A Night Out on the Town

Hello and welcome to a new edition of SoundCzech, Radio Prague’s Czech language course in which you can learn Czech phrases with the help of song lyrics. Today we will be learning words and phrases related to a night out on the town. The song we will be listening to is “Hospoda U Mámy”, or “The Pub at Mother’s Place”, sung by Jaromír Nohavica.

Photo: Kristýna Maková

The Czech Republic is well known for its beer. If you find yourself out at a bar or a hospoda (a pub) you can say dám si jedno pivo– I will have one beer. Another, quaint version of this request is dám si pivko, which literally means I will have one little beer.

If you decide to opt for stronger spirits, such as the traditional Czech becherovka, say dám si jednoho panáka– I would like a shot. A fun Czech expression to say before quickly downing a shot is hrc do báby! meaning down the hatch, or literally translated, into the old woman! Similar expressions meaning bottoms up are Na ex which or do dna– to the bottom.

When someone drinks a lot of alcohol that person chlastá– gets drunk. Someone who drinks to the point of intoxication is an opilec or a piják. If a drunk person comes up to your friend in a bar and asks her for a date, she will probably refuse his advances – ona ho odmítne. In Czech, to turn someone down is dát někomu košem– to let someone have it with a basket.

At the end of the night, the barman will count the number of drinks you ordered and give you the bill – účet. To say that the barman will add the bill up later you can say vrchní to pak spočítá. However, the counting does not stop in the bar. If stay out too late or drink too much, and you know that you will get in trouble at home, the Czech saying is doma mi to spočítají– at home they will count it for me.

This is Clare Profous, saying thank you for learning Czech with me, and na shledanou.