food so much!

      Thanks for following me! Just out of curiosity, are you someone that I know?

      Delete