Tricky Words in this week's OVI

Defend, defense. This comes from the Latin verb expressing the idea of striking something away (odbiť), but the modern sense is "hájiť", "chrániť" or "brániť". When last year's champions play to keep their title, they defend it. If they win again, they successfully defend it. The opposite of defend is offend, but this word has developed the meanings "uraziť niekoho" and "spáchať priestupok", so you don't hear it used in sport so much as "attack" or "forward". An offensive player might be understood as "surový, bezočivý hráč". There's a spelling issue too: American English has defense and offense, whereas British English has defence and offence. The meanings and associations are the same, though.

Andy's Wordshop

The village of Brezovica has re-formed its "Folklórny súbor Brezovičan". In Slovak there's a difference between "folklór" and "folk"; in English it's all just kinds of "folk", so I suggest "traditional folk" and "modern folk" to express the respective Slovak terms. The English word "folklore" is probably best translated into Slovak as "pranostika", as it means the collection of knowledge or experience (lore = learning) which country people have gathered to help them live their lives, consisting especially of sayings about the weather, plants and animals, and the habits of nature. The word "folk" is usually associated with various types of indigenous or ethnic music and dance. Irish folk is popular all over the world.