Friday, October 12, 2007

Berries, Berries, or How Do You Say Berries in Hebrew?

Today I want to talk about different kinds of berries, and their Hebrew translations. It sure is interesting.
Lets start with Blackberries. Well, before I moved here I thought we had 2 kinds of raspberries in Hebrew: the real red (or whatever color that is) raspberries and black raspberries. After I came here and saw real blackberries, I realized there's a big difference between these two kinds, except for their colors. Anyway, one day I was looking at Morfix dictionary and discovered that blackberry is translated as: black raspberry and/or a collection of blueberries. I'm sure that whoever is responsible for this translation (Who knows, maybe even Eliezer Ben Yehuda- The reviver of Hebrew, around 100 years ago) never tasted or even got the chance to see with his own eyes what he was talking about. I use His instead of Her because: 1. If that was a woman, she would have checked twice before she would make a translation like that. 2. Even if it was a woman, it wouldn't have been mentioned or some men will make it appear like a man translated it.

Next- Elderberries.
Nobody actually even tried to translate it into Hebrew, and decided to call it Sambuc (pronounced: Sum-book). Which derived from its Latin botanic name: Sambucus. Which is OK. Except that it sounds like a 2-words combination: Samboosak (A kind of Mediterranean pastry) and Bakbook (A bottle). So it sounds a bit like a bottle of sambosak. Whatever...

Next- Blackcurrants.
I like this one: Fox' Grapes. Not surprising considering the fact that we also have Fox' grains (Oats). I never tasted Blackcurrants, but we do have Blackcurrants juice at work, and I don't like the taste. But I wouldn't think twice if I have the chance to eat some.

This must lead to our next Berries: Gooseberries.
No, it is not translated as gooses berries. It actually have a nice name: Domdemaniot. Can't explain the translation. I can only say that it sounds reddishy like. But it is a nice word, and really sounds like a kind of berry.

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