Category: Words and phrases

It’s on the knitting needles

By Simon

Yesterday I discovered that the Welsh idiom, ar y gweill, which can be translated as ‘in the pipeline’, ‘on the way’, ‘in hand’ or ‘underway’ literally means “on the knitting needles”. It’s the plural of gweillen (knitting needle). To knit is gwau or gweu, and a knitter is gwëwr, gweuwr or gwëydd.

Here are some examples of how it is used (from MyMemory translated.net):

– Mae hynny ar y gweill = That has been set in place
– Mae cynlluniau ar y gweill = Plans are in the pipeline
– Mae’r paratoadau ar y gweill = Preparations for this are underway
– Mae’r trafodaethau hyn ar y gweill = These discussions are in hand

I don’t think I’ve come across any knitting-related idioms like this before, so it caught my attention. Do you know any knitting related idioms?

Bimbling

By Simon

I came across the wonderful word bimble (/bɪmbəl/) yesterday for the first time and guessed it meant something like “to do something in a relaxed fashion”. The OED defines it as “To move at a leisurely pace, esp. on foot; to amble, wander.” and cites a book by R. McGowan & J. Hands called Don’t Cry for Me, Sergeant Major from 1983 as its earliest appearance in writing. Elsewhere in the OED suggests that though the word is thought to have been coined by British soliders in the Falklands, it might have come from the northeast of England.

Wiktionary defines it as “A gentle, meandering walk with no particular haste or purpose.” (noun), and “To walk with no particular haste or purpose.” (verb). It might be a variant on bumble.

Have you heard it before?

I like words like this that end in mble, such as bumble, amble, fumble, scramble, bramble and thimble. To me the combination of sounds in them is pleasing to the ear.

Korriganed

By Simon

Korriganed are apparently small creatures that live under standing stones (dolmen/menhirs) in Brittany. They feature in one of the lessons in my Breton course and are explained thus:

“Les korrigans doivent être des êtres particulièrement petits, puisque ce mot est formé de korr, “nain”, puis du diminutif -ig puis du’un autre diminutif – obsolète aujourd’hui – -an. Il s’agit donc de “petits petits nains.”

Or

“The korrigans must be particularly small beings, since the word is formed from corr, “dwarf”, and the diminutive -ig and the another diminutive – now obsolete – -an. So they are “little little dwarfs.”

When I read the explanation in French I saw the word nain and thought it was the Welsh word for grandmother, not realising that is means dwarf or midget in French. So for a while I believed that the Korriganed were tiny grandmothers. Later I realised my mistake and discovered the actual meaning of that word.

According to legend, the Korriganed erected the standing stones in Brittany.

Do you mistake words in one language for words in another at all?

Staying, stopping and living

By Simon

I noticed recently that in Scottish English and Scots people use the word stay to mean that you live in a place, i.e. that you live there on a permanent or long-term basis.

When I hear this I usually know what is meant from the context, but it can be ambiguous at times, as to me a stay usually a short-term thing, such as holiday. I would use live to indicate a long-term stay – e.g. I live in Bangor, but am currently staying with a friend in Lerwick in Shetland.

According to the Online Scots Dictionary, stey [stəi] means “To stay, to remain, tarry. To dwell, reside permanently, to make one’s home.”

Related words include:
– bide [bəid] = to dwell, reside, wait, stay, await, stay for, remain
– stap [stap] = to live or stay at an address (among many other meanings)
– wone [wɔn, wɪn] = to dwell, live, stay habitually. To accustom oneself to, be reconciled to.

I can’t find an equivalent Scots words for a short-term stay, though I think bide is used in this context, particularly in Shetland.

In other varieties of English and in other languages is there a distinction between a short-term stay and a long-term one?

Partners, other halves and significant others

By Simon

There was some discussion last night at the polyglot conversation group about the words boyfriend and girlfriend and their equivalents in other languages, particularly in Dutch. In English the words boyfriend and girlfriend seem to indicate someone who is relatively young, so don’t seem quite appropriate for use by more mature couples when referring to each other. There are many alternatives, including partner, life partner, other half, better half, companion, gentleman/lady friend, soul mate, significant other, sweetheart, lover, paramour and so on. Do you use or do you know others?

In Dutch it’s much easier – a special male friend is referred to as mijn vriend (my (male) friend), and a special female friend is referred to as mijn vriendin (my (female) friend). A non-intimate friend is simply een vriend(in) (a friend) or een vriend(in) van mij (a friend of mine).

