nemam reči - S

Šta je ovo?
Događalo mi se ponekad da baš moram da prevedem nešto sa srpskog na engleski, i udarim glavom o zid, kako i priliči prevodiocu. Jedan od tih zidova su reči koje ama nikako ne postoje u engleskom, nego mora okolo.Ako umete da pročitate ovaj tekst, onda vam objašnjenje tih reči ne treba - ali treba za anglofone čitaoce, a i da malo proverite jesam li ih valjano objasnio. Oko nekih sam konsultovao te anglofonce, neke su tako i nestale sa spiska, a oko većine pomoći nema.
14-II-2006 - 12-XII-2022 idi kući  
Reč koje nema
opisni prevod na engleski
sagovornik
Interlocutor - but nobody uses that. The co-speaker, the other party in a conversation.
Since 25-II-2008 when I wrote this, I've started inserting the co-speaker where needed, and it worked splendidly. Nobody was confused. I hope it catches.
saksija
"flower pot" - but then translating "izmišlja rupu na saksiji" - "invents the flower pot hole" (which is a rough equivalent of "invents the wheel", but at a less useful level) leads to "flower pothole" association which then calls for an explanation... makes one give up in advance.
saputnik
fellow traveller - English is really missing the with- prefix, like the co-conspirator or co-author have it. The co-traveller may not be a fellow at all.
sebe
oneself, himself, herself, itself, myself, themselves, ourselves, anyone-self, anyone-selves
sekundara
the seconds hand on a clock
c'mon, this is a technical term, there must be a word for it
sinoć
last night
actually wrong half of the time, because it may mean the whole night, while „sinoć“ actually means yesterday evening
even though the root of the word means „this night“, but the word for that is now „noćas“
sirotinja
The poor, as a singular noun, to mean them all in general.
sit
Sated, full, stuffed, had enough to eat, not hungry. Also, had enough (of food or enough of it all).
skrenuti
take a turn - also not, because this phrase mostly means doing what the guy before you did; giving it a try. Taking a left or right turn is secondary and not necessarily implied if side isn't specified.
deflect - covers only the transitive meaning of the verb, as in "skrenuti tok reke" - "diverting the flow of the river", but not the most frequent case when one just changes direction
divert - is almost wrong; it also covers only the transitive case, and even that partially; diverting a piece of some whole to a different use, or diverting one's attention; the most common usage is not covered at all
switch - works only in the case of a railway (railway switch is called "skretnica"); for everything else, "switch" is "prekidač" - discontinuer, i.e. device to disconnect an electric circuit; as a verb, "to switch" means 'replace', 'turn on/off', 'whip' and 'skrenuti' is distant fourth.
shunt - all the available meanings are technical - to connect in parallel, to maneuver (around something)... again, 'skrenuti' is distant fourth.
slikovnica
"picture book" would be it, if it would denote exactly that kind of illustrated story for kids and nothing else.
slovo
character - wouldn't work because that's one of the four (sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic), or a persona in a theatrical play, slovo is an element of an alphabet
letter - nope, that's something you receive in an envelope
stavka
item - no good, because it means any object, a member of a list, even a couple of people in a relationship. Stavka is a line item in a document (like an invoice, ledger, manifest, inventory, meeting agenda).
line item works only in the context of invoices and other similar documents which have them, however "stavka" is also a line item in anything that has them, not necessarily a document, e.g. listing reasons why something is not good for the givent purpose, "stavku po stavku" - reason by reason.
stecište
"point of convergence" would be nice, if it wasn't related to maths and physics, where it, pardon the pun, diverges from the meaning of "stecište", even though it comes almost close enough.
"Gathering place" would be also nice, if it was not ambiguous - "stecište" is a place where people or things come to meet each other, or the roads do (Rome would be one such place), not where someone gathers something.
stići
Has three meanings, and only the least important one exists in english - to arrive (somewhere).
The main meaning, when used as a transitive verb, is to run up to someone who (or something which) had advanced in motion. As in "I'll start going two minutes before you do and then you stigni me".
When used as a modal verb, means "managed to do xx in time" - "nisam stigao da se obrijem" - "I didn't find the time to shave".
stočar
animal husband would be the proper translation if it wasn't ridiculous
animal husbandry practitioner would be a bit better if it weren't so extremely long
cattler would be exactly the translation, if the word existed in english
suhomesnati proizvodi
Dictionaries translate this as "delicatessen", but that's not it. Delicacies include all kinds of finer foods, including cheeses, salads etc. This is only, literally translated, "dry meat products".
svoj
One's own, applicable to any person. Lat. suus.