They're pouring in: another star comment
Published:
May 29, 2010 at 6:18pm
Biskuttina pregudikata kontra NoRRmAHHnTTT LowILLLL
Matthew
A new Maltese word: predigest. From this post on Il-Pjazza:
“Lowell is an educated man, he understands the merits of people and is not a blind football fan type of person…. You are just predigest.”
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mittkanik
liptop
Santa Vendra
mobajn
giex minflok zewg u din komuni hafna
sprejn
windscreem
spartin plugs
iljam
u biex naghlaq Pac minflok Pace u din issa saret drawwa u anki jghidu il-qarrejja ta’ l-ahbarijiet
we once had a char who told us “il bierah l-ewwel ghamilt trade fair ghat-tfal imbaghad mort sat-trifle nixtri washie machie”
I think you meant winskrim and spartin plaggs!
IL-gisem tal-bniedem fil-Malti:
L-iskutella ta’ rasi
IL-kappell ta’ ghajnejja
IL=habba ta’ghajnejja
il-qoxra ta’wicci
il-qampiena ta’grizmejja
il-hajta ta’ lsieni
il-basla ta’xaghri
il-pala ta’idi/sieqi
il-gwienah ta’ dari
il-ponta ta’lsieni
is-saqaf ta’halqi
ix-xewka ta’dari
il-qasba ta’sieqi
il-galletta ta’rkuptejja
Xi nsejt?
il-qarquca ta’ widnejja,
il-warda ta’ hugbejja
il-bokka ta’ l-istonku
is-sinsla ta’ dari
it-tambur ta’ widnejja (u nghidu wkoll: taqqabbtli t-tambur ta’ mohhi)
il-ponta ta’ mniehri
il-habba ta’ l-ghajn
il-ponta ta’ l-imnieher
il-qafas tas-sider
id-dras ta’ l-ghaqal
il-musrana l-ghamja
It-toqba ta’ sor….i,
It toqob ta mniehri,
l-ponta ta’mniehri. hu xi ohrajn.
Imma ghal issa daqshekk, John F
ghax waqetli il buttery.
Karl kemm inti vulgari. Kienhemm ghalfejn taqa baxx meta stajt semmejt biss mniehrek?
Ahem… Is-sigriet tieghi…ssshhh!
You could have said, ”is-suf ta’ sigr…. tieghi” But this is for AO or AA at least. Part of our nature study.
Ilma fil-pulmun
Gas fl-istonku
Zokkor fid-demm
Pressjoni gholja
Dan fabrika tal-luminata mhux gisem ta’ bniedem!
John, I am hoping you are not comparing the above to the initial word corruption list. They are great descriptive words for the human body.
Well Done !
You mentioned the Anotomy in nice way !
Good Luck
Is-suf ta’ sidri?
U tisma’ hafna bar-geyn f’lok bargain, tapleeka flok tapplika, illapurtah f’lok irrapurtah, Bikkikara flok Birkirkara, Had-Dingli bis-sing b’kollox flok Hal Dingli (imma din hawn hafna bhalha), dijafjamma m’inix cert dwarha pero. Is-sens jghidli dijaframma imma taf dahlet hekk.
Konsonanti Xemxin u Qamrin.
Hal Ghaxaq
Haz Zabbar
Hal Muxi
Had Dingli
Hal Saflini
Ever wondered the origin of Bingemma? Was it Bin Gemma? And was Birkirkara Bir Kirkara? Birkirkara is still written B’Kara by some people today.
[Daphne – The Bin in Bingemma is Ibn. Birkirkara: Bir il-Kalkara/the well at the lime kiln.]
U issa sirna ghandna ‘xelta’ ta’ kollox. X’gara mill-kelma ‘ghazla’? U haga ta’ l-ghageb, kollox sar ‘konvenjenti’ u l-hwienet ghandhom is-‘Simpatija’!!
