It’s no surprise that Romanians eat a lot of meat (especially pork!) and thus have a lot of slang expressions and euphemisms based on the word carne (meat). One interesting one is în carne și oase, which literally translates to “in meat and bones”. But what does it mean? It’s exactly equivalent to the English expression “flesh and blood”, as in meeting someone in person … Continue reading Expression of the Day: În carne și oase
If you speak any kind of Latin-based language, it’s pretty easy to recognize the Romanian word plaja to mean “beach”, as in the sandy strip of shoreline next to a body of water such as an ocean. But what is face plaja or “to do the beach”? In Romanian this is a very common expression and all it means is to “tan oneself” or “lay … Continue reading Expression of the Day: Face Plaja
The other day I was racking my brain trying to think of a few words that people learning Romanian might hear but might be difficult to find in the dictionary as they are a kind of slang or euphemistic speech. And then this came across my Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/#!/DeWeekendRo/status/68277315414671360 Yes! What does razna mean, and what does it mean to “take” it? Plainly put, “o … Continue reading Word of the Day: Razna
Lately I’ve been seeing this expression contra cost pop up a lot and I really didn’t understand it. After all, contra means “against”, so did it mean free (no charge)? Or did it mean something akin to “at a minimum cost”? No. Turns out it’s related to a euphemism for prostitution and “contra cost” means to do something for money. It doesn’t necessarily have to … Continue reading Word of the Day: Contra Cost
Earlier today, I was walking down the rainy streets of the unicorn-laced metropolis of Cluj-Napoca when a man stopped me to ask me (in Romanian) for directions to the “Mitropol”. I asked him if he meant the religious term or a casino or what it was as I didn’t know to what he was referring. He kept insisting it was a restaurant close by and … Continue reading Word of the Day: Habar
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