You’re getting warmer

Kia Ora, the name of a brand of fruit squash in the 70s (does it still exist?) means “hello” in Maori.

More language gems

More foreign words that are really one-word poems:

karaoke (literally “empty orchestra” in Japanese)

Zeitlupe (slow motion in German – literally “time magnifier”)

Glühbirne (lightbulb – literally “glow pear”)

(also: Glühwein (English: mulled wine – because it gives you a glowing feeling after skiing (après-ski) ?)

Handschuh (glove) – (lit. “handshoe”)

Italian (politics):

apartitico (not belonging to a particular party)

pianista (literally a pianist – the familiar term for an Italian politician who simultaneously presses multiple buttons on the electronic voting system of the Italian parliament)

Another Italian expression:

borbonico (hideously complicated and bureacratic) –  a reference to the Bourbon dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

Loafers

In Italian, the little crusts of bread you use to wipe the last bit of pasta sauce from your plate are called scarpette – literally “little shoes”.

Flip-flops in Italian are known as ciabatte (“ciabbatas”).

(Flip-flops are also known as infraditte (“between the toes” – ditte in Italian means both fingers and toes), a reference to the litle stalk that you grasp with your toes to stop them sliding off. In Australian English flip-flops are called thongs – similar idea.)

To infinity… and beyond!

Language ‘makes infinite use of finite media’.

Wilhelm von Humboldt, quoted by Stephen Pinker in The Language Instinct.

Man of the Forest, Robin of the Woods

Orang utan means “the man of the forest” in Malay.

In French Robin Hood is known as “Robin des Bois” (Robin of the Woods).

April Fish

April Fools in French are called poissons d’avril (literally “April fish”).

Baltic: breaking the ice in Southwark

The Baltic restaurant is hidden away behind a heavy wooden door on Blackfriars Road, near Southwark tube (Underground) station. Inside, a subdued, narrow bar opens out into a huge light-filled dining area under a timbered ceiling. The building was, apparently, a coachbuilder’s at the end of the 18th century. Blown-up photos of amber crystals, skin and hair add to the postmodern sensation of displacement and the realignment of expectations.

The menu is a promiscuous jumble of East European national dishes defiantly thumbing their noses at erstwhile Soviet uniformity – or, indeed, the Russian bear’s newly rediscovered vigour. Starters include Polish Barszcz (Clear Beetroot Soup with Krokiecik), Moldavian Aubergine and Pepper Salad with Cucumber Yoghurt and Kamchatka Salad with Crayfish Tails, Crab, Eggs, Mustard and Dill Dressing.

I recommend the Blinis with Marinated Herring Salad with Potato, Beetroot and Apple or Haunch of Venison with Honey Roast Pears and Sour Cherries.

A selection of vodkas that would have had even Boris Yeltsin pausing to reflect include exotic varieties made from cucumber, cranberry, almond or even rose petals.

The restaurant also hosts evenings of Baltic music and modern jazz. (Mike Figgis, the director of Leaving Las Vegas, played there last year with his band – Nicholas Cage’s dipso screenwriter would have been in his element).

http://www.balticrestaurant.co.uk/

A tooth for an eye

A man who lost his sight in an explosion had his vision partially restored as a result of an incredible operation. Surgeons removed one of his son’s teeth, drilled through it and fixed a lens inside the tooth. They then attached this to a skin graft in the man’s eye socket. Using a tooth helps avoid rejection, which happens when plastic is used.  

Read the full story…

http://www.dentistry.co.uk/news/news_detail.php?id=1051

Slicker

John Barbour and Sons, Est. 1894.

Oilskin Clothing Factors, Market Place, South Shields.

From an old advert displayed in the window of Barbour’s, Regent Street (2002)

The Church of Bow Bells

St Mary-le-Bow Church

‘This church, built in 1680 by Sir Christopher Wren and restored after war damage in 1964, replaced the 11th century church which was burnt down in the Great Fire. The Norman crypt, in which is found the Court of Arches, still survives. The tower and steeple are among Wren’s finest achievements and house the famous Bow Bells, within whose sound a true Cockney is born.’

Sign outside St Mary-le-Bow church.