Tricky Words in this week's OVI

Let's revise the use of the word Chief in English. It's much more specific than the use of "šéf" in Slovak, because that is used in the sense of "boss" as well as in combinations like "šéfkuchár" or "policajný šéf". Chief is derived from the Latin word caput, meaning the head, so the Slovak "hlavný/á" is closer to the idea of chief in English. The French word chef is used in English with the meaning "šéfkuchár", pronounced /šef/. Otherwise chief is only used in combinations, mainly in official titles: Chief of Police, Fire Chief, Chief Auditor, Chief Accountant, Chief Engineer, Commander-in-Chief, Editor-in-Chief. It is also used as an adjective in expressions such as "the chief cause" (hlavná príčina), or as an adverb, chiefly, like "hlavne" in Slovak.

Andy's Wordshop

The other day I was asked how to say "čiarkové počítanie" I II III IIII in English, and off the top of my head I said "keeping a tally". I thought this came from the German "zählen" (to count), but in fact it's derived from the Latin talea, meaning a notched wooden stick. It's the same idea as when you say "sekera" in Slovak, because the inn-keeper would cut notches (výrezy) in the customer's ax-handle to keep count of the number of drinks he'd had. What is more interesting is that the talea stick could be split along the middle, making two matching sticks, so the creditor and the debtor could keep one each, a form of guarantee for the creditor. The tally counting method has different forms in other cultures, but they're mostly based on counting groups of five, because five is easier for people to see and work with than ten.