Polysemantic structure of Serbian words and phrases
Besides revising the conjugation in the present tense, and that distinguishing Serbian from English as an inflective language, we also learned about the polysemantic structure of Serbian words and phrases, whose double meaning leads to a comedic effect.
– Šta piljiš u mene? Why are you gaping at me?
– Odmaram oči, imaš dosta hlorofila. I am resting my eyes; you have a lot of chlorophyll.
– Pričaš koješta. You are talking gibberish.
– Misliš, lupam? You mean, I am ranting?
– Lupaš. You are ranting.
– Ne, to moje srce lupa za tobom, ja ti samo prenosim. No, it’s my heart pounding for you, I am just conveying it.
– Šta ti je, filozofe, znamo se od malena. What’s up with you philosopher. We have known each other since childhood.
– Misliš znamo se od malih nogu? Da, samo zamisli, Ana, na tvoje noge evo do sad uopšte nisam obraćao pažnju. You mean we have known each other since we were kids? But, kid, I have to tell you that I have not paid attention to you until now at all.