Schlittschuh laufen

By Simon

While listening to the German version of Radio Praha this morning I heard them taking about Schlittschuh laufen and wondered what this might involve. I guessed that it had something to do with sliding – Schlitt has a deliciously slidey sound and feel to it – and might be skating or skiing. It is in fact (ice) skating: Schlitten = sledge, sled, or big car; Schuh = shoe, and laufen = to run, go, walk.

Schlitten also appears in:

– Pferdeschlitten = (horse-drawn) sleigh
– Rodelschlitten = toboggan
– Rennschlitten = bobsleigh
– Schlitten fahren = to go tobogganing
– mit jdm Schlitten fahren = to have sb on the carpet, to bawl sb out
– Schreibmaschinenschlitten = carriage (in printer), cradle
– ein toller Schlitten = a fancy car
– Schlittenbahn = toboggan run
– Schlittenhund = sledge/sled dog; husky

Are there similarly slidey words for skating/sledging/skiing in other languages?

Multilingual romance

By Simon

If you come over all romantic today, for some reason or other, and wish to declare your love for another, this infographic will help you do so in a variety of languages.

I love you in many differenct languages

Source: http://www.justtheflight.co.uk/blog/18-how-to-say-i-love-you-around-the-world.html

Note: the sign language referred to here is American Sign Language (ASL). For this phrase in other sign languages see: Spread the Sign – my favourite is the German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache) version, though it looks more like the sign for butterfly/Schmetterling.

This video might also be of interest:

See also: http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/iloveyou.htm (includes recordings)

A banana regime

By Simon

I discovered yesterday that the French equivalent of a bunch of bananas is un régime des bananes. Régime also means (political) regime, (administrative) system, (engine) speed/revs, and un régime alimentaire is a diet.

Other French words for bunch include:

– un bouquet de fleurs = a bunch of flowers
– un trousseau de clés = a bunch of keys
– une grappe de raisin = a bunch of grapes
– une groupe de gens = a bunch of people
– les couettes = bunches (of hair)

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg
le flûteau; le flûtiau; le pipeau penny/tin whistle chwiban dun; chwisl dun
le sifflet whistle (object) chwibanogl; chwiban
siffler; siffloter to whistle chwibanu
siffler un air to whistle a tune chwibanu alaw
le sifflement whistle (sound) chwiban
pousser un sifflement to give a whistle chwibanu
la cornemuse bagpipes pibgod; bagbib; brochbib
jouer de la cornemuse to play the bagpipes chwarae’r bibgod/fagbib
le biniou breton bagpipes pibgod/bagbib Lydewig
une régime des bananes a bunch of bananas bwnsiad bananas

New Omniglot design

By Simon

My redesign of Omniglot is now complete, except for the homepage. All inner pages are now aligned to the left, and have drop-down menus at the top, which should make it easier to find your way around, and should work well on all sizes of screen. Initially I tried to keep the central alignment, but couldn’t work out how to centre the menu, so gave up on that. Then I realised that the left alignment gives more flexibility, which is one of the goals of the new design. I’ve also finally finished converting the whole site to HTML5 – this doesn’t change the look of it, but does make managing it easier, and streamlines the code.

I have been working on a new homepage and am trying to come up with a fluid design that works well on all screen sizes. You can see what I’ve done so far here – this page is changes frequently as I try out different layouts and adjust the contents and images.

Does the new design work for you?

Have you spotted anything that could be improved?

What do you think should appear on the homepage?

Un sabot de Denver

By Simon

Wheel clamp / Sabot de Denver

I discovered yesterday that in French a wheel clamp is known as a sabot de Denver (“Denver hoof/clog/shoe/boot”), and wondered what Denver has to do with wheel clamps.

On Wikipedia is explains that such devices were first used in Denver, Colorado, and are known as a wheel boot, parking boot or Denver boot in the USA. The wheel boot was invented by Frank Marugg in 1944 and first used in 1955 in Denver. One type of wheel clamp used in the UK was originally called the Preston, after Trevor Whitehouse, the inventor’s home town. They were first used in 1991 [source].

Are they used in other countries?

If so, what are they called?

Just popping out

By Simon

A interesting English expression I’ve noticed in novels I’ve been reading recently is the verb to pop, which is often accompanied by prepositions such as out, in, round and down, and preceded by just.

For example:
– I’m just popping out to the shop, do you want anything?
– I might pop in at some point for a peek at your pictures.
– I popped down to the pub last night.

It usually means to go somewhere for a short time and then return to wherever you were. In some contexts drop (by/round) can be used instead of pop: “Do pop in / drop by if you’re free this afternoon”, for example.

Words can also just pop out without you thinking about them first, e.g. “I didn’t mean to say that – it just popped out.” [source]

Are there expressions in other languages that have a similar meaning?