Fun with words

So today in our Bulgarian language lesson we learned that there is no word for "fun" in Bulgarian.  Here was the conversation:

Laura (our instructor): Study your verbs because next time we will learn the different forms of past tense.

Jeff (in a very sarcastic voice): Fun!  That will be fun!

Shannon: So how do you say "fun" in Bulgarian?

Laura: There is no such word in Bulgarian.

Shannon, Jeff, and Carolyn erupt in laughter.

Shannon: Seriously?

Laura: No, there is no word for "fun".  It doesn't really translate.  We would say "it will make a party".

More incredulous laughter from us students. And the end of our lesson for the day.


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We looked up "fun" in our Lonely Planet phrasebook and on Google Translate and found the same word there: забавно (za-bav-no).  So now we have to ask Laura to explain the connotation of зававно.

We would love to hear comments about this from any Bulgarian readers out there!

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Speaking of connotation.  Jeff had a discussion with some other teachers about trying to teach the connotation of words to students whose first language is not English -  more specifically, how some synonyms are not interchangeable.  During this conversation, the words facetious, sarcastic, and snarky were discussed and the conclusion, thanks to John the English teacher, was that they differ in their level of "dickishness."  Perfect.

Looking forward to Saint Patrick's Day tomorrow!