Old, but zesty

11 Apr 2022

(Slavic) linguistic trivia #666: The word for "stale" in Polish is "czerstwy" (/chehrstveeh/ you can do it, I believe in you!). It also means "vigorous" when referring to elderly men. My grandfather was a baguette. Imagine the confusion during our family gatherings. I used to hate them as a kid, now I just miss the old loaf. PS. Czech uses a similar word, but with the opposite meaning, hence the billboards advertising stale bread on the streets of Prague.