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Tricky Words in this week's OVI
Originators. This is not actually the tricky word here, because that's the Slovak word "autor". Being a tricky word, this looks quite similar to the English "author", but of course it means
something else, because (typically again) the Slovak word covers a range of meanings, whereas the English meaning is quite specific.
The Slovak idea of "autor" includes people who write all sorts of texts, people who prepare projects, drafts of laws or proposals for saving the euro, but also people who paint pictures or produce
sculptures, as well as people who compose music. In modern English, only people who write things are authors - novelists, poets, journalists; the others are originators of projects, or legislators,
then artists - painters, sculptors, composers - who might be called creators too.
It's risky to shorten things as well - somebody who prepares a project is the originatorof the project, not the "projector", because that means "premietač", the machine for showing films or
slides prevent-fouc.
Andy's Wordshop
Let's keep up to date with the public holidays and holy days or religious festivals. In Slovakia January 6 is called "Traja králi" and it's a public holiday, as well as being Christmas Eve for
Greek Catholics and Russian Orthodox Christians. In English-speaking countries it's not a holiday, but it is a religious festival called "Epiphany", which means "showing" in old Greek, because it's
traditionally the day when Jesus was shown to the Magi (/mej-džaj/, the Three Wise Men, i e. Mudrci, because they were not in fact kings).
In Slovakia again, February 2 is called Hromnice, another example of an ancient pagan festival invoking Perún, god of thunder, taken over by a Christian one, celebrating the puriication of the
Virgin Mary and the presentation of Christ in the Temple. In Britain it's called Candlemas, and in the USA it's Groundhog Day - more next time.