| français | English | Cymraeg | Brezhoneg |
|---|---|---|---|
| recommandé; prudent; conseillé | advisable | doeth; call; buddiol | erbedet; avizet |
| récurrent; périodique (math) |
recurring | dibaid; cylchol | oc’h addonet; mareadeg |
| soins intensifs | intensive care | gofal arbenning; gofal dwys |
prederioù askoridik |
| cours intensif | intensive course | cwrs carlam | staj d’an daoulamm |
| la paquet | bundle (clothing) | sypyn; swp; bwndel | pakad |
| la liasse | bundle (banknotes; newspapers | sypyn; swp; bwndel | strobad |
| un vrai boute-en-train | a bundle of fun | hwyl anfarwol | ur kaser ar cholor |
| ce n’était pas une partie de plaisir | it wasn’t a bundle of laughs | doedd hi ddim yn hwyl anfarwol | |
| coûter bonbon; coûter une fortune |
to cost a bundle/packet | costio yn ddrud; costio ffortiwn |
bezañ un dirañson |
| la brique | brick | bricsen; priddfaen | brik |
Category: French (français)
Dirks, Saxons and Messers
I discovered today that dolch is the German equivalent of dirk, the dagger that is worn in the sock in Scottish Highland dress (see photo). The dirk is known as a sgian dubh (black knife or secret knife) in Scottish Gaelic, and the word dirk, which first appeared in English as dork in the 17th century, possibly comes from the German word dolch (dagger) or dolk, which is found in Dutch, Danish and Swedish [source].
Another German word for knife is Messer, which comes from the Old High German mezzeres/mezzirahs/mezzisahs (knife), from the Proto-Germanic *matisahsą (knife), from *matiz (food) and *sahsą (knife, dagger). Messer is cognate with the Old Saxon metisahs/mezas (knife), the West Frisian mês, the Dutch mes (knife), and the Old English word meteseax (knife). [source].
The Old English word seax (knife, short sword, dagger), which appears in meteseax, shares the same root – the Proto-Indo-European *sek- (to cut) – with the Middle English sax (knife); the Danish and Swedish word sax (a pair of scissors), the Icelandic sax (a short heavy sword), and the Latin word secō (cut), as well as the English words Saxon and saw [source].
The English word mess (in the military sense of a dining hall or people who eat together) comes from a different root – from the Latin mittere (to put, place) via the Old French mets (food) [source].
Les mots de la semaine
| français | English | Cymraeg | Brezhoneg |
|---|---|---|---|
| veinard; chançard | lucky devil/bugger | cenau lwcus | chañs |
| avoir de la veine; avoir de la chance |
to be lucky | bod yn lwcus | |
| chanceux | lucky | lwcus | eürus |
| l’échapée belle | lucky escape | dianc lwcus | |
| le jour de chance | lucky day | dydd lwcus | |
| le coup de vein | lucky break | ergyd lwcus | taol -chañs |
| la cuve | tank; vat; bunker | byncer; daeardy; cerwyn | pip |
| la cellule | (prison/animal/plant) cell | cell | kellig |
| l’aquarelle (f) | watercolour | dyfrlliw | dourliv |
| boiteux | lame | cloff | kamm |
| la note | chit | darn papur | notenn |
| délicat; nauséeux; barbouillé | queasy (stomach) | sâl; swp sâl; (stumog) wan | da sevel ar galon; klañv |
| mal à l’aise | queasy (uneasy) | anesmwyth; anniddig; aflonydd | diaes |
| le cercle vicieux | vicious circle | cylch cythreulig; cylch anfad | kelc’h bac’h |
| la cote | (betting) odds | ods; ots |
Lucky and inspiring veins
I discovered yesterday that one way to say that someone is lucky in French is to say that they avoir de la veine (‘have of the vein’). I’m not sure why veins are associated with luck. Does anybody know.
Veine also means seam and inspiration.
Other expressions featuring veine and related words include:
– veiné = veined
– dans la même veine = in the same vein
– veine dramatique = dramatic inspiration
– veine poétique = poetic inspiration
– veine porte = portal vein
– veine poétique = poetic inspiration
– veine de cocu / veine de pendu = great deal of luck
– veine d’air = current of air
– veinard {n} = lucky beggar/dog
– veinard {adj} = fluky; jammy
– Sacré veinard ! = You jammy bugger!
Are there equivalents of veinard in other languages?
