Man's best friend

Do you like cats or dogs? If like me, you are a dog person you may be slightly outraged by the Lithuanian expression when something goes awry/ becomes worthless - (nueiti) šuniui ant uodegos ("go on the tail of the dog"). I have no problems though with its Russian equivalent of коту под хвост (идти насмарку, "under the cats tail"), this sounds more telling. In fact, this is what happened with the first draft of this post just before publishing as the browser forced itself into an update and all the work was lost (automatic saves obviously did not work).

St Roch, patron saint of dogs

The exact history of those dog expressions in that sense remains unclear (at least I could not find more information on that), except that dogs are considered to be inferior, down-to-earth, pitiful creatures and this is explored widely in various languages. In English there is go to the dogs (go to ruin, morally or materially) or throw it to the dogs (throw it away as useless or worthless), Germans say vor die Hunde gehen or auf den Hund bekommen / bringen. The French though have this cute expression avoir du chien to speak of smb/ smth that is charming or attractive (Russian - "с изюминкой")!

Colloquial expressions with dog are numerous, even more so than with cats (at least as shown by the check in the English and Lithuanian dictionaries). These vary from such nice ones as dog-ears (for the worn-out corners of the well-read book) to dog days (great heat), dog age (a long time), dogs of war (horrors of war), hungry/cold/tired as a dog. Surely there are phrases that put cats and dogs together like to live like cat and dog, and raining cats and dogs. The latter one originates in northern mythology where the cat is supposed to have great influence on the weather; the dog is a signal of wind, like the wolf, both of which were attendants of Odin, the storm god. Thus the cat may be taken as a symbol of a down-pouring rain and the dog of the strong gusts of wind accompanying a rainstorm. 

Special mention is due to the following Russian expressions. These actually can be traced to specific origins and have equivalents in other languages.

 1) собака на сене\, сама не ест и другим не даёт \ ( English - dog in the manger , means someone who spitefully keeps smth that do not really want to prevent someone else from having it). Initially ascribed to the Greek Aesop's fables, but the equivalent expression in a number of European languages, including French chien du jardinier and Spanish el perro del hortelano, date to the 17th c when a Spaniard Lope de Vega wrote a play under the same name (The Gardener's Dog). It refers to a variant story when gardener sets his dog to guard the cabbages, which it continues to do after the master's death.

2) вот где собака зарыта (in the original German it is Da ist der Hund begraben or Da liegt der Hund, the English have nothing of a kind and got only as far as there's the rub or this is where the shoe pinches ("вот в чём загвоздка"). According to the version presented by Semen Zaimovsky (1930,  by the way - an excellent translator into Russian of R. Kipling, H.G.Wells and Jack London!), the story dates back to the 16th c and is to do with the beloved dog of the Austrian general Sigismund of Altensteig, whose life was saved by this dog. He buried his dog and put up a monument to honour it. As it was in a small German town, curious tourists could find this memorial only with the help from the local residents, hence the expression.  

3) собаку съесть  (на чём-либо) - meaning to know smth inside and out, to cut one's teeth in smth. Actually the expression in the doggy form is only available in Russian, and the full version of it as registered by the great Russian lexicographer Vladimir Dahl in the 19th c. is «Собаку съел, а хвостом подавился» to refer to someone who completed a difficult task but failed at an insignificant detail. Later only a shortened version in the present form became widely used. 



So much for the dogs. Now it would seem we are well warmed up to explore the subject of cats. Nah, maybe not:)

I would like to share in my fondness for one of united Europe's wonderful products, the one that I use practically everyday - the Euronews channel. Obviously, its idea is to reach a broad audience in their native language, but it is also a real catch for a multilingual European who enjoys switching languages. My TV provider in Lithuania allows to select whether I want to watch it in English, French or Russian. 

Some facts from the Euronews homepage. Euronews has been around for twenty odd years as it was launched in 1993 with only five language services - in French, English, German, Spanish and Italian.  Currently it broadcasts 24/7 simultaneously (simulcast) in 13 different languages, including Arabic, Greek, Hungarian, Persian, Turkish and Ukrainian. The channel has 800 staff, of which over 400 are journalists representing 25 different nationalities. I guess there is quite a number of translators employed, too, as the channel uses the journalists' material across different language services. With these resources the channel reaches an audience of 3.5 billion people in their native language and is a number 1 channel by viewers in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Asia) with almost 300k households (1q 2014 data), followed by TV5Monde and CNN. It is headquartered in Lyon, France and has eleven eidtorial bureaux, e.g. in Kiev, Washington, Cairo, Budapest and Dubai. Hence, its refreshing diversity of current information and opinions. The channel' s shareholders are the national televisions of 21 countries and French local authorities. 

So, a truly multinational broadcaster. Lets keep watching.

