New Weird

[Dina]

May be.
Ages vary here, but yes, First Communion happens somewhere in primary school and Confirmation probably around the first years of Secondary School. I think that is why I never did the confirmation. My last year of primary school was extra busy (I had to take extra classes because I was preparing to enter a school which required to pass an exam and I was also doing classic ballet) and the first year of secondary school I needed adaptation and then...I think we never thought about it again.

[Regenbogen]

Oh, you were very busy as a kid.

I inserted Konfirmation and Firmung into both Google translate and Deepl but both translated to confirmation. It seems there is really just the one word for both. And it seems the same way in Spanish: confirmación.

So I did the same with latin: and behold!

firmare = to strengthen

confirmare = to confirm (duh)
"confirm implies the removing of doubts by an authoritative statement or indisputable fact."
"to prove that a believe or an opinion that was previously not completely certain is true" (Cambridge Dictionary)

So there is a slight difference in the origin of the words, but in use they describe almost the same ceremony.

Now I am thinking of "firme el documento". I was confused that it means to sign. But now, when I think about it, it makes more sense, because one could see it as a strenghening of the document, when it is signed. Sometimes there are words that have seemingly gone far from their original meaning.


Something else: I had a massage today. It was very nice and relaxing.

[Dina]

Oh, I am glad you enjoyed your massage 

And oh, when I was very little I had dance, which I had pretty much all my primary school. Then I did one year of French because I liked. Cathechesis 2 years. And then the preparation for my school. I was busy but not terribly so, as I did not many things at the same time.

That is very interesting all about confirmation and the slight difference in meaning. And about ""firmar" I had not even thought on that, but yes, it gives strength to what is signed.

Sometimes I wonder about words too. For example, today I was thinking that in English the word "violinist" exists, but I mostly see "fiddler" and I wonder where that came from.

[Regenbogen]

Violin or fiddle?
I asked this myself, because I play the instrument and at first I thought that fiddle was just the Irish word.
Or there are different ways to hold the instrument when you play: like pressed to your chest or belly instead of your throat. Like it was originally played.
Here I found an interesting article:

https://www.yourclassical.org/story/2017/01/26/violin-vs-fiddle

Basically it says, that there is no difference, it's the same instrument. It could be that the fiddles' strings are different, but usually it is just the style of music you play with it.

So I play both, lol.


And while we are at it. I changed my Duolingo course from Spanish/German to Spanish/English and there are different words used.

Like what is the difference between el coche and el carro? Both translate to the car.
And between el mesero and el camarero? Both translate to the waiter.

[Dina]

Thank you very much about the violin/fiddle thing! I've read the article and it was very useful.

About the Spanish words...well, for starters, sometimes we have more than a world for the same thing. Coche and carro can be an example, but there are also regional differences. You won't find an Argentinian saying "carro", that is something we say it comes from Mexican dubbing. We say coche and, much more frequently, auto. Nobody will look at you funny if you say coche, but auto is more common. A classical example of Mexican dubbing that we usually make fun of is "aparca el carro". That means to park the car. We say "estaciona". An Argentinian may say "carro" when talking about a rural transport driven by horses and perhaps in some other cases I do not remember right now. But never to a common car.
"Mesero" and "camarero" are the same. I think mesero is more used in México and camarero in Spain, but I am not 100% sure. But none of them is widely used in Argentina. We said "mozo" (which literally means young man). Sometimes instead of "moza" (the female version) people say "camarera". It sounds more fancy i think. But when we want to call the waiter we say mozo or directly "señor" or "señorita" for a woman waiter.

[Regenbogen]

@Dina. This is very interesting. Thank you. I thought it might be either regional differences or just synonyms.

We also mostly say Auto.
There is one word that seems to be related to Spanish carro and English car: der Karren or die Karre
Can be used perogative for a car, but in daily use, Karren is mostly used for non motorised transport devices with wheels.
Another word that is rarely used for car, but you can see or hear it once in a while: der Wagen.
But this can also mean any other vehicle or even trailers.

Auto is specific and precise. One can also see PKW for car in official documents or police reports or in the news. Which means Personenkraftwagen: a motorised vehicle for people.
There is also the widespread LKW for Lastkraftwagen: a motorised vehicle to transport heavy goods. A truck.


Mini is stressed out, because the weekend is so packed with everything she has to to and where she has to be at what time for the confirmation.
But my mother will make her tasty potatoe salad today, so at least she will have that to enjoy.

