Anyway, this week it's time for another true or false quiz, and this time the subject of the quiz is 'cool words from other languages'. Take a look at some of the following 'foreign words' and see if you can work out whether they're real translations, or if they're just silly fabricated words that I made up!
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| Separated at birth. A walnut and a brain. |
1) Walnut = Brain nut
A cool translation that I really like is the Serbian word for walnut which translates literally as 'brain nut'. I've often thought that walnuts look like little miniature brains, and so apparently did the person who invented the Serbian language!
True or false?
2) Cricket = Long stick circular ball running here and there competition
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| Friends enjoy a relaxing game of 'long stick circular ball running here and there competition'. |
This is one which is so cool that even if it wasn't true I'd desperately like it to be true, because it's so amusing. But is it acually true, or have I just made it up?
True or false?
3) Rugby = Egg shaped ball team battle
Sticking with the sporting theme, in Nepal they have a similarly long winded way of decribing rugby, because the Nepalese word for rugby literally translates as 'egg shaped ball team battle'.
True or false?
4) Try to repair but make worse = Fatally improve
In English we don't have a specific word to describe an attempt to fix something which only makes it worse in the process. In German, however, they have such a word and that word is 'verschlimmbessern'. It roughly translates as to 'fatally improve' something, which is a cool way to describe it!
True or false?
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| Baba bobo bibis? But I wanted fish! |
5) Strawberry = Baba bobo bibi
Another of my favourite translations in this week's quiz is an Indonesian word with a really cool melodic sound to it ... baba bobo bibi! In case you haven't guessed it already, in Indonesia a baba bobo bibi is a strawberry!
If you want a more detailed explanation behind the translation; baba means red, bobo means earth, and bibi means berry.
True or false?
6) Owl = Cat headed eagle
In Chinese, the word for owl literally translates as 'cat headed eagle' or 'cat headed hawk'.
All I can say is they must have funny looking cats in China!
True or false?
7) Fridge = Cooling closet
I love foreign words which describe objects very literally, and the Danish word for refrigerator is one such example, because in Denmark they call a fridge a 'cooling closet'.
True or false?
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| "I'll have a vowel please, Carol." "W." |
8) W = Vowel
Finally, srictly speaking, this last fact relates to a letter rather than a word, but I'm feeling in a generous mood, so I'm including it anyway!
In Korea, rather bizarrely, the letter 'W' is classed as a vowel!
True or false?
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Scroll down the page to discover which words are real, and which words are made up...
Answers:
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| Walnuts. Good for your brain. |
1) Walnut = Brain nut
The Serbian word for walnut literally translates as 'brain nut'.
False - Sadly, I just made this up, but if I was inventing a new language, I would definitely have 'brain nut' as the word for walnut, because not only do walnuts look like brains, but apparently they're also good for your brains as well!
2) Cricket = Long stick circular ball running here and there competition
The Hindi phrase for cricket is 'long stick circular ball running here and there competition'.
True - Apparently you can also simply call it 'cricket', but why would you do that when you could call it by the much cooler name of 'long stick circular ball running here and there competition'!
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| Egg shaped ball team battle. |
3) Rugby = Egg shaped ball team battle
The Nepalese word for rugby literally translates as 'egg shaped ball team battle'.
False - It would be cool if this was true, but sadly, I just made it up.
4) Try to repair but make worse = Fatally improve
The German, word 'verschlimmbessern' roughly translates as to 'fatally improve' something.
True - I'm happy to report that this is true! Of course in English we don't need this word because when we try to improve something we always succeed! ** shifty eyes **
5) Strawberry = Baba bobo bibi
In Indonesia a baba bobo bibi is a strawberry.
False - It would be cool if this was a real word, but sadly it's not. It's another fake 'foreign word' that in actual fact I made up.
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| A Chinese owl. Editor's note: "Charles, that's a pug! Not a cat!" Charles: "Oops! Close enough." |
6) Owl = Cat headed eagle
In Chinese, the word for owl literally translates as 'cat headed eagle' or 'cat headed hawk'.
True - In all seriousness I can kind of see what they're getting at, but I was surprised to learn that this is indeed true.
To help you visualise a Chinese owl, I've created a photoshopped image.
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| A small yellow cuddly toy looking extremely happy with its cooling closet. |
7) Fridge = Cooling closet
In Denmark they call a fridge a 'cooling closet'.
True - The inventor of the Danish language knows their stuff, because a cooling closet is exactly what a fridge is, so I'm happy to report that this is accurate.
8) W = Vowel
In Korea, the letter 'W' is classed as a vowel.
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| A cool pug, featuring all of the vowel sounds in the letter 'W'! |
1) First, say ‘oo’ (as in ‘cool’).
2) Now say ‘u’ (as in ‘pug’).
3) Now say them both together in quick succession.
'oo u'
'w'
So in actual fact, perhaps 'w' should be classed as two vowel sounds! Oo and u!
You can find more cool words from other languages in the blog posts below:
Cool words from around the world
10 cool Swedish words and expression (part 4)
Cool sayings from around the world (part 2)
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