Born lucky

Source: http://www.caulbearersunited.webs.com

It turns out that the Russian expression родиться в рубашке (literally - to be born in a shirt), meaning to be lucky especially in happily avoiding accidents, implies a very special kind of "shirt". There is an equivalent in English (but I guess not widely used) - to be born with a caul (on one' s head). Caul refers to the membrane on the head of some (very very few!) new-born infants - remains of the embryonic amnion, that is removed at birth. It is held to be a charm, especially against death by drowning. They were once advertised for sale and frequently sought after by mariners. Sometimes it is also referred to as veil.
Different languages have similar terms as either a shirt (as in Russian mentioned above, Italian -  camisia) or a headdress (in German Galea - helmet, Polish czepek - a bonnet). In Polish the idiom "w czepku urodzony/a" (literally "born in a bonnet"). In the same vein, the French say etre né coiffé, but the Spanish are more practical with their Nacer con un pan bajo el brazo (born with bread under his arms). An interesting list of these expressions in various languages can be found here.
To be born with a caul was the Romans tantamount to being born with a silver spoon in one's mouth. This expression however refers more to luck in a sense of wealth, to be born in a well-off family.

So-called caulbearers have had troubled times, especially in Middle Ages, when they were persecuted. A number of historical persons, e.g. Napoleon Bonaparte, were known to be born with caul. Also fictional characters, such as Salinger' s Catcher in the Rye's Holden Caulfield  even has it in his name. An excerpt from Charles Dickens'  David Copperfield (1850) to finish off -

"I was born with a caul, which was advertised for sale, in the newspapers, at the low price of fifteen guineas. Whether sea-going people were short of money about that time, or were short of faith and preferred cork jackets, I don't know; all I know is, that there was but one solitary bidding, and that was from an attorney connected with the bill-broking business, who offered two pounds in cash, and the balance in sherry, but declined to be guaranteed from drowning on any higher bargain. Consequently the advertisement was withdrawn at a dead loss ... and ten years afterwards, the caul was put up in a raffle down in our part of the country, to fifty members at half-a-crown a head, the winner to spend five shillings. I was present myself, and I remember to have felt quite uncomfortable and confused, at a part of myself being disposed of in that way. The caul was won, I recollect, by an old lady with a hand-basket.... It is a fact which will be long remembered as remarkable down there, that she was never drowned, but died triumphantly in bed, at ninety-two."

Sunshine when it rains

When it rains while the sun is shining, Lithuanians say that the king has either lost his piece of bread or is counting his money (karalius duonos neteko; karalius skaito pinigus). This meteorogical phenomenon is called sunshower in English and it has many funny definitions in various languages - mostly to do with various animals or the devil playing tricks in spite of God's benevolence (you can see more here). 

For instance, the French call it "marriage de loup" (the wolf's wedding), if not - the devil beating his wife and marrying his daughter (le diable bat sa femme et marie sa fille). The latter expression has its roots in mythology, some story with Jupiter and his sister/wife Juno which you can find in French here.  
The naturalist Finnish refer to foxes taking a bath (ketut kylpevät). In Croatia and Macedonia the gypsies are getting married. And the Russians go mushrooming, as it is a "mushroom rain" (грибной дождь).

http://focusedmoments.net/

Brother Baltic languages - so similar, and yet...

It's been a while since I proclaimed to start blogging. To turn it into a habit is my resolution for New Year 2015!
Today a quick look at some differences between two Baltic languages- Lithuanian and Latvian. Some ten years ago I moved to Lithuania and started learning the language. My native language is Russian, but as I come from Latvia I also speak Latvian. Latvian and Lithuanian languages are both part of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages (the other better-known language in the same branch is the now extinct Old Prussian). Despite what many people have suggested to me, unknowingly, Latvian and Lithuanian are quite different and are not mutually intelligible. In fact, for me it turned to be rather confusing, as a number of same-sounding words often have different meanings. But then again, digging deeper in the etymology of such words, it turns out there is a lot in common and often the archaic / primary meaning of certain word correspond to the modern-times meaning of the same word in the other language. In my etymological explorations I was supported by Latviešu etimoloģijas vārdnīca by K. Karulis. So, lets cut to the chase - here come several examples:

Jėga (LT) - force, strength vs. Jēga (LV) - sense
             Similar words in ancient Greek hebe (strength of youth) and Proto Indo-European (original language similar to Sanskrit, Latin and ancient Greek) jega (youthfulness). In Latvian the term evolved into various words meaning "to understand, to grasp, to imagine" (sajēga, jēgt, sajēdziens) and the earlier meaning of "strength" remained only in dialects and folklore. For Lithuanians apparently force and strength is the same as an ability to make sense of the world?

Bauda (LT) - fine, penalty vs. Bauda (LV) - pleasure
                Word origins in "awaken, rouse" (hence Russian "будить") , also " to beat, to punch" - actually, to awaken by beating. So it seems Lithuanian stayed with the meaning of verb "(nu)bausti" to punish-->nouns bausmė (punishment) and bauda (penalty); Latvian - with the meaning "to taste, to experience, make be" , although Latvian word bauslis (commandment as in The Bible, bauslība - law) originates from the meaning "to urge, to spur, to push".
      

There are many more of such confusingly similar words, but let us finish with the notorious mix-up. Lithuanian briedis is Latvian alnis (RU - лось, ENG - moose deer, elk),  and Lithuanian elnias is Latvian briedis (RU - олень, ENG - deer). In fact, in earlier times Latvian also used the word alnis to mean deer, similarly to other languages (e.g. similarly sounding Russian олень, Belarussian алень, Czech jelen, Greek ellos). However, since 19th century alnis lost its original meaning in Latvian and turned into briedis. So much for the particular ways of individual languages.