The other day, I was speaking with a Polish friend in German, because we both currently reside in Germany, about something, when she mentioned her great-grandfather and said Pragroßvater, the correct version being Urgroßvater (ur- and pra- have the same meaning, compare Urknall and praeksplodo). It took me a second to realize why I so readily understood the intended meaning, then I remembered it's because of Esperanto. Zamenhof borrowed pra- from Polish, which is why she made the mistake (praavo and pradziadek).

So even outside of Esperantujo, Esperanto lends itself to help international communication. Does anyone else have such an experience?

acdibble:The other day, I was speaking with a Polish friend in German, because we both currently reside in Germany, about something, when she mentioned her great-grandfather and said Pragroßvater, the correct version being Urgroßvater (ur- and pra- have the same meaning, compare Urknall and praeksplodo). It took me a second to realize why I so readily understood the intended meaning, then I remembered it's because of Esperanto. Zamenhof borrowed pra- from Polish, which is why she made the mistake (praavo and pradziadek).

Just be careful not to read "prażona" (roasted) as pra + żona (wife)

Amike,

Paul