Thank God for borrowings!

Hi partner,
 
Bravó! Super! Haleluja! You have just, de facto, understood your first Slovak words or (to be precise) words of foreign origin used in Slovak. Isn´t that fantastické and perfektné?! Do you feel eufória? Super! Do not give up now. Just keep on reading! More easy-to-remember words resembling those you already use in your mother tongue cannot wait to flirtovať with you. As this text presents you with the Slovak spelling of borrowings as well as the numerous endings used to indicate the various parts of speech (e.g. the ending „–ovať“ denotes a verb) , you must be kreatívny to make out what these sexi words mean. If you carry on reading to the very last line of this extra linguistic delikatesa, you will get a fantastický bónus – glosár with the English equivalents of the Slovak words mentioned in this text.
 
Are you still with me? Super! It is a clear signál that you might be enjoying this monológ. Listen. Why don´t you get yourself a whisky or punč before we plunge into some more linguistic biznis? Now, partner, let us explore Slovak chaos in more detail. After all, you never know when the following tipy for survival in Slovensko and, perhaps, avoiding a konflikt, too, might come in handy. Ready? Steady? Štart!
 

1. Never call the prezident, your partner and/or your boss idiot, retard, tyran, despota, satan, sadista, parazit or deviant, although you may well be right. Call them génius on a regular basis and, hey presto, you might be invited to a párty, or get a free ticket to the opera. One never knows.
2. The words heroín, drogy and bomba are tabu when asked the question „What´s in your ruksak?“ by the polícia. However, you might want to use Bomba! or Super! if you have just had two shots of aperitív and the polícia lets you off with only a warning.
3. Are you hungry? All you need is a reštaurácia. Forget about your diéta and the Slovak menú, and do not even bother to ask for the English version – you might not understand that either. Just to be on the safe side, order špageti, kečup and koka-kola.
4. Are you a woman and you do not know what to wear to a nóbl párty? A male fashion špecialista gives the following advice: Nothing extra really ... mini or maxi but sexi!
5. Are you inteligentný? Do you own a hotel or a Mercedes? No?? Well, these things happen to many, don´t they? Chase away depresia and get fit. Play futbal, tenis, squash, golf and volejbal, boxuj and relaxuj. There are plenty of ways to show everyone you are talentovaný.
6. Have you got a gitara? Bring it along with you then. If you are on your uppers, you can always look for some klub or festival, play your family hit and at least earn a nice drink. Who knows what else?
7. Finally, here are some quite self-explanatory vital phrases for you to absorbovať: WC, sex, supermarket, kiosk, bar, bufet, internet, doktor, ambasádor, telefón and taxi.

 
So far so good, my partner? Are you still far from being a slovakofób? Fantastické! We are nearly there. And your whisky? Your eufória? Where have they gone? J
 
Now check the meanings of the „Slovak“ words against the glosár and make friends with a Slovák who will teach you how to pronounce them correctly or come and join our Slovak classes at IH Bratislava. For more details please see

Slovak courses
 
Čau, partner!
Yours,
Viera Gregorcová
(IH Bratislava archive)
 

 
GLOSÁR = GLOSSARY
partner            = a partner
bravó               = bravo
super               = super/b
haleluja           = hallelujah
de facto           = de facto
Fantastické!    = Fantastic!
perfektné        = perfect
eufória            = euphoria
flirtovať          = to flirt
text                 = a text
kreatívny         = creative
sexi                 = sexy                        
extra                = extra
delikatesa        = a delicacy
bónus              = a bonus
signál              = a signal
monológ          = a monologue
whisky            = whisk(e)y
punč                = punch
biznis              = business
chaos               = chaos
tipy                 = tips
Slovensko       = Slovakia
konflikt           = a conflict
štart                 = start
prezident         = a president
idiot                = an idiot
retard              = a retard
tyran               = a tyrant
despota           = a despot
satan               = Satan
sadista             = a sadist
parazit             = a parasite
deviant            = a deviant
génius             = a genius
párty               = a party
opera               = an opera
heroín              = heroin
drogy              = drugs
bomba             = a bomb
Bomba!           = Rad! Superb!
tabu                 = tabu
ruksak             = a rucksack
polícia             = the police
aperitív            = aperitif
reštaurácia       = a restaurant
diéta                = a diet
menú               = menu
špageti            = spaghetti
kečup              = ketchup
koka-kola        = coca-cola
nóbl                 = noble
špecialista       = a specialist
mini                 = mini
maxi                = maxi
inteligentný     = intelligent
hotel                = a hotel
Mercedes        = Mercedes
depresia          = depression
fit                    = fit and healthy
futbal              = football
tenis                = tennis
squash             = squash
golf                 = golf             
volejbal           = volleyball
boxuj               = Box!
relaxuj             = Relax!
talentovaný     = talented
gitara               = a guitar
klub                 = a club
festival            = a festival
hit                   = a hit
drink               = a drink
absorbovať      = to absorb
WC                 = WC
sex                  = sex
supermarket    = a supermarket
kiosk               = a kiosk
bar                   = a bar
bufet               = a buffet
doktor             = a doctor
ambasádor      = an ambassador
telefón            = a telephone
taxi                  = a taxi
slovakofób      = a Slovakophobic
Slovák             = a Slovak
Čau!                = Ciao!/Hello!