Tricky Words in this week's OVI
The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. The first thing about this name is that it's an example of the typical word-order in place names in English. Basically the proper name comes first, followed by what
kind of place it is. For the sake of simplicity, first Hilton, then Hotel. This is the opposite way round compared to Slovak, where the name comes second, because then it doesn't have to be
grammatically declined. There's another example in the St. Clement Hofbauer Foster Home.
The other thing about the DoubleTree is the meaning of "by". I think it should be understood in the same way as "Moby Dick by Hermann Melville", because the novel was created by him in a certain
style, and the DoubleTree brand was created by the Hilton company also in a certain style. It's not an original "Hilton Hotel", but the name suggests "Hilton quality".
Andy's Wordshop
Gender versus Sex. It's common for words to have more than one meaning. Sex can mean "pohlavie" or "pohlavný styk". Have a look at the older-style, slightly larger Slovakian ID card and you'll see
English words as well as Slovak, including Pohlavie/Sex. No problem - it's a short word, so it's good for ID cards and application forms. But some people, when filling in a form, write "Yes please"
in the box marked Sex, suggesting the other meaning. That's a joke, but if more and more people understand only the meaning "pohlavný styk", then other people react by starting to use another,
neutral word instead.
Gender means "gramatický rod", but it is being used increasingly to mean "pohlavie" in cases where "pohlavný styk" is not relevant, for example at the Institute for Gender Equality.
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