European Letters
Are you ready to dive into the fascinating world of European alphabets? Get ready to discover a world where some letters wear hats, others fancy little crutches or strike-throughs, and some even have their own unique accents.
Words of Europe
The language of Europe is translation, said a wise (and European) man; the limits of my language are the limits of my world, said another. They’re not wrong: it’s only once they’ve hurdled the language barrier that Europeans can find out what they have in common: so expand your horizon and find out how your neighbours talk, write — and think.
European Surnames
You’re looking for a friend called ‘Pierre Martin’ in France ? Hard cheese, he’s going to be tough to find. Don’t even try to type ‘Rossi’ in an Italian search engine! Meanwhile, in Germany, ‘Müller’ is so frequent that you may end up… in a supermarket!
European ‘Bon Appétit’
It’s all about European cuisine… but in its great diversity! Mahlzeit! wishes you the German, Hyvää ruokahalua! replies the Finn, Dobrou chuť! says the Czechs and Bon Appétit! answers the French.
European LOL
Apart from “haha” or “lol” in English, have you ever wondered how European languages indicate laughter on social media? Have you ever seen a Finn writing *reps* online, a German laughing with *grins* or an Estonian typing “irw”?
European Willies
The ‘old boy‘, the ‘longfellow‘, the ‘bratwurst‘, the ‘pink oboe‘, the ‘trouser snake‘, the ‘love whistle‘… We often reward lifelong friends with a nickname… and Europeans do not lack creativity when it comes to referring to their manhood.
European Simon Says
Don’t pretend you forgot “Simon says…” Well, you will now be able to play the game in all European languages, as it appears that Simon has a couple of other friends throughout Europe who are famous for giving commands in their own language.
European Placeholders
Sometimes you just can’t cotton-pickin’ remember what something’s called. Sometimes it’s a lot of times. And sometimes you just don’t know the proper name of an object. What do you do in these moments? You use a placeholder of course!
European Swear Words
“Fuck!” says the Brit, “Putain!” answers the French, “Cazzo!” replies the Italian, “Kurwa!” says the Pole… Europeans have their own words to express anger, irritation, contempt, or disappointment, but they don’t use the same swear metaphors.
European Toasts
Cheers, Santé, Prost, Saúde, Skål, Kippis, Na zdravje or Egészségedre – those little words hide the most interesting tales. And they might just be the first words a foreigner learns when arriving in another European country…
European Little Johnny jokes
Jaimito in Spain, Toto in France, Pikku-Kalle in Finland, Jantje in the Netherlands, Oin-Oin in Switzerland and Pierino in Italy… In almost every single European country, there is an equivalent for the Little Johnny jokes.
European Longest Words
‘Anticonstitutionnellement’, ‘Antidisestablishmentarianism’, ‘Menneskerettighetsorganisasjonene’ Did you know that a German 79-letters word is the European longest word? Or that the Irish Gaelic one is the shortest (longest) word in Europe?
European Monopoly Streets
“Mayfair”, “Rue de la Paix”, “ Schloßallee”. Every European knows the name of the most expensive lot on its Monopoly board. But did you know that in Italy and Germany the street names are fictive?
European Untranslatable Words
Have you ever experienced saudade in Sintra? Or German Schadenfreude? Was it better or worse than the hygge you felt in Denmark? Untranslatable words are actually the essence of European diversity…
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