Sometimes potatoes are not such good luck: BIZARRE NEWS STORY.

     by A. Medved on March 7, 2007 at 6:51 am

UAU Helena will surely remember that birthday present! Are you the generous gift donator? Great idea, but don’t be offended if I’ll not use your tip on gifting my wife.

B5

     by B5 on March 7, 2007 at 8:26 am

No, it wasn’t me. If I did something like this, I would have used live snakes instead of potatoes. And the note would say: Bodi moja seksi kaÄ?a (”Be my sexy snake” — with snake meant in the positive sense. If I understand correctly, Slovenes can use “snake” as a metaphor for both a sexy woman and an evil one.)

     by Michael M. on March 7, 2007 at 8:58 am

I didn’t know that “kaÄ?a” could be taken in a positive way…. But regarding the picture: It’s a gift to remember, but I’m sure her first reaction was “who the hell is going to clean up this mess!?!?”

     by pengovsky on March 7, 2007 at 9:04 am

And I’m sure here second thought was that as well. Really… what a mess.

P.S. I’ve never heard of “kaÄ?a” referring to a woman in a positive way.

     by Sunshine on March 7, 2007 at 9:17 am

Common,ye all, a modern Slovenian woman will laugh and say “You do know where the vacuum cleaner is, don’t you!?” And continue varnishing her nails, while telling her friends about the present on her mobile (”Imagine! How stupid to think I would….”.
Michael: I’d suggest a cat and a note saying “Bodi moja maÄ?kica”

     by alcessa on March 7, 2007 at 9:29 am

here=her

     by Sunshine on March 7, 2007 at 9:33 am

Fascinating. I asked about ten people here and they all have heard the phrase Kaka kaÄ?a! (What a snake!) or something similar used in the sense of: “What a sexy girl!” (Other variations include “What a cat!” and “What a fish!” but apparently not “What a fox!” as you would in English.)

Can it be that this is part of the regional (Styrian) dialect? Do people not say this in Ljubljana or elsewhere?

Inquiring minds want to know!

     by Michael M. on March 7, 2007 at 10:20 am

Who ever did it was very… brave

     by Odyn on March 7, 2007 at 10:24 am

Can it be that this is part of the regional (Styrian) dialect? Do people not say this in Ljubljana or elsewhere?

I’ve only heard this in Maribor.
Not from a whole lot of people and not in the last ten years or so.

     by Regakvak on March 7, 2007 at 10:46 am

As soon as you hear “kaka” that’s a sign that you’re speaking to a Å tajerc. Could be that it’s only locally present. In the 25 years of my life I have never heard anyone in my presence say “kak(Å¡n)a kaÄ?a” in a positive way, yet I have heard it directed to different poisonous women.

     by Sunshine on March 7, 2007 at 10:49 am

I’d agree it’s a Maribor thing… They also have this curious expression: when they trick somene they say “kak sn ga napizdo”, and if you say the same thing in Ljubljana it means that you yelled at someone.

     by pengovsky on March 7, 2007 at 11:02 am

There’s another thing that impressed me. This guy made a serious mess all over the bed, yet he took some extra time and care to put the note into a plastic folder to secure it.

     by Sunshine on March 7, 2007 at 11:16 am

Regakvak is right - MB 80s and 90s slang. I told you, Majki!

     by BBLN on March 7, 2007 at 12:15 pm

But still, better to be a “seksi kaÄ?a” than to go “dogija vokat” (literally: to walk the dog) as some yuppies tend to do in Ljubljana.

     by pengovsky on March 7, 2007 at 12:35 pm

Pengovsky: this is not really a joke, is it? I mean: do they really say that?

     by alcessa on March 7, 2007 at 1:13 pm

What a snake! - never heard it, but i doubt saying that to a girl here would leave no consequences to your health “What a cat!� - yeah, you hear that here and there (and what a mouse as well ;))
“What a fish!� - Kakšna riba? You cant be serious
“What a fox!� - but this one i have heard a couple of times

     by mare on March 7, 2007 at 1:17 pm

They actually do… It must be noted, however, that it is limited to people around their 30s, trying desperately to create a sense of style that would fit their oversized pay-check and lavish appartements in Old Ljubljana.

     by pengovsky on March 7, 2007 at 1:17 pm

oh, and for the record, i’m from novo mesto

     by mare on March 7, 2007 at 1:18 pm

@mare: I think “fish” is actually more popular in Croatia (naturally)

Michael: you would do well in my opinion if you stuck to “bejba” (babe)

     by pengovsky on March 7, 2007 at 1:19 pm

I think they say “baba” in his part of the world…

     by alcessa on March 7, 2007 at 1:30 pm

*rofl*
that idea is cool…
I’d really like to know how she reacted

     by Dietmar on March 7, 2007 at 2:24 pm

Fish (riba) comes from Serbian, probably Belgrade slang. Maybe also used in Croatian, I don’t know, but I have heard it in Macedonian. There was a famous Belgrade band, called ‘Riblja Ä?orba’ (Fish broth?). If ‘riba’ means a sexy girl, guess what ‘riblja Ä?orba’ means?

     by nik on March 7, 2007 at 3:48 pm

Nik: A sexy girl who has had her bones taken out, her head chopped off and has been cooked with some spices? No?

     by alcessa on March 7, 2007 at 3:58 pm

“As soon as you hear “kakaâ€? that’s a sign that you’re speaking to a Å tajerc.”
Or a Primorc, or a Primorc…

     by luka on March 7, 2007 at 4:52 pm

As an aside, reading all this has reminded me of the word “trousersnake”. The slovanian translation sounds so funny - hlacna kaca. C CCC.

     by crni on March 7, 2007 at 4:59 pm

@alcessa: No, no. Read below

www.yoxim.com/stew/index.html

… Their harsh, vulgar, and at times very controversial lyrics resulted in their releases being pushed back, and sometimes even cancelled, by record labels. Their open criticism of the current regime never really sat well with the authorities, making it even harder to get published, and some of their songs simply being banned for several years at a time.

But then again, one would expect no less from a band whose very name was late ’70s slang for a woman’s menstrual cycle. A controversial name for a controversial band.

     by nik on March 7, 2007 at 7:24 pm

Oh I see. Didn’t know that.

But of course I used to be a fan

     by alcessa on March 7, 2007 at 7:52 pm

potatoes? slavs are weird.

     by karlos on March 7, 2007 at 11:06 pm

karlos: I believe “to have potatoes” was shortened from another saying “stupid farmer grows big potatoes”; potatoes weren’t directly related with luck.

     by i on March 8, 2007 at 2:06 pm

Oh no, that is not the “real truth”: the Austro-Hungarian emperors were trying to enforce potato growing and had to employ soldiers to watch out for farmers destroying their own fields, because they opposed potatoes so strongly. During wartimes, soldiers who were guarding potato fields were said to have potatoes, i.e. luck, because they didn’t have to be fighting in the war…

     by alcessa on March 8, 2007 at 2:24 pm

damn this was informative! and funny picture too!

     by Katja on March 10, 2007 at 9:30 pm