New game in town
Everytime I listen to the radio or the news and can understand every word that is said, I get a little cocky, a bit full of myself. Today my linguistic skills were put a bit to the test when the radio started advertising for "skvass" as a new sport, a new way to exercise. And then I realized that was a borrowing from English, for the sport "squash", which indeed in English ought to be said with an extremely annoying, long nasal "ah" sound in the middle. Icelanders have dispensed with the annoying middle part, and put a pleasant little kick in the word instead. None of which changes the fact that it is a really hard game to play, for Icelanders or Americans.
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