Imma l-iktar haga li tqabbizieli hi li ta’ kull sena, hanut partikolari ‘irahhas il-prezz u mhux il-kwalita’ – la mhux irahhas il-kwalita’ mela allura qieghed ibiegh l-imbarazz.
It would seem that Kirkara is a corruption/variant of Kurkara = “vallee très profonde encaisee”.
[Daphne -It’s kalkara.]
Anke niktbu b’Malti ħażin ġiet drawwa.
What a coincidence! X’kombinejxin!
The old name for Santa Venera was Santa Veneranda; the “Vendra” corruption possibly owes its origin to the similarity with the full name of the saint.
At least they don’t call her Santa Verandah.
And now… irkotta war next operation, on facebook >
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jien-irkotta-nghid-mhux-rikotta/126196440738433
Hatni ghandu stepni (a mistress) u t- trak marlu l-gardenxaft (guarding shaft).
Actually,it is a corruption of “cardan shaft”.
Actually ‘Guarding shaft’ is an even worse corruption than gardenxaft, the later being phonetically closer to the original.
Actually what it came from originally is ‘Cardan chaft’, that being a shaft with Cardan joints, or ‘universal joints’ as they are better known.
The cardan joint is often called ‘cross’ locally (kross in Maltese?), the ‘cross’ actually being just one part of the Cardan joint.
Actually, Cardan joints were invented by Gerolamo Cardano. Miskin, we call him garden
I have heard of the hardy spicer joint used on early Mini driveshafts referred to as il-kross.
Differejxin
My personal favourite is:
-Rajtha lil Kim?
-Kim min?
-Kimpressewr!
What is wrong with predigest ?
It is the stage before turning indigest.
L-isbah wahda – xokappsover!
What about the most popular – pirmli?
Or the village woman who thought she was pregnant as “m’ghadiex tara” and my aunt thought she meant she had become blind so tried to console her and couldn’t understand why everyone else was congratulating her.
Not so dissimilar to “not having a show” as said routinely here in the UK
nixxi = nixtri
tratti = ritratti.
felicitator u fakulater = facilitator
imperial = period
hibiscus = bibiskuwa
dal hobz qamh misjur = dal hobz tant misjur (ghadu hiereg mill-forn)
Meta konna nghidu il-litanija bil-Latin – Virgo impotens – ezatt bill-maqlub imma kienet tinghat bl-akbar devozzjoni u mhabba.
It-tfal iz-zghar waqt li jkantaw l-Innu Malti – aghti d-demm lil min jahkimha.
u “bata taht il-hajt ta’ Ponzju Pilatu”
Meta kont zghira jien kont nghid “bata taht il-haqq ta’ Fonzu Pilatu” ghax tal-hobz kien jismu Fonzu. Imma eventwalment tghallimt.
Let’s put the boot (sing. of bwiets) on the other foot. The Maltese word for someone whose chin and lower lip project is “faqmi”. A ricottissima lady was describing one such acquaintance of hers: “You know, she has a “fuck me” face.”
That is so funny! How I love this rock!
This merits the comment of the MONTH!
Maybe that’s what she meant
Had-Dingli hi tajba, u mhux hal Dingli
Once a woman told me she had “il-mukrana”. It took me a week to figure out that she was referring to having migraine.
Really? I would have thought she was cheating on her husband.
kopja-koppja
pugcer-pushchair
bulubief jew conbif-corned beef
putruna-pultruna
litratti-ritratti
vuldieri-from the Italian ‘vuol dire’ (igifieri)
pads-sanitary towels
sonforini-sulfarini
cube tal Knor-Knorr cube
Confort-referring to all fabric conditioners
20cent-20cents
giggifogu – giochi di fuoco.
you forgot
Cutiks – for all nail polish brands
Huver – for a vacuum cleaner
Skuzi ta, Pat, but it’s ‘jigifieri’, not ‘igifieri’
One of the most common excuses, when somebody cannot read is, ”Ara taqrahhilix daxejn, ghax m’ghandiex in-nuccali tal-vicin fuqi”.
