Tricky Words in this week's OVI

Technique and technology. The English understanding of "a technique" is a method or a way ("spôsob") of doing something. Dick Fosbury completely changed the traditional high-jumping technique with his upside-down "flop". The English understanding of "technology" is firstly equipment or hardware, and secondly understanding or know-how. Comparing this with the Slovak understanding of "technika" and "technológia", I'd say that these words should sometimes be translated VICE-VERSA - "technika" as "technology" and "technológia" as "technique", as in the case of the new method of applying tin coating to steel sheet.
The technology (the hardware) is practically the same (if the electrolytic plant had a medium overhaul), but the chemicals (the media) have been changed (no more lead or sulfuric acid). Of course, sometimes "technika" means "technique" and "technológia" means "technology" because of the underlying meaning - not because they look similar!

Andy's Wordshop

The question this week is about CHEESE - is it the same as Slovak "syr"? In the modern sense I'd say it's the same - Edam or Eidam, blue cheese or Niva, Cheddar cheese, Parmesan - some of them are softer, some very hard, but they've all been PRESSED into shape. The Latin word "forma" is the origin of the French "fromage", but "cheese" comes from the Latin "caseus", which meant "curd". Pressed, dried curd is "tvaroh" (tvar = forma), but that's "cottage cheese" in English, because it's easy enough to make at home, and fermented sheep curd is "bryndza", but you can call it "sheep cheese" for simplicity. There is an old thieves' slang expression "Cheese it!", meaning "Stop it" (probably a distortion of "cease it"), but I've never heard anyone say it.
Please send questions about English language habits to ocelvychodu@sk.uss.com, and I will choose one to answer each week. AB