Les mots de la semaine
| français | English | Cymraeg | Brezhoneg |
|---|---|---|---|
| la cabine de plage | beach hut | cwt/caban glan môr | logell aod (?) |
| le petit nom d’amitié; diminutif | pet name | enw anwes | bihanaat |
| le terme d’affection | term of endearment | gair anwes | |
| les paroles tendres | endearments | geiriau tyner | |
| le sol; la terre | soil | pridd | douar |
| le banc (d’église) | (church) pew | côr; sedd; sêt | plas |
Les mots de la semaine
| français | English | Cymraeg | Brezhoneg |
|---|---|---|---|
| nain | dwarf | corrach | korr; korrigan |
| les préparatifs (mpl); le dispositions (fpl) | arrangements | trefniadau; paratoadau | darbaroù; danvezidigezh |
| prendre des dispositions | to make arrangements | trefnu; paratoi | aozañ; brientiñ |
| se mettre d’accord; parvenir à un arrangement | to come to an arrangement | dod i gytundeb/ddealltwriaeth (â rhywun) | glevet e yezh all |
| prendre des dispositions nécessaires pour faire qch | to make an arrangement to do sth | trefnu i wneud rhywbeth | |
| la composition florale | flower arrangement | trefniad blodau | bokederezh |
| la betterave | beetroot | betysen (goch); bitrwden | beterabez |
| rouge comme une tomate | red as a beetroot | cyn goched â gwaed |
La Saint-Sylvestre
As today is New Year’s Eve I thought I’d look at what this day is called in various languages:
French:la (fête de) Saint-Sylvestre, which is celebrated with le Réveillon de Saint-Sylvestre, a feast which well involve champagne and foie gras, and a party, with kisses under the mistletoe at midnight. Saint Sylvestre was Pope between 314 to 335 AD and his feast day happens to be on 31st December. [source].
German: Silvester or Silvesterabend, which is celebrated with parties and fireworks, and/or by watching the 1920s British film Dinner for One [sources].
Spanish: la Noche Vieja, which is celebrated with parties and by eating 12 grapes for each of the 12 chimes of midnight [source].
Welsh: Nos Galan (“night of the calend”), which is celebrated with parties and fireworks, and there’s a tradition of giving gifts and money, or these days bread and cheese on New Year’s Day [source].
There are more details of New Year traditions on Wikipedia.
How do you celebrate new year?
Happy New Year, by the way.
Les mots de la semaine
| français | English | Cymraeg | Brezhoneg |
|---|---|---|---|
| un salon (canapé et deux fauteuils) | three-piece suite | set dridarn; swît dridarn | |
| sous les auspices de | under the umbrella of | dan nawdd/gysgod/adain | |
| arnaque; escroquerie | rip off | twyll; hoced | c’hwepat; c’hwipañ |
| arnaquer; arracher | to rip off | twyllo; rogio | c’hwepat; diframmañ |
| la tartelette de Noël (aux fruits secs) | mince pie | tarten Nadolig; teisen/cacen friwdda; mins-pei | tartezennig nedeleg (?) |
| muet | mute | mud | mud |
| le chèque-cadeau; le bon-cadeau | gift token/voucher | tocyn anrheg | chekenn prof |
| la coccinelle | ladybird | buwch goch gota | buoc’han |
| il fait nuit/noir | it’s dark | mae’n dywyll | ez eo teñval |
| commencer à faire nuit | to get dark | tywyllu | krog da zuañ |
| l’oie (f) /wa/ | goose | gwydd | gwaz |
Les mots de la semaine
| français | English | Cymraeg | Brezhoneg |
|---|---|---|---|
| se marrer (bien) | to have a good laugh | cael hen hwyl / cael hwyl a hanner | |
| se marrer comme un bossu | to laugh out loud | chwerthin lond bol/yn foliog/yn braf | dic’hargadennoù |
| on s’est bien marrés | we had a good laugh | mi gawson ni hen hwyl | |
| en avoir marre de | to be tired of / fed up with | wedi hen flino | bout skuizh -faezh |
| j’en ai marre | I’m fed up | dw i wedi hen flino | Me ‘zo skuizh |
| c’est marre ! | that’s it! enough already! | dyna ddigon! | trawalc’h ! |
| la malaria; le paludisme | malaria | malariam; y crydm | malaria; kleñved ar paludoù |
| chalereux | warm (greeting; applause; person) | brwd; twym; twymgalon; cynnes | taer; tomm; hegarat |
| charrier qn | to have sb on; to be kidding | twyllo | ober an hegig g’ ub; monet (mont) er maez eus ar park |
| railler; taquiner | to make fun of sb | gwneud hwyl/sbort am ben rhywun; chwerthin am ben rhywun | godisal; nodal; tatinat; ober an hegig; risignat |
| le bouc | billygoat | bwch gafr | bo(u)c’h |
| le chien de soleil; l’œil de bouc | sun dog | hwyl ffug; ci hwyl (?) |
Sun dogs, billygoat’s eyes and halos
The other day I discovered the wonderful word sun dog, which refers to coloured patches of light that appear beside the sun at certain times, particularly when the sun is low in the sky. The scientific name for this phenomenon is a parhelion, from the παρήλιον (parēlion – beside the sun); from παρά (para – beside), and ἥλιος (helios – sun) [source].
In French sun dogs are known as parhélie, faux soleil (“fake sun”), soleil double (“double sun”), œil de bouc (“billygoat’s eye) or chien du soleil (“sun dog). In other languages their names are mainly based on the Greek, or some variation on fake sun.
There are also such things as moon dogs, mock moons or paraselenes, which are patches of light that appear beside the moon, though they are rarer than sun dogs, difficult to see, and only appear when the moon is very bright and full or nearly full. [source].
The friend who told me about sun dogs was using it to describe a halo around the moon or lunar halo, which, like sun and moon dogs, is a result of the refraction of light through ice crystal in cirrostratus clouds high in the upper troposphere [source]. On the night when we were talking about sun dogs the moon was only half full, so I don’t think there were any moon dogs about, but there definitely was a halo around the moon.