And those who cannot write or read, ”Jien mghandiex skola, tafx, daqxejn iljorant”.
Fil-gwerra, ”kulhadd ghax-xejter.”
And to float = tifflowtja.
“Dawn il-flus ta l-Unjoni Owropea, ma’ nifhimhomx, ahjar qbajna bi dicimali.”
erasmus,
By the old name for Santa Venera, do you mean the village or the patron saint? The name of the village of was Hal Kaprat. In fact Hal Kaprat wine makers started in Santa Venera (Delicata) and the small winery is still there at the beginning of Braille Street.
The saint. “Vendra” could have came about through the same process of metathesis which responsible for “petlor’ in Maltese and “horse” in English from the Anglo-Saxon “hosr”.
Something you wrote has intrigued me. Where exactly is the former Ħal Kaprat winery? Is it the building which was for a time known as Gubbio House?
jo
Niftakar meta konna zghar nghidu ir-ruzarju bil-litanija bil-Latin ommi x’hin kienet tghid “vaz honorabli” konna ninfaqaw bid-dahq.
@ Anthony; guarding shaft? It’s called CARDAN shaft, jghidulu ukoll prop.shaft, prop. hija propeller imqassra, jew drive shaft.
Tal-barrieri tal-gebel tal-franka, il-‘conveyer’ jghidulu gunvayar.
Bubble-gum Palace (Buckingham Palace) Foxtrot street – Oxford Street – Skotla (Scotland) Ingriterra (England) – Irkotta – (Rikotta) ecc ecc. One a person told me that she went to London and then to England.
A frequent question asked by people visiting my dental surgery is “What Pepsodent should I use?” instead of the word toothpaste. Another is people wanting a “milling” for their teeth which must be a cross between filling and mili (sic!),
Totally unrelated to this blog post…but it is relevant to the Social Networks debate.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1282573/In-bath-thinking—Minister-warned-1am-tweets.html
Daphne prosit ta’ dan il-blogg. Almenu qed inkunu aktar rilassati.
Nissugerrixi li naqbdu daqxejn ma’ tal-media ghax veru johorgu b’kull wahda p.e. ezaminazzjoni flok ezami u f’ riklam ghal gita jsemmu d-dghajjes ta’ Venezja flok gondola – forsi biex juzaw Malti pur.
Zball iehor fil-PPPs li qed jintuzaw fil-knejjes – irroddu hajr flok inroddu hajr.
This is unbelievable but true: heard on a cooking programme on TVM, “Zid ftit zejt olive oil.”
Are you sure he didn’t say ‘naqa zejt’. ‘Naqa’ has been my pet-hate for some years now. Naqa, Naqa, Naqa, Naqa – I wish they would actually really fall down, and then they can say ‘naqa’ to their heart’s content.
Whilst on the subject of comments, is this guy the one with the court case for inciting racial hatred?
Is it still going on?
[Daphne – No and no. But I suspect he is the very same Dr Lawrence Galea – a retired civil servant – who was prosecuted by the police for throwing flyers about the university campus with my name and photograph on them, and various obscenities including racial slurs. The case is ongoing. His defence lawyer is……the deputy leader of the Labour Party, Anglu Farrugia.]
lgalea(14 minutes ago)
““Why do you ask us about the World Cup? Why don’t you ask us why we feel that we are dying in here? We like football but there are more important things you should be asking us,” said one resident, who declined to give his name.”
Just shut up and go back to your own countries in Africa. The Maltese citizens have shown time and time again that they do not want you here. Stop showing your arrogance
Is he the one who was involved with CNI?
Oh then he is the rabidly anti-EU guy on timesofmalta.com who blames everything and everybody on the EU and the Euro !
