# Iron Curtain



## Cracker Jack

I would like to know how ''Iron Curtain'' is called in other languages.  This refers to a post-WW II boundary separating the communist Eastern Europe from the rest of the continent.

It was popularized by Sir Winston Churchill in a 1945 (1946???) speech, to wit: _''From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an_ *iron curtain* _has descended_ _across the continent._

Thanks in advance.


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## Jana337

And why don't you start with languages you speak? 

Czech: Železná opona
železo - iron
železná - adj.
opona - curtain but not the curtain you can have in your living room. The word "opona" rather invokes theatre.

Jana


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## Cracker Jack

Jana337 said:
			
		

> And why don't you start with languages you speak?
> 
> Czech: Železná opona
> železo - iron
> železná - adj.
> opona - curtain but not the curtain you can have in your living room. The word "opona" rather invokes theatre.
> 
> Jana


 
You are right Jana.  I got carried away.  In my native language Ilonggo (Hiligaynon) we call it _kurtina nga salsalon_, in Tagalog it is known as _kurtinang bakal_ or 
_tabing na bakal._

Kurtina is curtain is a Spanish influence in our vocabulary. _Tabing _is purely Tagalog but it is not used in conversation. Iron in Ilonggo is _salsalon and _in Tagalog - _bakal._


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## Linnéa

I think it's *järnridån* in Swedish.
Järn = Iron
Ridå = The curtain you can see in a theatre.


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## Outsider

Portuguese: *Cortina de Ferro*

P.S. The word "cortina" refers to a household curtain. We call a theatre curtain "pano".


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## Roi Marphille

In Catalan we used: *Teló d'acer*. 
btw, "iron curtain" is "cortina de ferro" just like in Portuguese, and sounds the same, but we didn't use this phrase refering what Cracker Jack meant.
Teló: is the large curtain used in theaters. 
acer: steel. 
So it would be something like steel curtain. 

In Castilian is also: 
*Telón de acero*.


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## Fernando

"Telón de acero" in Spanish. In Spanish a "cortina" is a very thin curtain used in homes, while "telón" is only used in theaters.

Acero stands for steel rather than for hierro (iron)


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## elroy

Arabic:

*الستار الحديدي*
_(as-sitaaru 'l-hadiidiy)_


ستار (_sitaar_): theatrical curtain
برداي (_burdaay_): household curtain


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## amikama

Hebrew:
*מסך הברזל*
(Just like in the other languages: "curtain of iron", with curtain in the theatrical context.)


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## Islendingurinn

In icelandic its: "Járntjaldið"

Járn = Iron
Tjaldið = curtain


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## Whodunit

In German:

*Der Eiserne Vorhang* (= The Iron Curtain)
*Eiserner Vorhang *(= Iron Curtain)

Vorhang:

can be used for curtains in theatre as well as in a living room.
eisern

adjective, meaning "irony"
"Eisern" is capitalized, because it's a proper noun


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## KingSix

Dutch: Ijzeren Gordijn.


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## frequency

Japanese: 鉄のカーテン, tetsu no curtain
tetsu=iron
added particle no


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## DanTheMan

Korean:
철의 장막; in IPA: /ʃɔrʊi cɑŋmɑk̚/;  (cholui changmak)

It literally means curtain of iron, or iron curtain.


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## Agnès E.

French:
Le rideau de fer (rideau = all senses of curtain)


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## Ilmo

Finnish:
Rautaesirippu
Rauta = Iron
esirippu = The curtain you can see in a theatre.
You see, it is only one word in our language.


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## Negg

in persian :
_pardeh_ = curtain and _âhan_ = iron  => _pardeyeh âhani  _


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## Paul Wessen

in Esperanto:
fera kurteno


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## Thomas1

In Polish:
żelazna kurtyna

kurtyna is used primarily with reference to a theatrical curtain (not a household one)
żelazo - iron
żelazna adjective


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## vic1.0

in hungarian: "vasfüggöny"
(vas=iron, függöny=curtain)


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## Cracker Jack

Thanks a lot for all your replies.


