# All Slavic languages: eat your word



## vandad

How do you translate this slang into your language:"Eat your word!" or "I eat my word."?


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## Orlin

I'm not completely sure what this English slang means, but I guess the closest in Bulgarian is (да) си взема (perf.)/взимам си (imperf.) думите назад = to take one's own words back.


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## iobyo

The equivalent idiom in Macedonian is _(си го) повлекува зборот_ ("to take back one's word").



Orlin said:


> I'm not completely sure what this English slang  means, but I guess the closest in Bulgarian is (да) си взема  (perf.)/взимам (imperf.) думите назад = to take one's own words  back.



I've heard this in Macedonian too (_(си ги) зема (своите) зборови назад_), but I wouldn't say it's as idiomatic as the above.


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## marco_2

In Polish:

I have to eat my words = *Muszę odwołać to, co powiedziałem *or possibly *Cofam moje słowa.*
Eat your words! = *Odwołaj to! *or more rudely*: Odszczekaj to*! (szczekać = to bark).  Of course, as my friends from the Polish forum suggest, you can say: *Przyznaję się do błędu *or *Biję się w piersi*, but all depends on context.


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## lokopithecus

In Slovak

I eat my words. :_ Odvolávam, čo som povedal._ 
_Beriem to späť. _


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## nexy

In Serbian:

Eat your word! - *Povuci reč!*
I eat my word. - *Povlačim reč.*


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## vianie

And what about "promiň, nic jsem neřek" as a Czech equivalent and "prepáč, nič som nepovedal" as a Slovak one?


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## DenisBiH

There is a rather colorful expression which dr. Vojislav Šešelj once used in that sense in trial, but I'm not sure how widely used it is. Somewhat vulgar also, but I personally find it to be in tune with the Balkans spirit. Not sure if we are allowed to post vulgar expressions here, but in general it has to do with ingesting the feces one has excreted.


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## Sobakus

Беру свои слова назад in Russian, бери for imperative.


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## nexy

Denis, I am curious to know what expression you refer to.


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## DenisBiH

nexy said:


> Denis, I am curious to know what expression you refer to.




This one, there is a rough translation in English for non-locals. I assumed that most people in ex-Yu would know of it, it's one of my personal favorites from ICTY.


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## iobyo

DenisBiH said:


> This one, there is a transcript in English for non-locals. I assumed that most people in ex-Yu would know of it, it's one of my personal favorites from ICTY.



That clip has been shown quite a few times on Macedonian TV.

A note for people not from the ex-Yu countries: "to shit" can mean lying or exaggerating.

EDIT: I guess it's much like the English "to bullshit". A common phrase is _ne seri_ ("don't bullshit").


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## DenisBiH

iobyo said:


> That clip has been shown quite a few times on Macedonian TV.
> 
> A note for people not from the ex-Yu countries: "to shit" can mean lying or exaggerating.
> 
> EDIT: I guess it's much like the English "to bullshit". A common phrase is _ne seri_ ("don't bullshit").




True, but _srati_ as in _sereš_ or _ne seri_ is not quite the same, at least in my opinion, as _moraćeš da pojedeš govna koja si izasrao_. Google shows some hits, so it is used. Here's an example



> Ne bi me cudilo da i kostunica udje sa tadicem u vladu i pritom pojede  sva govna koja je izasrao tokom kampanje.. Vlast je vlast..


And an example from Croatia:



> Ne slažem se s opozivom, SDP mora jesti sva govna koja je izasrao sve ove godine.



Those uses sound quite close to the below definition of "eat your words":



> If you eat your words, you accept publicly that you were wrong about something you said.


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## nexy

Znam, video sam taj klip odavno. Pretpostavljao sam da misliš na to ali nisam bio siguran koji deo se odnosio na ovaj post (eat your word!). Sad sam čuo i ukapirao na šta misliš.


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## DenisBiH

nexy said:


> Znam, video sam taj klip odavno. Pretpostavljao sam da misliš na to ali nisam bio siguran koji deo se odnosio na ovaj post (eat your word!). Sad sam čuo i ukapirao na šta misliš.




Da, da, taj je. Istina je da nema baš potpuno isto značenje (meni barem) kao _povući riječ_, jer se u ovom drugom slučaju to "jedenje" može vidjeti i kroz akcije a ne riječi, ali mi se čini da je generalno tu negdje sa ovim engleskim. Evo engleskog primjera uz koji mi se čini da bi "jedenje" odlično pasalo.


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## iobyo

DenisBiH, is this expression really that idiomatic or are these examples influenced by Šeselj's words?


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## DenisBiH

iobyo said:


> DenisBiH, is this expression really that idiomatic or are these examples influenced by Šeselj's words?




Not really sure, I can't recall having heard it many times, if at all, before Šešelj. It is pretty strong, unlike _sereš_ and _ne seri_ which can be used jovially among friends, the Šešelj expression has a pretty clear connotation of enmity. It could however be that those uses quoted above were influenced by Šešelj.

If by "idiomatic" we understand this:



> Pertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language.


then to me it is BCS-like in its style, just somewhat more "inventive" than the usual, and somewhat charged/intense.

Note also, _jesti govna_ and _ne jedi govna_ as a more intensive way of saying "to talk/do nonsense/rubbish" and "do not talk nonsense / shut your mouth" are pretty well established as far as I know. There is also _pojesti govno_ in the meaning of "do/experience something unpleasant for oneself". So it's not a really big leap combining the established uses of _srati_ and _jesti govna_ into something like this.

But other speakers may view this differently.


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