@ Karl Flores
And those who cannot write or read, ”Jien mghandiex skola, tafx, daqxejn iljorant”.
Ghallinqas miskin dan ammetta li m’ghandux skola – jien smajt wiehed jghajjar lill iehor ” Tghidx paprati, kemm int aljurant”
Jahasra trid tghid.
Laceritka-Luce electrica
ckina-kcina
Gobon tal-barbaggan-Parmeggian
Gobon tal-barbagann?
Barn-owl cheese?
Hilarious!
Laceritka? Which cave do you adorn, Ta’ Sapienza?
My grandma used to call it ‘lucelettrika’ – which in a way is correct.
@Joe: British children have been known to recite the Lord’s Prayer as “Harold be they name…”.
Most of the confusion in the examples cited are due to the presence of one or more of the letters (phonemes) known as “konsonanti likwidi” which are l,m,n,r. These are often confused one with the other and not only by Maltese speakers.
[Daphne – British CHILDREN, Hypatia, not adults. Adults are supposed to be literate.]
As regards parts of the body, maybe one was omitted due to, shall we say, good manners: ras-iz-**** I think basla tax-xaghar was not mentioned either.
The female exterior sexual organ is known in Maltese by the word in Arabic which means “bird’s nest” — that’s why you will also find it in Maltese toponomy. But then the male sexual organ is also euphemistically called “l-ghasfur” – what more natural destination for the bird if not the nest?
Actually, these “mistakes” or variations are what gave rise to new languages. Otherwise, most of Europe would still be speaking Sanskrit or some earlier version of it. Latin, Hellenic, Germanic, Slavic all have a common origin together with Farsi, Pashtun and others as Indo-European languages.
[Daphne – Again, you’re comparing the age of illiteracy with the present. Writing SLOWS the development of language, and that’s why European languages have been more or less static – relatively speaking – since the invention of the printing press. When words are written down, they are ‘frozen’ and that’s the form they keep. The high rate of shifting consonants and changing shapes of words in Maltese is directly linked to widespread illiteracy. People who can read and write don’t have problems with shifting consonants. They know where they should go.]
The sales assistant at one of our hardware shops tells me that he had clients asking for ‘skuzi zija u zokk’ instead of xkupa bil-lasta. Also common is ‘skuzi mop’, ‘skuzi toilet’ and ‘skuzi taz-zibel’.
[Daphne – Very arkotta. A friend who regularly hosts groups of people for events was nonplussed to be asked by one woman, ‘Ghandek naqa toilet?’ She was tempted to retort: ‘You’ll be pleased to know there’s a whole one you can use.’]
Using the new coined word, how about LGBI – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Inbitwinhoms?
[Daphne – Just imagine when the debate on the cohabitation bill begins, all the fun the Liquid Consonant Brigade are going to have with somohesswali.]
ofs ta’ nhar
minflok nofs ta’ nhar…
Actually, if some local food producer decides to use that as his trade-mark (Barn-Owl Cheese, a Maltese Speciality) – let me advise him I’m holding all the rights to the name!
Stew = stewn
Ash tray = ashtrade
Extrejn
When we say “zanzan libsa” – is there an equivalent word in English?
[Daphne – No. It’s a good word.]
U l-winchester sauce hadd ma jhibbu? Xtrajt vazun tac-ceramajka vera sbejjah, Dilor!
Once we spent a whole month coming up with the most hilarious translations of Maltese proverbs. Try it; it’s fun.
e.g. biscuits in the mouths of donkeys – biskuttini f’halq il-hmir.
A couple of the most common – enumilju and konolli. This is all very funny but at the same time truly pathetic. Who, or which ministry or NGO will attempt to stop this degradation of the Maltese language before all the above cited words become entrenched and acceptable?
Insejtu: Inqatta’ l-gebel bil-BENZO = bandsaw!!