In Welsh it’s straightforward as well – cariad covers both boyfriend and girlfriend, and cyfaill or ffrind is used for ordinary friends.

Les mots de le semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
le mine (de charbon) (coal) mine mwynfa (glofa; pwll glo) poull-glaou
le mine (explosive) mine ffrwydryn min
se venger (de qn) to take one’s revenge (on sb) dial (ar rywun) venjiñ
ingénieux; astucieux clever (device, system) dyfeisgar; medrus ijinek; barrek
à double vitrage double-glazed dwbl-wydrog gweradur doubl
le double vitrage double glazing ffenestri dwbl; gwydro dwbl
le store (window) blind cysgodlen; bleind rideoz
le volet (window) shutter caead stalaf
le rideau curtain llen; cyrten rideoz
le valeurs mobilières; les titres stocks and shares stociau a chyfrannau teulioù
toxicomane; accro addict adict drammgaezhiad
l’ardoisière (f) slate quarry chwarela llechi meinglazeg
la déesse goddess duwies doueez
la lance spear gwaywffon goaf
la hanche hip clun lez
nier; refuser to deny gwadu nac’hañ
creuser; bêcher to dig cloddio; palu kleuzañ; palarat

Bouder

By Simon

I learnt a new word in French today: bouder, which means to sulk; to pout; to avoid; to turn one’s nose up at (sth); to refuse to have anything to do with (sb).

Related expressions include:
– boudant = sulking; pouting
– bouder son plaisir = to deny oneself a good thing; to sulk one’s pleasure (never heard this one before – have you?)
– ne pas bouder son plaisir = to enjoy fully; to enjoy without restraint
– se bouder = not to be on speaking terms
– on ne boudera pas = we shall not complain (about); we shall not avoid

It came up in my Breton course – the Breton equivalent is mouzhat – and appears in the sentence, Perak ‘ta, klañv eo pe o vouzhat emañ? (Why? Is she sick or is she sulking?).

The origins of the English words pout and sulk are unknown, according to the OED.

Are there any interesting expressions featuring the equivalents of these words in other languages?

Pantoufler

By Simon

Yesterday I discovered the interesting French word pantoufler /pɑ̃.tu.fle/, which, according to Reverso means to “switch from civil service to the private sector (French elite jargon, usually to make more money)”.

According to Wikpedia the related word pantouflage refers to high-level French civil servants, usually former students of the École Polytechnique or the École nationale d’administration, going to work in private enterprise. It also applies to politicians doing the same thing. Someone who engages in pantouflage at known as a pantouflard, which is also translated as stay-at-home.

The word pantoufler come from pantoufle (slipper), which combines pan (a piece of cloth) with the suffix -oufle, which denotes mbloated objects and muffled sounds. A pantoufle was originally a cloth shoe [source].

Apparently the term revolving door is used for this practice in the USA.

In Japan this practice is known as 天下り [amakudari] (“descent from paradise or the sky”).

Are there similar expressions and practices in other languages?

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
la surabondance superfluity gormodedd gourfaoter
superflu superfluous gormodol didal; diouverus
le pari a bet bet; mentro arian pariadenn
parier to bet betio; mentro; chwarae hap pariañ
les futilités; les bagatelles trivia pethau dibwys/diwerth raneoù
la dune de sable sand dune twyn tywod tevenn (traezh)
le gage pawn (in chess) gwerinwr gouestl
le paon [pɑ̃] peacock paun paun
la paonne [pan] peahen peunes paunez
la pantoufle slipper sliper; llopan; esgid nos pañtoufl
pantoufler to switch from civil servant to the private sector   luduenniñ
pantouflard stay-at-home cartrefol; diantur; difenter ludu
se relaxer to chill out ymlacio dibrezañ; dizalc’hen
le soap; le feuilleton soap opera sioe sebon; opera sebon heuliadenn
tour à tour alternately bob yn ail a bep eil
l’échange exchange cyfnewid eskemm
intermédiaire go-between canolwr hanterour
le relais; l’auberge hotel, inn llety, gwesti leti; ostaleri
le relais (electronic) relay relái relae

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
le gratte-papier pen(cil)-pusher clercyn louf-torchenn
l’écurie (f) stable (for horses) ystabl kraou (-kezeg)
la fausse couche miscarriage erthyliad (naturiol) kolladenn
l’erreur judiciaire miscarriage of justice aflwyddiant cyfiawnder fazi barnerezh
le mal d’altitude altitude sickness salwch pen mynydd  
le vertige vertigo pendro; pensyfrdandod pennfoll