ethnic expressions

[Rafal S. Konopka]

Oscar E Swan wrote:
>
> and, in the same spirit, in Polish Prusak (Prussian) means bedbug, and (a
> favorite of mine) czeski film (a Czech movie) means something totally
> incomprehensible.

It is quite possible that "Prusak" means a bedbug in some dialects of
Polish, but it is not in general use, where it means a roach-like bug.

Bravo for the "czeski film"!  Let me add a few, while I'm at it:

Kanada  (Canada)--mostly of lifestyle or one's job--easy, relaxing,
lavish (affluent), comfortable.
cygan (gypsy)--a cheat, liar
cyganic (v ~= to gypsy)--to cheat, lie
milosc francuska (French love)--oral sex [Sorry, couldn't resist]
angielska flegma (English composure)--stiff-upper-lip, self-control,
slowness
holender (Dutchman)--mild expletive, in fact a euphemism for "cholera"
[functionally equivalent to "shoot".  I have never seen it              written.]
wloska kapusta (Italian cabbage)--a variety of cabbage.
franca [orig. French desease==syphilis]--something very difficult;
nasty, mean person.
chinszczyzna (Chinese)--something incomprehensible (particularly of
someone's writing--bureaucratic/legal language)
wegierka (Hungarian <fem.>)--common kind of plum.
czech (a Czech)--in soccer, a type of a kick where the ball gets a lot
of lateral spin.

If I remember something else, I'll add.

Rafal
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+ Rafal S. Konopka                   Info-Spatialist Extraordinaire +
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