I think one of my favorite slang words in Romania is marfă (mar-fuh), although I don’t use it very often. The standard use of the word marfa is as a noun to indicate “cargo” or “manufactured goods” or sometimes “freight”, borrowed directly from a Hungarian word (márha) that means cattle or livestock. In slang usage however this becomes an adjective and is used to indicate … Continue reading Slang Word of the Day: Marfa
One of the easiest and most colorful slang words in use today in Romania is mișto (meesh-toe), which is an all-purpose adjective meaning “fun, nice, enjoyable” or sometimes “funny”. I think if I had to choose one English word to universally translate misto as, it would be “delightful” although “cool” would probably be equally common. This is a direct borrowing from the “gypsy” language (rroma), … Continue reading Slang Word of the Day: Misto
Sometimes words in Romanian are right on the cusp between slang and “standard” use, a blend between being considered informal, perhaps even vulgar use and an ordinary, common word. You wouldn’t use these words in a job application but it wouldn’t shock your grandmother to say them. One such adjective is the Romanian word fain, pronounced exactly like the English “fine”, based on a similarly … Continue reading Slang Word of the Day: Fain
If you’ve carefully read over the sidebar of my blog, you’ll notice that there’s a phrase “Cel Mai Tare Din Blogging Parcare”, which comes from a memory I have years ago. I was listening to the radio (trying to learn Romanian) when I heard an advertisement for some contest where the grand prize was a car. The tag line was that the winner (with his/her … Continue reading Slang Word of the Day: Tare
In your conversations in Romania you’re going to hear the word “fraier” (fry-air) sooner or later and so it’s important to know what it means. Generally speaking it is the complete opposite of smecher, or perhaps better said, “fraier” is the counterpart to “smecher”. Think of it this way: the smecher uses his/her cunning and craftiness to profit at the expense of the fraier. The … Continue reading Slang Word of the Day: Fraier
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