How should I translate the English word "smoothie" to Esperanto? I saw that there is an Esperanto Wikipedia article called "Smuzio" which links to the English article about smoothies. But this word seems to be missing in PIV, Reta Vortaro and the dictionary of Lernu.net. Should I use this word or should I use another word to refer to this concept?
asked Jan 16, 2017 at 22:50
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3 Answers
I've never heard of a smuzio.
Alternatives include: fruktpulpaĵo, fruktlaktaĵo, miksita frukta trinkaĵo, Fruktkirlaĵo
Nobody spoke out in favor of smuzio in this discussion about the topic:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/esperanto.grupo/permalink/10153126794425289/
answered Jan 17, 2017 at 2:20
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I also learnt a new word now. :-) To my surprise, it does seem to be in use: apetito.ikso.net/recepto/poma-smuzio– BjørnCommented Jan 17, 2017 at 12:05
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1Yes, by saying that smuzio is not a word, one automatically "normalizes" the word. Fruktkirlaĵo is what I would have said in a pinch, and it also seems to have some traction. Commented Jan 17, 2017 at 13:04
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Perhaps I am looking at the wrong thing at the Facebook link, but two people commented clearly that they liked smuzio. Four or five people backed fruktkirlaĵo, and there was a wide range of other suggestions, making it clear that the most appropriate kunmetaĵo is far from obvious. Commented Jan 18, 2017 at 7:38
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My impression is that most of the people commenting spoke against using the English word. Those who spoke in favor did not say that they actually use it themselves or have ever heard it used. For the most part, any of the variations proposed were just that - variations on the same theme. I also intended in my reply above to cite my own expertise here (implicitly) as someone who has used Esperanto as a home language for many years, and associated with others who also do so. Adding an -o to an English word should not be the first choice. Commented Jan 18, 2017 at 11:55
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According to Wiktionary, smuzio was borrowed into Esperanto from Russian (which in turn got the word from English). This explains the Z. en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smuzio– BjørnCommented Jan 18, 2017 at 22:05
From Viki:
La vorto smuzio estas konsiderenda kiel novismo... Ĝis antaŭ nelonge oni uzis la pli internaciajn esprimojn "fruktkirlaĵo", "fruktpulpaĵo", aŭ "fruktlaktaĵo".
Smuzio is a newly added word. Therefore, I suggest the others.
Smuzio is fine for the specific use of trinkaĵo farita (el fruktoj kajaŭ legomoj) per miksilo. It is just an Esperanto respelling of "smoothie", which is very international.
The clunky alternatives, fruktkirlaĵo, fruktlaktaĵo, etc, get across the idea of "fruit thing", but could also refer to a lot of different things which aren't smoothies. If I couldn't use smuzio or didn't like it for some reason I would say miksila trinkaĵo.
Just elaborating:
If you go to the web version of the article "Smoothie" on English Wikipedia, and run your mouse pointer over the language side bar on the left, you will find that nearly every other Wikipedia uses Smoothie as the headword, or a close transliteration. Clicking through, you will find that this is not an accident: most of the languages use smoothie without even respelling it. Thus, by Rule 15, smoothie is easily a candidate for induction into Esperanto, and you could just write things like Mi ĝuis smoothie sur la plaĝo in most contexts—that's what people do in their native languages.
The next question: is smuzio a good fit for Esperanto—is it ugly or corny or too easy to confuse with another word? I don't think so—it resembles muzeo but not closely, and the only words in Wells's dictionary that start with sm are smeraldo, smilako, smirgo, smokingo and smuto. It is distinctive and easy to say and remember, and can't be mistaken for a compound. Native English-speakers may recognize it with difficulty (as they think of th and z as completely different sounds, and the accent is in the wrong place)—that's the only objection I can think of straight away.
The next question: is there an obviously better compound word to use instead? e.g. najleto for "thumbtack" etc? In this case, there is no obvious one. A smoothie can contain fruit, but not always. It can contain vegetables, but not always. It is usually cold and sweet, but not always. What smoothies have in common is that they are drinks, and they are made in (more or less) a one-step process with a blender. So if you prefer a Bona Lingvo style, the most generally applicable translation is probably miksiltrinkaĵo. (I think fruktkirlaĵo is just okay—it is hard to pronounce, and the first time I saw it, I vaguely assumed it to be some sort of fruit salad.) But smuzio is international and gives you a short, specific word for a simple, specific idea. So it's fine.
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2"Fine" in what sense? Can you elaborate on how you came to this conclusion? 15th rule? Established usage? Anglofilia? Commented Jan 17, 2017 at 13:08
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1I still question whether the existence of a Wikipedia article is at all conclusive about the whether a word is truly international in the sense of the 15th rule. My superficial impression at this point is that in Spanish, the term "Batido" is at least as common as the English word -- and some of my language restricted searches showed a preference for Batido by two orders of magnitude. Commented Jan 18, 2017 at 12:15
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It isn't a matter of one Wikipedia article—I'm looking at twenty, including Arabic, Russian, and Korean. The word batido is an old term for any whisked drink, with different local meanings, which also include milkshakes etc, and it's just a participle of batir. Commented Jan 18, 2017 at 13:40
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I was responding to this comment in your edited answer: If you go to the web version of the article "Smoothie" on English Wikipedia, and run your mouse pointer over the language side bar on the left, you will find that nearly every other Wikipedia uses Smoothie as the headword, or a close transliteration. I was listing reasons not to use this method. Commented Jan 18, 2017 at 14:28
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The next sentence is Clicking through, you will find that this is not an accident: most of the languages use "smoothie" [throughout the article] without even respelling it. In most places, the smoothie is well-known, as an American drink, so it has an American name, just as champagne is called by a French name, although "sparkling wine" could be substituted. By contrast, if you go to the Wikipedia article for gasket and perform the same exercise, you will find a wide variety of words, none of which resemble gasket. Therefore, gasketo would not be directly admissible by Rule 15. Commented Jan 18, 2017 at 15:15