Tricky Words in this week's OVI

Patronize. Last year I wrote about the word 'patron', how its meaning(s) developed from father through protector and protecting saint to protector (supporter) of the arts and charity, then in French to the idea of 'boss', but in English to 'customer', because they both support business, but in different ways. The meanings of the verb 'to patronize' are divided in a similar way. Someone who acts like a father, a protector or a boss towards other people is said to patronize them, which is a bad thing, because people don't like being made to feel weaker, vulnerable, poor or less intelligent. But regular customers of the same shop or pub are said to patronize them, which is a good thing, because they support the shops or pubs (or charities) with their custom (their money).

Andy's Wordshop

On Sunday afternoon we went on a trip to the Senné Fishpools, hoping to see hundreds or even thousands of migrating birds fly in for a stop-over, because it's a good place for them to rest on their long flight to their summer habitats. We saw plenty of wild ducks and geese, but what we really wanted to see were cranes, and finally we spotted one V-shaped flight high up in the sky and heading for Šírava. The name 'crane' is interesting because it's a calque, something like "pauzák" from one language to another. These are words which have the same meanings in different languages, although they are not related and look very different. Crane means "žeriav" in both senses in English and Slovak, the machine for lifting things and the tall, thin bird similar to a stork (bocian). In English the meaning of lifting machine came first.