"Blazne!"

[kpking at MTHOLYOKE.EDU]

This is the vocative of blazen. Thus more like "you fool!' than "dammit!"

Katya King


Quoting Christopher Lemelin <lemelinc at DICKINSON.EDU>:

> Dear SEELANG-ers,
>
> I have a quick question for Czech speakers.  A colleague of mine is  
> working on the American author Willa Cather, who, I as I understand  
> it, wrote a story called "The Bohemian" (or perhaps the character is  
> referred to this way).
>
> In any case, in the story one character says "Blazne!"  I took only a 
>  year of Czech in grad school and have tried to keep it up a bit  
> myself, but expletives aren't the kind of thing I encounter  
> frequently.  It's clear to me (perhaps incorrectly) that this comes  
> from "blazen," "fool, madman," but my sense is that the expletive has 
>  broadened semantically (or is much more broadly used)....  I want to 
>  say that you could translate this as something as common as "Dammit!"
>
> Could someone enlighten me on Czech expletives?  Please reply off- list to
>
> lemelinc at dickinson.edu
>
> D?kuji!
>
> CWL
>
> ========================
> Christopher W. Lemelin
> Assistant Professor of Russian
> Dickinson College
> lemelinc at dickinson.edu
>
> (On sabbatical 2006-2007)
>
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
>  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
>                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>



----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------