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Lesson Transcript

All About, Lesson 13 - Ten Romanian Phrases Your Teacher Will Never Teach You!
Eric: Hi everyone and welcome back to RomanianPod101.com. This is All About, Lesson 13 - Ten Romanian Phrases Your Teacher Will Never Teach You! I’m Eric.
Raluca: Hey, bună! Sunt Raluca! Oh Eric, this lesson is really fun! It’s because we’re going to teach our listeners some phrases a normal teacher will never teach them!!
Eric: Ah, you mean Romanian slang!
Raluca: Yes!
Eric: But these sentences and words are still standard Romanian, right?
Raluca: Of course. Romanians understand and use them in daily life...and we can hear them in comedy TV shows as well.
Eric: We’ll hear some of the most fun and useful expressions taken from daily Romanian conversations.
Raluca: Because our listeners know how important it is to get past the slang barrier.
Eric: These phrases are hard to find in a dictionary and would rarely be mentioned during a Romanian class.
Raluca: So, let’s jump in!
Eric: Yeah, let’s get started!
Eric: The first word we’ll go over is…
Raluca: Tip, masculine and tipă, feminine.
Eric: Meaning “guy” or “girl” in English.
Raluca: When referring to a third party, it is common to use un tip or o tipă. For example, Am cunoscut o tipa interesanta…
Eric: That means “I met an interesting girl.” Any other examples?
Raluca: Sure. Şeful meu este un tip sever meaning...
Eric: “My boss is a strict guy.”
Raluca: Tip replaces the word bărbat, meaning “man,” and tipă replaces the word femeie, meaning “woman.” These shorter words are easier.
Eric: You’re right! Next we have...
Raluca: Fain!
Eric: This means “cool,” right?
Raluca: Yep, in English is mainly translated as “beautiful,” “very good,” or “cool.” The plural form is faini for masculine and faine for feminine.
Eric: It can be used as an adjective or as a exclamation to express a positive opinion.
Raluca: For example, acest aparat de fotografiat este foarte fain,
Eric: “This camera is really cool.”
Raluca: When someone says Mâine merg la Sibiu...
Eric: “Tomorrow I’m leaving for Sibiu,”
Raluca: you can simply answer with ce fain! There’s also another slang expression that could replace ce fain.
Eric: Really?
Raluca: Ce tare!
Eric: Wait....Doesn’t that mean “how hard”?
Raluca: It does. Ce means “how” and tare means “hard,” so together we have “how hard.” But when used as slang, tare is mainly translated as “cool.”
Eric: So the slang expression will mean “How cool!” Is there any difference between these two?
Raluca: I would say that it really depends on each person’s vocabulary and where they grow up.Tare is used a lot in the Romanian TV comedy shows. Fain is a softer kind of slang used a lot in Transylvania.
Eric: Alright, what expression do we have next?
Raluca: Vai ş-amar.
Eric: Which literally means “oh and bitter.”
Raluca: It indicates someone, something, or a situation is really bizarre and very disappointing.
Eric: Raluca, when do we use it?
Raluca: Mmm, in many different situations. We can give our listeners a list of some of those moments when you would use Vai ş-amar! First, when you’re stuck in a traffic jam.
Eric: When you hear bad news on TV.
Raluca: When someone is acting bizarre.
Eric: When you listen to a disappointing story.
Raluca: When you’re in a crowded place.
Eric: When someone gives you poor service.
Raluca: During all those moments you can use an irritated tone and say Vai ş-amar!!
Eric:Yes, but Romanians are generally very calm people and they rarely show their irritation in public.
Raluca: Yes, even when we are irritated we do our best not to speak in a loud voice.
Eric: I like that about Romanians!
Raluca: We should move to the next phrase now.
Eric: Okay, and that is...
Raluca: Pe bune?!
Eric: This expression is translated in English mainly as “really,” “seriously,” or “for real?”
Raluca: It can be used as an exclamation, statement, or question depending on what we want to express. For example, if I say Mâine merg in Spania,
Eric: “Tomorrow I’m leaving for Spain.”
Raluca: The answer to that can be pe bune?! in order to express your astonishment.
Eric: In English we can use “for real” or “really” to emphasize an intention. Can we do that in Romanian?
Raluca: Yes. Pe bune că voi spune adevărul.
Eric “I am really going to say the truth.” Okay, it’s time for the next slang word….
Raluca: Ah, this one is very funny, gură cască!
Eric:Why is it funny?
Raluca: Because it literally means “open mouth”. This expression is the equivalent of the English “head in the clouds.”
Eric: And it is used...
Raluca: to express that the person you’re saying it to is confused, distracted or thoughtless.
Eric: For example, when someone loses or forgots something. I think I understand, because they’re looking around open-mouthed?
Raluca: See...I told you it’s funny!
Eric: Let’s hear an example of how it is used.
Raluca: Well...once I forgot my wallet and my mother said Dacă eşti gură cască...
Eric: So how do Romanian people handle this type of criticism?
Raluca: If it comes from family or close friends it’s interpreted more like “oh...we know you have your head in the clouds...we know you so well and we understand you.”
Eric: I see. So let me guess....if it comes from someone that doesn’t know you it could be interpreted as rude
Raluca: Exactly.
Eric: Okay, what do we have next?
Raluca: a reflexive verb a se prinde.
Eric: Which means “to catch himself/herself/itself.”
Raluca: When it's used as slang though, a se prinde means “to understand.” Usually it’s used when you understood an explanation or caught someone in a lie.
Eric: What if we add “no” in front?
Raluca: Well it is very simple...if we add “no,” which is nu in Romanian, it becomes nu m-am prins.
Eric: “I didn’t understand!”
Raluca: Exactly!
Eric: Okay, now, let’s go on..
Raluca: Next we have some more two-synonym slang words …Vrăjeală and abureală.
Eric: “Witchery” and “vapor”... I have to admit that these words sound very special. Are they used to scare people?
Raluca: Oh not at all... A fitting situation to use these words is when someone is saying something very odd and you don’t believe it.
Eric: For instance...
Raluca: If someone says Am auzit ca salariile vor creşte cu 10 la sută.
Eric: “I heard that the salaries will increase by 10 percent.”
Raluca: A Romanian person would probably answer vrăjeală or abureală.
Eric: Now it makes sense.
Raluca: We also can add the verb a lăsa - “to leave.”
Eric: Can we hear the expressions?
Raluca: a lăsa abureala or a lăsa vrajeala. Both are equivalent to the English expression “to stop talking nonsense.”
Eric: Alright! What’s our next slang?
Raluca: A da papucii is used when someone is ending a serious relationship.
Eric: The literal meaning is pretty funny- “to give the shoes.”
Raluca: For example, Alexandra i-a dat papucii lui George.
Eric: “Alexandra ended her relationship with George.”
Raluca: or i-am dat papucii luna trecută,
Eric: ‘I ended the relationship a month ago.”
Eric: This can be very useful when talking about relationships! What’s next?
Raluca: We have the last slang word for this lesson.
Eric: What is it?
Raluca: Baftă!
Eric: Romanians use this a lot to say “good luck.”
Raluca: Baftă! is a synonym for the Romanian word noroc which means “chance” and can be used only in casual conversations.
Eric: For example, if your friend will be taking an exam...
Raluca: You’ll say Baftă! and he’ll answer mulţumesc,
Eric: “Thank you.” Well, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time.
Raluca: Stay tuned! La revedere!!!

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