Extra tricky this week, because the words are not here in OVI, but in the USSK Public Affairs 2007 calendar with truly excellent, original pictures created by Jana Šlosárová to illustrate a selection of Slovak proverbs (príslovie), sayings (porekadlá) and folk lore (pranostiky), which I have attempted to translate.

There are some general proverbs, which also have their own English equivalents - Vrana k vrane sadá... is Birds of a feather flock together. No problem. But I couldn't find original English versions for the sayings, so I translated them practically word-for-word. And the folk lore connected with name-days makes little sense in English - I mean: Joseph builds bridges?? There's not enough space to explain that St.Joseph's Day is near the end of winter, when the weather is extremely changeable, and river ice cracks up by day and refreezes overnight, making new "bridges" for daring people. For me, this calendar also does something to preserve the intangible cultural heritage of this region of Slovakia. All the Best in 2007 to all our readers!