Furrin words

[chickenfeet]

Have you ever had the experience of learning a word in a foreign language that you understand perfectly but have no real idea what the equivalent is in your native tongue? An example for me is "draveur" which is the French-Canadian word (I don't know if it exists in Metropolitan French) for the guy who keeps the logs moving on a river drive. Is there an English equivalent? FWIW I came across this one while trying to be a good Canadian and read some of the Quebecois classics like Maria Chapdelaine and, in this case, Menaud, Maitre-Draveur.

Comments

[kadenza.livejournal.com]

A log driver? The log driver's waltz is a part of my extremely limited accordion repertoire.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Makes sense. I've just never heard it used in English.

[globetrotter1.livejournal.com]

I'm impressed. I can't even bring myself to read them!

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I went through a period when I really wanted to understand things Canadian and did masochistic things like watching baseball and reading Margaret Atwood.

[gregclow.livejournal.com]

I really wanted to understand things Canadian and did masochistic things like watching baseball

????

Would watching hockey to help "understand things Canadian" make more sense?

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I did that too. I was trying too hard not to upset Canuck sensibilities. The taste for watching an idiot in a plaid suit explain why it's a good idea for guys wearing helmets and body armour to throw punches at each other is too surreal for me to cope with at this hour of the morning.

[pshtaku.livejournal.com]

After I had lived in Germany for a year, I used to have quite a few words describing concepts in German, that I couldn't describe in English.
It was a long time ago, so I will have to think of an example!