Every language has many idiomatic phrases, constructs that have unexpected meanings. Generally they cannot be translated from language to language.
A few often used phrases have standard abbreviations:
phrase abbr. meaning (Engl. abbr.) na primjër npr. "for example" (e.g.) to jest tj. "that is" (i.e.) i tako dalje itd. "et cetera" (etc.)
Furthermore there are some phrases where words are always used together but meaning can be easily deduced:
phrase literal meaning postavim pitanje "pose a question" "ask a question" prëma tome "according to that" "therefore" u ime + gen. "in the name of" "on behalf of"
There are some phrases involving "modal" na + acc., that translate to English adverbs:
phrase literal meaning na žalost "on regret" "unfortunately, regrettably" na sreću "on luck" "luckily, fortunately" na brzinu "on speed" "hastily"
They are sometimes spelled as one word (e.g. nažalost).
Some other phrases having completely shifted meanings are:
Bogu iza leđa "middle of nowhere"
grom iz vedra neba "out of the blue"
nađem zajednički jezik "find a common ground"
mačji kašälj "nothing serious"
ostavim na cjëdilu "leave out in the cold", "betray"
ostavim na miru "leave alone"
pao s Marsa "without a clue", "without any prior knowledge"
punom parom "full steam"
špansko selo "something completely unknown"
trn u oku or trn u peti "thorn in one's side"
Some phrases are used in formal communication:
lijëp pozdrav "best regards"
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Euphemisms are words or phrases that are used instead of something we cannot say openly for some reason. For instance a verb preminem "pass away" is used instead of umrem, umro, umrla, umrijëti "die". Also, when someone dies, reasons are seldom said clearly, a phrase nakon kratke/duge i teške bolesti "after a short/long and serious illness" is used instead.
It's worth noting that Standard Croatian has different verbs used with meaning "die" depending on who dies. For people, umrem, umro, umrla, umrijëti (or preminem), but for animals crknem should be used instead. However, many speakers use just umrem in all occasions.
Note that Croatian has very few Bible-based phrases. Croats are traditionally Catholics and reading Bible at home has a relatively minor role in that religion. Furthermore, religion is understood mostly as tradition, observing customs and holidays...
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I find your comment of the Bible playing a minor role in Catholicism to be highly problematic. It is, after all, the Catholic Church that wrote the books of the new testament, selected which books would belong there, preserved it through the work of countless monks and translated it to almost every language on the planet.
ReplyDeleteIt's true that Bible is the book of Catholicism but most Catholics read it very seldom.
ReplyDeleteThe books of the New Testament were written before there was modern church organization, and authors of Gospels are actually unknown; the New Testament is common to all Christians, not only Catholics.
I was trying to explain why English has phrases like "my brother keeper" when no Croatian would understand where it comes from.
Croats claim to be Catholics (80% or more) but most have never read the Bible, and frequently cannot recall names of Gospels or main Old Testament books.
I will rephrase the statement but I still stand before it: I know a lot of people who really claim to be Catholics (baptize their children, go to mass on major holidays) but cannot recall any story from the Bible except that Jesus was crucified and raised frok dead.
From theological point of view, Catholic church sees the Bible just as a part of Sacred Tradition while Protestants have Sola Scriptura doctrine...