Pardon my Croatian – Dining edition
With a few phrases up your sleeve, you’ll skip right from ‘table number 6’ to ‘John, my American friend we’re sending something over for Christmas’.
Or at least it would get you a ‘digestif on the house’ after a meal.
Sounds good? Let’s begin …
Good afternoon. Dobar dan. [ DOE-bahr dahn ]
Good evening. Dobra večer. [ DOE-brah VEH-cher ] Hello. (informal) Bok. [ bohk ]
How are you? Kako ste? (formal) [ KAH-koh steh? ]
Please. Molim. [ MOH-leem ]
I would like… ja bih… [ yah beeH ]
Thank you. Hvala. [ HVAH-lah ]
You’re welcome. Nema na čemu. [ NEH-mah na CHEH-moo ] or Molim. [ MO-leem ]
A glass of red/white wine, please. Molim Vas čašu crnog /bijelog vina. [ MOH-leem vahs CHAH-shoo TSUHR-nohg / BYEH-lohg VEE-nah ]
Cheers! Živjeli / Nazdravlje [ Zhee-ve-lee / Naz-dra-vlee ]
Bon appetit! Dobar tek! [ DOE-bar tek ]
Just a little. Samo malo. [ SAH-moh MAH-loh ]
This one comes as especially useful one.
Primarily if you end up sitting down for a meal or drinks with a Croatian family and your generous host offers you some homemade rakija (grappa), wine, cherry liquor, etc. To be honest, there is a fair chance that you’ll have to repeat it a few times, as they’ll probably ignore you and keep pouring it in: “Ah, don’t worry, wine is good for you … my grandma is 90 and she never skipped “bevanda” (combination of half wine – half water) after a meal in her life. And they never run out; there is basically an endless supply of home-made everything.
It was delicious. Bilo je ukusno. [ BEE-loh yeh OO-koos-noh ]
The check, please. Račun, molim. [ RAH-choon, MOH-leem ]
Thank you very much. Hvala lijepa. [ HVAh-lah LYEH-pah ]
This is it for now …
Goodbye! Adio [ adio ]
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