Re: And the Eskimos have 100 words for 'Snow Cone'

[Ivan A Derzhanski <iad@math.bas.bg>]

Bob LeChevalier (lojbab) wrote:
> My English Russian disctionary gives yeda as a translation for
> "meal", "repast", and "food".  It may not exclusively mean "meal",

Obviously not.  Why, you just noted the meaning `food'.  An even
better gloss is `eating'.

It being the case that there is no actual `meal' word in Russian,
you have to paraphrase.  So `prepare a meal' becomes `prepare a
breakfast/lunch/dinner' if the time of day at which the meal is
to be had is known, or `prepare food' (Ru _eda_) otherwise.  And
`before/during/after meals' becomes `before/during/after eating'
(likewise Ru _eda_).  So there are some occasions in which _eda_
appears to mean `meal', but that is never the closest English word.

And then there are those cases in which _eda_ is completely out.
It can't be pluralised, for one thing, so `have 3 meals a day'
must become `eat 3 times a day' before it can be translated.
And `3-course meal' has to become `3-course lunch/dinner',
and if you don't know which one it is, you have to guess
(you may be inaccurate, but you may never be approximate).

> but certainly sounds like it would belong in a synonym list
> along with an explicit list of meals.

Something like _{sanmi}:  eda, trapeza; zavtrak, obed, uzhin_
would probably get the point across.

--Ivan