[Dina]

It seems that your daily use for Karren is like our common use for carro  (in Argentina).
Wagen reminds me to vagón (wagon) which is used for the compartments of a train.

it is good that Mini has something yummy to help her with the stressful days. Best wishes for her!

Apparently we will have a very cold weekend, with probably 2 C and even -2 in suburbia.

[Regenbogen]

It seems that your daily use for Karren is like our common use for carro  (in Argentina).
Wagen reminds me to vagón (wagon) which is used for the compartments of a train.

it is good that Mini has something yummy to help her with the stressful days. Best wishes for her!

Apparently we will have a very cold weekend, with probably 2 C and even -2 in suburbia.

When talking about a train, there is the word "Waggon", emphasis on the "o". 

Thanks for the well wishes. Mini is up in her room to 'meditate' before she'll have to face the unexpected visit to the church, lol.

2 and -2 °C sounds good to me, because right now I can't imagine any more what it feels like, lol. That's always the case during summer. One wishes to have winter temperatures back, but during winter one wishes summer temperatures back.
Tomorrow the forecast says 32°C. But on Sunday it will be only around 20, because it's going to be a rainy day.

Today I'm cleaning the house for the guests, because we won't be able to sit outside on Sunday. We'll have to move the furniture in the living room to make space for another table and seats.
And I must make muffins and a cake.

[Dina]

When I was a child, it was common in my city to have below zero temperatures, but nowadays it is very rare. But luckily the forecast is for the weekend so we will have a nice cozy weekend, probably with soup and things like that.

Wishing you all the best too, with the cleaning, organizing and cooking.

[Regenbogen]

Thank you. And enjoy your weekend.

[Dina]

So, how was the confirmation?

My weekend was good. It was also lazy but it was cold so we remained all cozy and we also watched a match for the Copa America, which is like the Eurocopa. Our national team was already classified to the next round, so there was less emotion, but it was still fun to watch it.

[Regenbogen]

So, how was the confirmation?

It was good. We were so lucky the weather forecast was not entirely correct. It didn't start to rain until the late afternoon and there was also only a small amount of wind, so we could sit outside until about 5 and eat the cakes. The temperature was perfect for that. Not too hot and not too cold.

Mini got a lot of money and art supplies. The money she put in an envelope to safe for her driving licence which tends to be very expensive here. About thrice of what I paid in my youth. Crazy. But better to have one to be more flexible when looking for a job later. Not only in terms of location but also because there are lots of jobs that require a driving licence. She doesn't know what to do yet, but there still are two years left to decide. And maybe she wants to go to school longer and do some bachelors or another degree afterwards.

LOL, I just remembered meeting an old friend from school after the exams who told me that he didn't yet know what to do for a living and wanted me to consider studying business management like himself. Then I would have more time to decide what I wanted to do and even if I couldn't decide, I could still find great jobs in that area.
But I said, why would I want that. I already knew years ago what I want to do and I am doing exactly that, and he was shocked, because he could not imagine how I did it. And I was shocked because I could not imagine how one could not know what to do at the age of 21.

[Dina]

I am so glad Mini's confirmation was good, that you all could enjoy it, and that she received money and good things.
I do not drive, so I have not idea how expensive is the driving license here, but I am pretty sure is not too much. I am sure it is nothing to save for 2 years. So you really surprised me. I had never even considered money as a factor on getting a license.
Well, hopefully Mini is happy with her savings right now.
The last part. Mm, for me is a mix. I knew some things I wanted to do, but not others. For example, by 17 I knew I was going to follow a degree on something science related. I knew I was never going to be a medicine doctor or a veterinarian. I could not stomach any of them (the pain, the sadness, I do not mean the gross parts). At 21, of course, I was studying biology and I knew that was what I wanted. But I did not know what I wanted to do specifically. What to study, or where. But well, life happens and shows you the path 

[Regenbogen]

That's what I meant. One knows the kind of direction one wants to go. But some don't even know the direction.

We are watching the football game Germany vs Spain. Or should I say soccer?
Enjoying Nico Williams' hair.  No score yet.


Edit: Spain won. Damn.

[Dina]

Please, do not say soccer. I've been posting "football (soccer)" here for years, so I am glad when someone else says football.
I am sorry, I was rooting for you guys. We always respect Germany, but Spain, not so much. Since their World Cup we think they are too full of themselves.