Re: They Have a Word for It!

"SMITH,MARCUS ANTHONY" wrote:

> On Fri, 3 Aug 2001, John Cowan wrote:
>
> > > My favourite 'untranslatable' Swedish word is _fika_, a verb, meaning roughly
> > > "to chat with friends over a cup of coffee" (right, Daniel?).  When I was an
> > > exchange student in Sweden, we used _fika_ all the time, even when we were
> > > speaking English ("You wanna go _fika_?").  Such a useful word.
> >
> > Wudda deprived Westerner.  All New Yorkers know that the English for
> > _fika_ is "shmooze".
>
> I've always used that word for chatting with someone in authority over
> you. Students shmooze with professors when they want to get on their good
> side without being a kiss-ass.
Right.  That's how I've always used it down here.

===================================
Thomas Wier | AIM: trwier

"Aspidi men Saiôn tis agalletai, hên para thamnôi
  entos amômêton kallipon ouk ethelôn;
autos d' exephugon thanatou telos: aspis ekeinê
  erretô; exautês ktêsomai ou kakiô" - Arkhilokhos