A small Czech oddity. #projectBrno
Dec. 22nd, 2014 01:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lprovenCzech seasonal greetings are quite a mixed bag, and some are... challenging.
But I have noticed a short phrase used widely, even as an abbreviation: PF, standing for "pour féliciter". It's a French phrase and it means, roughly, "for congratulating" -- it originally referred to greetings cards, as in, it's something you'd use to describe them, rather than something you'd put on them.
It's quite ubiquitous as an abbreviation, but I only found out what it stood for today.
It's... odd.
More conventionally, "Veselé Vánoce" is "happy Christmas". Vesela means happy (it's declined in this form, don't ask me how) and "Vanoce" is a corruption of the German "Weihnachten".
"Happy new year" is the significantly more challenging "Veselé Vánoce a šťastný Nový rok!" Even after 6 months of practice, the few unfortunate victims at whom I have essayed this phrase have given me a sort of pitying look and told me that I was almost right. I fear I suffer a sort of pile-up of diacritical marks on "šťastný" and my speech centres faceplant.
So, hey, given that, I might just stick with "pour féliciter"...
But I have noticed a short phrase used widely, even as an abbreviation: PF, standing for "pour féliciter". It's a French phrase and it means, roughly, "for congratulating" -- it originally referred to greetings cards, as in, it's something you'd use to describe them, rather than something you'd put on them.
It's quite ubiquitous as an abbreviation, but I only found out what it stood for today.
It's... odd.
More conventionally, "Veselé Vánoce" is "happy Christmas". Vesela means happy (it's declined in this form, don't ask me how) and "Vanoce" is a corruption of the German "Weihnachten".
"Happy new year" is the significantly more challenging "Veselé Vánoce a šťastný Nový rok!" Even after 6 months of practice, the few unfortunate victims at whom I have essayed this phrase have given me a sort of pitying look and told me that I was almost right. I fear I suffer a sort of pile-up of diacritical marks on "šťastný" and my speech centres faceplant.
So, hey, given that, I might just stick with "pour féliciter"...
