# jintui



## 123xyz

Hello everyone,

Could someone tell me what the English translation of the Romanian verb "jintui" is? I understand the definition in DEX (a frământa cașul pentru a-l stoarce de zer), but I can't think of an English equivalent. Meanwhile, the dictionary here doesn't have an entry for this word, nor does Google Translate. The other dictionaries (the ones listed in the resources, except the ones which asked me to register, which I didn't want to do) I tried were equally unhelpful.

P.S. Is this word by any chance archaic? I realize that it pertains to a very specific domain, namely dairy products, such that only very few people would need to use it (dairy farmers and some others), but besides that, is it an acceptable word?

Thank you in advance


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## irinet

Hi,
I don't know of any translation in English, but the Italian term 'ricotta' is much closer to our 'jintita' (possibly 'whey') which comes from a beautiful, traditional Romanian region, Ardeal. I am neither sure if 'to whey' can be a verb in English so as to fit the Romanian translation for the verb 'a jintui'.


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## farscape

Hey 123xyz,

What is the context where you've found this word used in?

Depending on the spelling - which I can't figure out without the context - it could be something not related to the process of making *jintiță* but rather the verb a _*jindui*_, a bit arhaic and meaning to want/desire something very intensely.

It's always best to give us the context in which the word is being used to avoid confusions and to help focus a possible translation in the right direction.

Cheers,
f.


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## farscape

irinet said:


> Hi,
> ...I am neither sure if 'to whey' can be a verb in English so as to fit the Romanian translation for the verb 'a jintui'.



1. *Jintiță* is a word used throughout the entire country and I don't think it's specific to a region (encountered it in the Giurgiu region as well as in the Rucăr region)

2. _To make whey_ works well in this case.

Later,
f.


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## 123xyz

Thank you for the answers. 
Farscape, I encountered the word in a ballad (written without diacritics, for whatever reason), in the following context:

Dar mocanul, ca mocanul
Care jintuieste banul
Si se judeca cu anul
Pe surul mi s-arunca

There was a glossary at the end of the anthology of ballads, in which "jintui" was glossed as "economisi". In any case, I looked up the word in DEX and found that it has an unrelated meaning, so I was just curious as to how that meaning would be rendered in English. I don't have any context for that meaning. As for the other meaning which occurs in the ballad, the English translation would clearly be "save up". Meanwhile, I know the verb "jindui" - I wasn't interested in that.


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## farscape

Alright,now we know 

_A jintui_ also means to extort money or obtain financial gains through force (archaic) - _a stoarce de avere pe cineva_.

I think here the meaning is of someone very thrifty and intent on making a profit, kind of a metaphor if you think of someone kneading and squeezing the coin for profit.

f.


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## irinet

farscape said:


> 1. *Jintiță* is a word used throughout the entire country and I don't think it's specific to a region (encountered it in the Giurgiu region as well as in the Rucăr region)
> 
> 2. _To make whey_ works well in this case.
> 
> Later,
> f.



1.Yes, 'jintița' can be used in many parts. It is a partial if not 100% synonym to 'zer' (as I know, 'jintița' is the 2nd 'zer' resulted) which is known I believe all over the country. Behind this noun, there is the traditional technology/processes used to obtain 'jintița' that I've read about as linked esp. to Ardeal.
2. At the same time, it's nice to find out that the idea of _squeezing_ to get profit is metaphorically related to this verb - 'a jintui'.
3. Thanks for your suggestion about 'making whey'. I believe it works for 'a face zer', too.


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## 123xyz

Thank you for the discussion


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