Suspender Centre (suspended sentence)
Dak ta’ David (affidavit)
Suction letter (sanction letter)
Taxxa tal-VAT
twieqi bil-Hoovers (louvres)
Contraception Street Mosta (Constitution Street Mosta)
L-interdett (l-internet)
Tazza Cino (capuccino – cup of cino)
Arjurant
Naqa (intended as a bit and not I fall)
sengwicc – sandwich
“Immorru b’tal-linja jew by walk?”
Menuta flok minuta.
Hawn xi hadd li jista jghidli liema hi tajba.
Din il-kelma nismaghha fuq l-istazzjon nazzjonali regolari kuljum.Tghidx kemm nirita ruhi.
[Daphne – Mhux ovvja li minuta? It’s not as though we’re the ones who invented the word.]
Ftakart ohra
Bathroom semi sweet- ensuite
How about gilda tal-lumi – lemon zest? This was an ingredient in a recipe in a Maltese website. In Ghajnsielem pills are referred to as pinuri. Recently a neighbour asked me if I had seen her luzar (bed sheet) because it was blown away.
Can I please mention this one if it hasn’t been mentioned already. I know its in English but I cannot find in any dictionary the word “overspeeding”. When I grew up it was just “speeding”.
There is “overtaking” a car when you pass it by. “Speeding” is simply going “over the limit,” there is no such thing as “overspeeding” in my experience of the English language in America.
Yesterday, Lou Bondi’s illustrious guest, one L. Gonzi. at least three times said “arjuplan”. He tends to opt for the dialectical “m’hijomx” rather than the standard “mhumiex”. And he is no uncouth idiot.
[Daphne – Been there, explained that. Arjuplan is in fact the correct version: from aeroplane, which is what we used to call them before they became planes. However, he is in the minority. The rest of us have been overtaken already by the erroneous ajruplan, which takes as its inspiration the Maltese word ajru – which is not the same as the air in airplane, as that would be arja, with the R sound first, like arju.]
I think you are discounting the influence of the Italian “aeroplano” here.
Why is it that we say linji tal-ajru and not linji tal-arja? Therefore ajruplan makes much more sense … arjuplan seems like the maltese version of aeroplano….
@DCG: yes, I am aware of that, standardization and literacy are directly proportional but this does not halt language change which is a long and sometimes imperceptible process.
It depends what the majority would then decide to use and how much society tolerates. Today we have the Kunsill tal-Malti which, differently from some other countries, is a government institution.
This purports to establish statutorily (without coercive power) what is and what is not acceptable. I fear though, that rampant mistakes by the media, are a stronger influence.
One irritating phenomenon which is widespread on practically all radio and TV stations is the ending of adverbs of romance origin e.g. prezentament instead of the correct “prezentement”.
The ending varies according to the ending of the adjective e.g. kollettivament is correct. Unfortunately, ignorance of Italian is contributing to the massacre of Maltese.
Then there is usage of such inanities as “reat kriminali” (literally, a “criminal criminal offence”) that I’ve heard used even by lawyers and by public figures who should know better.
Another mistake which interferes with my blood-pressure is the use of the masculine plural ending with feminine nouns e.g. klassifici instead of klassifiki, klinici insteak of kliniki. I almost suffered a heart attack recently when I heard repubblici. Again, ignorance of Italian.
I am not a teacher but in my time schools were extremely strict and errors were not tolerated. With the level of English possessed by some students today, one would never have passed even “O” level standard in my time.
Anyway, you started this discussion with rikotta but you initiated a healthy discussion and for that you deserve commendation.
I have a question. Why are “Idiots” and “faithful” both referred to as “fidili” in Maltese?
Fidili is the Maltese word for faithful. It was initially applied to idiots only in a metaphorical sense (tista’ tafdah għax ċuċ), but has now practically become the literal sense too.
I should have specified that my explanation about the origin of “fidil” in the sense of ‘fool’ is purely an opinion, and not based on any authoritative source.