Language Barrier
Desítka (noun) DEH-seet-kah
Dvanáctka (noun) DVAH-nahts-kah
You’ll commonly encounter these words in pubs and restaurants when ordering beer. Desítka is a 10° beer, which has slightly less alcohol than a dvanáctka, or 12° beer. You may also frequently encounter 11° and 13° beer.
If you have a choice (and sometimes you won’t) your server will ask you, in the accusative case, Desítku nebo dvanáctku?
Desítka, dvanáctka and similar words also refer to things that have numbers, such at Tram 10 and Tram 12.
Obsazeno (adjective) OB-sah-zen-o
Meaning busy, full, or occupied. Generally, you’ll see this on bathroom doors when someone is inside. If that’s the case, don’t obnoxiously try to open the door repeatedly, or you may have an annoyed Czech on your hands.
Rezervovaný / -á (adjective) REZ-er-vo-vah-nee / -nah
Reserved or booked, as a table in a restaurant.
Vyhrazeno (adjective) VEE-hrah-zeh-no
Vyhrazeno means much the same as rezervovaný except it’s used more for parking places and other spaces.
Zadaný / -á (adjective) ZAH-dah-nee / -nah
Taken, in a relationship, or engaged. As one brokenhearted letter reads on a Czech message board, Miluju holku…ale je zadaná, — ‘I love a girl…but she is taken.’ Ah, the constant struggle that is love.
Zima (noun) ZEE-mah
Studená / -ý (adjective) STOO-den-ah, STOO-den-ee
Zima refers to when you feel cold, as in Je mi zima (“I’m cold”). Zima can also refer to the season of winter.
Studená / studený means “cold” when you’re describing something else, such as cold water (studená voda. Studený čaj is tea that has cooled off. Iced tea is ledový čaj.
Can refer to the garnish on your plate served with a main dish, usually a little touch of green lettuce or tomato. It’s okay to eat, unless it happens to look questionable, and might even provide a few vitamins. On restaurant menus, you’ll often see that dishes are served s oblohou (instrumental case, “with garnish”)
Can also mean “sky,” but is used in more poetic sentences rather than in weather broadcasts. If it’s a nice day, you might point out the čistá obloha (“clear sky”).
Panic (noun) PAH-nits
A male virgin.
Fakt? Joe Jonas je panic? Really? Joe Jonas is a virgin?