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## esper

In Greek: Σιδηρούν Παραπέτασμα (sithiroún parapetasma) meaning exactly "iron curtain", although in everyday speech we use the foreign word "kurtina" instead of "parapetasma"


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## Venya Americanul

In Romanian:
"Cortina de Fier" or "Perdeaua de Fier" litterally "The Curtain of Iron."
"Perdeaua" means the (household) curtain so I think that "cortina" is a better translation (though I'm not as familiar with the word.)  Also I see that other languages use a similar word!


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## lonelyheartsclubband

In Russian:
Железный занавес


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## Drusillo

Italian: Cortina di ferro


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## berty bee

In hungarian: vasfüggöny

vas : iron  (can bee noun or adj.)
függöny : curtain (noun)


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## Liambeiwai

In Chinese, 铁幕。


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## ilocas2

Croatian:

željezna zavjesa


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## kloie

Serbian
*gvozdena zavesna or blokovska podela*


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## apmoy70

esper said:


> In Greek: Σιδηρούν Παραπέτασμα (sithiroún parapetasma) meaning exactly "iron curtain", although in everyday speech we use the foreign word "kurtina" instead of "parapetasma"


Some etymology:

The neut. adj. *«σιδηροῦν»* [siðiˈɾun] is Katharevousa Greek and considered archaic and obsolete nowadays; it's been retained in phrasemes or proverbs; in Standard MoGr the adj. is *«σιδερένιο»* [siðeˈɾeɲo] (neut); *«σιδηροῦν»* 
[siðiˈɾun] (neut.) < Classical neut. denominative adj. *«σιδηρόεν/σιδηροῦν» sĭdēróĕn* (uncontracted)/ *sĭdēroûn* (contracted) --> _of or pertaining to iron_ < Classical masc. noun *«σίδηρος» sίdērŏs* (MoGr neut. noun *«σίδερο»* [ˈsiðeɾo]) --> _iron, iron tool, iron weapon, sword_ with obscure etymology; according to Beekes (Etymological Dictionary of Greek, pg 1329):


			
				Robert Beekes said:
			
		

> Origin unclear. The Greeks got to know iron from Asia Minor, the Pontus and Caucasus, and it is likely that they took over the word for it from these areas as well. In that sense, the resemblance with the Caucasian word (Udian) zido 'iron' may be relevant (cf. also Fur.: 105)



*«Παραπέτασμα»* [paɾaˈpetazma] (neut.) is also Katharevousa Greek; it's survived in phrasemes or religious language (e.g. the veil of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem is *«παραπέτασμα» părăpétasmă* (neut.) in the Koine language of the Christian Gospels); the deverbal noun derives from the Koine v. *«παραπετάννυμι» părăpĕtánnūmĭ* --> _to unfold a curtain, blanket, or ship's sail_ < compound; prefix, adv. and preposition *«πάρᾰ» pắră* --> _besides, by, from, next to, alongside, against_ (PIE *prh₂-/*preh₂- _beside, by_) + Classical v. *«πετάννυμι» pĕtánnūmĭ* --> _to unfold, open, disperse, spread out_ (PIE *peth₂- _to spread out_ cf Lat. patēre).
Colloquially we call it *«κουρτίνα»* [kurˈtina] (fem.) < It. cortina.


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## ger4

Ilmo said:


> Finnish:
> Rautaesirippu
> Rauta = Iron
> esirippu = The curtain you can see in a theatre.
> You see, it is only one word in our language.


Estonian:
_Raudne eesriie
raudne_ = 'iron', used as an adjective here; derived from the noun _raud _= 'iron'
_eesriie_ = 'curtain'; prefix _ees_ (can often be translated as 'before') + _riie_ ('cloth, fabric')


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