Olomouc is a city in Moravia with a long history, and is the 4th largest city in Czechia.Despite being only two hours train ride from Prague, there are very few American tourists. As a matter of fact, I did not meet one American there.
For this reason, I decided to do things only a proper Olomoučák (a person from Olomouc) would do. And that means eating Olomouc ‚tvarůžky‘ (Olomouc’s infamous cheese). After preparing for my gastronomical journey by having a few ‚slivovice‘ (a plum brandy) and a couple of beers, I went to a restaurant in the very center of Olomouc.
I ordered the ‚Olomoucké tvarůžky‘ and the waiter was really shocked. He asked me if I knew about the Olomouc cheese and I told him that I did. He took my order and I had another glass of beer.
Olomouc tvarůžky is called „stinky cheese“ for obvious reasons. The cheese has a very strong flavor and gives off a distinct and extremely pungentodor. In other words: It stinks! It’s aged under big piles of old meat, which probably helps it become so smelly.
Olomouc tvarůžky is not just infamous, but also famous. The cheese was first mentioned in the 15th century when Emperor Rudolf II ate it. The cheese was almost forbidden by the European Union, but the Czech government negotiated for it to be allowed. It also has a very strong flavor and I wondered if the Olomouc stinky cheese was responsible for the origin of our English idiom – to cut the cheese, which means to fart.
When my dinner arrived, it was covered by a lid and was served with the delicious Czech brown bread. It also came with mints and an offer of a toothbrush. I held my nose and ate. The cheese was tasty even though it was so smelly that the people at the table near me had to move to another table.
I ate it, but it smelled so bad that I joked that I was eating the exact same cheese that was served to Rudolf II in the 15th century.
Zdroj LN
Hardly X hard
Rozdíl mezi slovy hard a hardly je často problematický. Výraz hardly se mylně překládá jako těžký. Důvodem může být fakt, že některá příslovce v angličtině jsou tvořena příponou -ly. Jenže slovo hardly znamená sotva nebo těžko: There was hardly anyone at work. – V práci bylo sotva pár lidí. Naopak slovo hard může označovat buď přídavné jméno těžký, tvrdý (I had a really hard day. – Měl/a jsem vážně těžký den.), nebo příslovce tvrdě (I always work hard. – Vždy tvrdě pracuji.)
Přeložte:
Těžko to mohl být on. / Sotvakdy mluví pravdu. / Ten nápis byl těžko čitelný.
Řešení: It could hardly be him. / She hardly ever speaks the truth. / The sign was hard to read / hardlyreadable.
CVIČENÍ
Doplňte správný tvar slovesa:
The Lord of the Rings ________ (direct) by Peter Jackson. / These flowers must ________ (water) every day. / This article ________ (already publish)./Amanda ________ (not invite) to the Christmas party last year. / Hundreds of cars ________ (produce) every day.
Řešení: The Lord of the Rings was directed by Peter Jackson. / These flowers must be watered every day. / This article has already been published. / Amanda wasn’t invited to the Christmas party last year. / Hundreds of cars are produced every day.