| Reč koje nema | opisni prevod na engleski |
|---|---|
| sagovornik | Interlocutor - but nobody uses that. The co-speaker, the other party in a conversation. |
| saksija | "flower pot" - but then translating "izmišlja rupu na saksiji" - "invents the flower pot hole" (which is a rough equivalent of "invents the wheel", but at a less useful level) leads to "flower pothole" association which then calls for an explanation... makes one give up in advance. |
| saputnik | fellow traveller - English is really missing the with- prefix, like the co-conspirator or co-author have it. The co-traveller may not be a fellow at all. |
| sebe | oneself, himself, herself, itself, myself, themselves, ourselves, anyone-self, anyone-selves |
| sirotinja | The poor, as a singular noun, to mean them all in general. |
| sit | Sated, full, stuffed, had enough to eat, not hungry. Also, had enough (of food or enough of it all). |
| skrenuti | take a turn - also not, because this phrase mostly means doing what the guy before you did; giving it a try. Taking a left or right turn is secondary and not necessarily implied if side isn't specified. |
| deflect - covers only the transitive meaning of the verb, as in "skrenuti tok reke" - "diverting the flow of the river", but not the most frequent case when one just changes direction | |
| divert - is almost wrong; it also covers only the transitive case, and even that partially; diverting a piece of some whole to a different use, or diverting one's attention; the most common usage is not covered at all | |
| switch - works only in the case of a railway (railway switch is called "skretnica"); for everything else, "switch" is "prekidač" - discontinuer, i.e. device to disconnect an electric circuit; as a verb, "to switch" means 'replace', 'turn on/off', 'whip' and 'skrenuti' is distant fourth. | |
| shunt - all the available meanings are technical - to connect in parallel, to maneuver (around something)... again, 'skrenuti' is distant fourth. | |
| suhomesnati proizvodi | Dictionaries translate this as "delicatessen", but that's not it. Delicacies include all kinds of finer foods, including cheeses, salads etc. This is only, literally translated, "dry meat products". |
| svoj | One's own, applicable to any person. Lat. suus. |