# Persian: خر-



## seitt

Greetings

I have been told that خر as a prefix means ‘large, huge’.

According to this logic, your word for ‘crab’ (خرچنگ) would literally mean ‘large claw’, for example, but what about خربزه (a kind of ribbed melon, I think)? Is a خربزه really a large kind of بزه? But does such a word as بزه exist?

All the best, and many thanks,

Simon


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## Treaty

بزه is a fruit according to Dehkhoda: http://loghatnameh.org/dehkhoda...70486f-fa.html. However, I've never heard of it.
There is also کمبزه [kombozeh] that is probably something like a thick cucumber.


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## SajadBishop

Hello, Simon! Yes, that's true.

According to Dehkhoda Dictionary, "بزه" (Boze) is a fragrant and sweet fruit; so it's called this way since "خربزه" is large and has a pleasnat odor in comparison to most fruits.

Another animal: خرگوش
Informal usage: خرپول (Someone who has lots of money), خرخون (Someone who spends most of his time reading his textbooks), ... .

I should add that "خر" isn't a prefix but an adjective, and when it comes before a noun, it forms a compound adjective (adjective+noun).


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## fdb

Do note that the references in the Lughatnāma for _boze_ in the meaning “a kind of fruit” are to dictionaries only; there are no textual references. This means that its existence is subject to doubt.


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## seitt

Many thanks - خرخون would seem to be the Persian for "swat" - do you agree?


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## searcher123

seitt said:


> Many thanks - خرخون would seem to be the Persian for "swat" - do you agree?


What do you mean when you say "swat" please? In Persian خرخون mean "book worm".


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## SajadBishop

Swot/swat/bookworm/wonk/dweeb/grind/nerd are all great translations. (According to different dictionaries)


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## MaryamSeresht

SajadBishop said:


> Swot/swat/bookworm/wonk/dweeb/grind/nerd are all great translations. (According to different dictionaries)



I've searched the dictionaries for *swat *as *bookworm*, but I couldn't find such meaning! According to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/swat, *swat *or *swot *means *a sharp or violent blow*.


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## SajadBishop

It was hard to find "swat" with this meaning and I'm not still sure if that's correct. Here's my source.

I'm waiting for Simon to answer!


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## SamiraFrancophile

But I think خرخون is totally different from "book worm", I suggest "Nerd" as an equal to "خرخون". 
Any comments?


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## seitt

Sorry about the delay - "swat" is close to "bookworm", Morteza, but a bookworm loves books for their own sake, whereas all a swat really cares about is getting good marks at school or uni.

SajadBishop, thanks for the link, but it's not really my style. I would warmly recommend this link as you'll have access to a number of serious dictionaries:
http://www.alphadictionary.com/index.shtml

The definition on the right hand side of this page (an insignificant student who is ridiculed as being affected or studying excessively) is, imho, excellent:
http://www.onelook.com/?loc=pub&w=swot
I got it from tapping in 'swot' to AlphaDictionary.

If you require more, you have any number of excellent dictionaries on the left hand side.


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## searcher123

seitt said:


> Sorry about the delay - "swat" is close to "bookworm", Morteza, but a bookworm loves books for their own sake, whereas all a swat really cares about is getting good marks at school or uni.﴾...﴿


Thanks. So "bookworm" is كتاب‌خوان or عشق كتاب and "swat" is خرخون.

Oh! and another colloquial equivalent for خرخواني كردن is خر زدن. For example:

دو روز حسابي خر زدم ولي بازم نمره﴿‌ي قبولي﴾ نياوردم


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## seitt

Thank you so much, dear Morteza, more exquisitely colloquial Persian!

Re عشق كتاب, it would seem to mean “love of book(s)” rather than “lover of book(s)” – unless I'm missing something, of course.


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## searcher123

You are welcome my dear friend as always.

Well, to be honest I can not clarify any difference between "love of book(s)" and "lover of book(s)"! So I will explain more in Persian and will wait to learn of you about the difference.

عشق كتاب mean a person that is addicted to book reading; a person that can not leave books without reading them. In other words عشق كتاب is كسي كه عاشق خواندن كتاب است.


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## SajadBishop

You're right, seitt. Itliterally means "love of books" and can be used with this meaning too but in Persian, If someone is very fond of something, we can call him/her "something عشق".
.. - عشق درس - عشق فوتبال


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## seitt

Thank you both very much - this is an important idiom deserving attention.


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## searcher123

seitt said:


> Thank you both very much - this is an important idiom deserving attention.


You are welcome my dear friend. Can I ask some description about the difference between "love of book(s)" and "lover of book(s)", please?


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## seitt

Yes, of course.
"love of book(s)" is a feeling of love for books.
"lover of book(s)" is a person who has that feeling.

Please don't hesitate to ask again if anything else needs to be cleared up.


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## IMANAKBARI

SajadBishop said:


> Informal usage: خرپول (Someone who has lots of money)



Also : خر مایه


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## searcher123

Thank you so much. All clear now. So "love of book" is عشق كتاب and "lover of book" is عاشق كتاب. Am I right?


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## SamiraFrancophile

searcher123 said:


> Thank you so much. All clear now. So "love of book" is عشق كتاب and "lover of book" is عاشق كتاب. Am I right?



But according to my language intuition "عشق كتاب" can also be attributed to a person in addition to a feeling.


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## seitt

> Thank you so much. All clear now. So "love of book" is عشق كتاب and "lover of book" is عاشق كتاب. Am I right?


I would say yes, you are right. I just hadn't realized that عشق كتاب could be used for a person as well as a feeling, as SamiraFrancophile has just pointed out.


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