Tricky Words in this week‘s OVI

To miss. In the title of the piece “He exposes risks which others miss”, the idea is “which other people don't see”. This is derived from the first meaning of “miss”, which is not to hit the target (terč – and remember to say /tár-git/) when shooting, i.e. to shoot wide of the mark. So some people look at working activities and processes, but they don't spot the potential risks. In another sense, some people listen to others speaking, but they don't understand correctly because they “miss the point” (nepochopia zmysel). Extending the idea, time can be a target as well, so if somebody is late, they may miss an appointment, or miss the chance of getting something.

Andy’s Wordshop

Continuing with the meanings of “to miss”, we can now introduce the idea of feeling bad about not having or losing something or someone. Living in Valaliky, after a holiday in the Alps I could say “I miss the mountains”. If my wife goes on holiday with her friends, I can text her “I miss you”. People ask me what I miss from England after living for so long in Slovakia (answer: very little, given the present sutuation there). Be careful translating Slovak expressions like Chýbajú mi peniaze, because this is different from Chýbajú mi hory. If you don't have enough money, say “I lack money”, and the government may say “We lack the resources”, because it sounds quite formal.