Tricky Words in this week's OVI

Please excuse the name of this column in this case, only I'd like to look at the difference between the Slovak word "pop" and the English word "the Pope" /poup/. "Pop" is used in Slovak to mean an ordinary Russian Orthodox or Greek Catholic priest, the same as "kňaz". "The Pope" in English means there is only the one (nowadays), the one we know as Francis, and who lives in the Vatican in Rome, i.e. "pápež". The name means "father", and in English he's also known as the Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ (vicar means representative), and the Supreme Pontiff or pontifex, which literally means "bridge-maker" in Latin, and the Pope is a symbolic bridge between this world and Heaven.

Andy's Wordshop

Wood-carving is a craft or trade (remeslo), and there are various expressions in English connected with crafts. Someone who is crafty is something between "prefíkaný" and "ľstivý", or between "cunning" and "sly" in English. Crafty is a possible translation for the Czech "vychc....". If you "trade in" your old car, the car-seller takes it and gives you a reduction on the price of the new car (protihodnota). Somebody can be "as mad as a hatter" (klobučník), because of the poisonous chemicals used in making hats in the past. Someone who is "a jack-of-all-trades" is able to do many kinds of work, but nothing at a high standard. The complete expression is "jack of all trades, but master of none" (majster žiadneho).