Tricky Words in this week's OVI

As in Slovak (no need to say 'language' every time; if you mean the country you say 'in Slovakia') also in English there are several words you can use to introduce an explanation (vysvetlenie), or give the cause (príčina) or reason (dôvod) for something. In Slovak you can say 'pretože', 'keďže', 'lebo' or 'veď', and in English you can say 'because', 'since', 'for' or 'as'. There are small differences in the way these words are used: 'because' is standard (it's actually derived from the word 'cause'), so it's like 'pretože'; 'since' suggests that the other person should already know the cause or reason, e.g. 'I don't think we'll find a café open now, since it's gone 8 pm', so it's like 'keďže'; 'for' is slightly more literary or poetic, and it's often used in songs because it's short, and it can also suggest a slightly surprising explanation or reason, like 'veď' in Slovak; and 'as' is very short, so it's used for simple, easy explanations, like 'lebo' or just 'bo'.

Andy's Wordshop

Now that we have 'Three Kings' or 'Epiphany' behind us, we are well into the Carnival period, which continues until Ash Wednesday (ash meaning popol). After that there are forty days of Lent, during which a lot of people try to give up (stop using) something which they consider a luxury. In the past it was meat, and the word 'carnival' comes from Italian, basically meaning 'goodbye to meat'. 'Fašiangy' is linked with the South German 'Fasching', which originally meant either the last serving of drink (Schenk) before Lent, or a time of crazy celebration ending with 'Fastnacht', the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Now people are more civilized and not so crazy, but the celebrations go on in the form of balls (plesy), from Italian 'ballare', to dance.