Jennifer's Joyous Journal

Aby jsi si to poradne procvicila, tak od patnacteho cervence do zacatku rijna se spolu budeme bavit jenom cesky.

ditto!

Rita! What if Stepan "said" something really personal and provocative? Are you absolutely SURE you want to blindly say "ditto"? Or, have you found a translator?

Ok, maybe YOU can tell me what Jak Se Mas is. I looked it up on Yahoo and got your site. Please enlighten me!

"Jak se máš" is the Czech version of "whazzup", meaning "how are you doing?"

BTW, in the Czech Republic you'd never say to a stranger "jak se máš". This is the singular, or informal form that you only use with a friend or child. The formal form (or when addressing more than one person) is "jak se máte".

Thank You for the answer to what does Jak-se-Mas? means I have wonder for years always see it on cars.

So are yall like from ACC..as in Austin Community College? That would be so cool. I just moved from spending my whole life in alittle hick Czech town outside of there. I came up here to attend a Pre-Med school that was supposed to be great. Well it sucks. So I am moving back down to go to Baylor next fall '04. Maybe we can get together and have some Pevo!!!

anyone still posting here? im ready for some pevo and czech lesson

Nasdarek!

To není "pevo", ale pivo.

ahoj

Hmm.. Then what does a question "mas se?" mean? .. (I'd like to learn some czech too) :)

Finally! I know what jak se mas? means. I must say I'm a little dissapointed. I thought that it meant something more profound than "wazzup?".

THANK YOU!!! I have wondered what Jak se mas? means since I first saw it in Austin.

do any of you know where I can find a "jak se mas" bumper sticker? I have seen them but cant find any.

You can get a bumper sticker at Czech Stop & Little Czech Bakery (gas station and bakery) on I-35 exit #353. This is in "West", a town north of Waco but south of Hillsboro. Have fun and be sure to visit WESTFEST each year during Labor day weekend. This is a large Czech festival with alot of beer. Hope you go!

I love the Czech Stop and we usually stop there to buy some kolaches whenever we drive through West.

I have fond memories of visiting there with my brother and laughing ourselves silly at all the creative "Czech" misspelling throughout the store. This reminds me, I wanted to buy him the frog T-Shirt for Xmas. Oh well, some other year.

Hey all, I too found your website when I Googled "jak se mas"... FINALLY! I understand the bumper stickers. Thanks. Now, what is "pevo"?? Is it perchance a food item? Or what? I met some really cool Czech folks camping in Idaho and they taught me to make "lecho" - which they told me was a typical easy czech stew thing. Anyway, thanks again and cheers all,
Warren

Hey, I found this site doing a search to find out--you guessed it!--what "jak se mas" means. I saw the Czech Shop in Austin mentioned, and I'm planning on visiting San Antonio next month. Any good Czech stores or sites to visit there?

Warren, "pivo" means beer in Czech.... :-)

The response to jak se mas was always (phonetically) dub jeh, or something like that. I think it means OK, or just fine. Can someone clarify that (including spelling) in a return E-mail, please?

The response is "dobre" (correctly spelled with a hachek over the "r". It means "good".

If anybody wants to know where the best Kolaches are go to Schulenburg. There is a little bakery there and they are incredible! Ps they have an awesome festival at the end of July every year with lots of beer, country music, and kolaches. Yall should definately check it out.
Allen Kozel

I personally have know what "Jak se mas" ment sence I was about 5. I've also knowen "Dobre jak te" (I'm guessing on the spelling on the last part) since around the same time. My babushka (Grandmother) is full Czech and didn't learn English til she started school, my Grandfather was full Ukraine. Unfortunally, she never taught us any of the "old language", so we mannaged to pick up a few words and phrases over the years.

My grandmother and her sisters are still fluent, as I'm sure my grandfather would be if he were still alive.

If you're looking for another "large" Czech, Ukraine, and Polish community, you can try Bremond and the srrounding areas. Bremond is located in Robertson County on Hwy 6 SE of Waco a littel over half way betwen Waco and Bryan (closer to Bryan).

PS: If someone would be kind enough to e-mail me with the correct Czech spellings, I'd be greatful.

mas se = whazzup

Nazdar, Ja umim mluvit Cesky ale ne tak dobre. A take rozumim hodne a zas ne vsechno. Rad bych jsi chtel ulepsit mluveni a taky abych psal lepsi. Ja jsem 83 let stary a mam pratele v chechach.Jsem narozene Radnice, a mam pratele v Plzen. Zbiram Cesky znamky, a umim uvarit hovezi gulas.

Does anyone know of any Czech Restaurants close to Houston? I just got back from the Czech Republic a week ago and I am dying for some dumplings...lol Thanks! e-mail me if you do - Cadance@sbcglobal.net

Y'all need to go to Panna Maria just outside San Antonio. The original Polish settlement in the USA. Authentic Polish Sausage and there is an old monastery there (although it no longer is one, you can still tour it).

Oops, should read Pana Maria.

My girlfriend is czech and she is teaching me. It is so much fun!
"Ahoj!"
"Cau! Jak se mas?"
"Dobre!"

haha, i suck at it, but give it time.

Just saw a "jak se mas" sticker here in East TX for the first time, googled for the definition, and found this site. (I was guessing Norwegian, which was my dad's heritage; "uftameg," anybody?)

I noticed several posts here mention West, TX. I have great memories of West. Dad was an apprentice metal lather in the mid '60s. We spent a year in Waco, and a lot of weekends we'd wind up in West at a cool little czech beer hall. We all got to dance there: Mom with dad; me (5), with my 7-year-old brother. Sounds hokey now, but I think the multi-generational good times we had in West helped my parents forget their homesickness for awhile.

Guess that's why I tune into "Big Joe's Polka Show" every now and then on RFD TV; it's a nostalgia thing ... reminds me of the '60s and those cwazy, good-timin' West czech families...

I'm just another googler on jak se mas. About a week ago I was telling my wife about Dick Novak, a DJ in Portland OR in the 60s. He used to say jak se mas a lot, and I assumed it was Polish. Then I saw the bumper strip on a car with a bunch of Polish booster stuff on it. Imagine my surprise to learn it is Czech! Dick Novak used to call Mustang cars "Moistangs," too. He was one wild and crazy guy.

I am so happy that I found a webpage with people that like czech. I am from Czech Republic and I am here in the US for one year. You don't know how good it feels find this page. So, Ahoj vsichni, jsem strasne rada ze tahle stranka existuje. Odepiste a muzeme si popovidat v cestine.

+1 (actually +2) on the google crowd looking for jak se mas after seeing it on bumper stickers. thanks for the definition!

I took a Czech class at ACC back in 1997. I really enjoyed it and learned a little bit too. My family heritage is also Czech, but very little of the language was passed down to my generation. Any way, my Czech education was interrupted by the birth of my children and then grad school. Now I'm thinking about enrolling in another Czech class, but not finding anything in the Austin area. Anyone have any suggestions?

If you are looking for a czech community, I-10 between Houston and San Antonio contain many communities. Flatonia, Shiner (as in Shiner Bock Beer), Moulton, Halletsville, all have church picnics and dances at the halls that often feature czech food and themes. I married into a family that has been here for five generations and sometimes I feel I am visiting the homeland. They are great people who work hard, have deep family roots and honor their traditions. All my children (15,10, and 9) love their heritage and the music that comes with it. Patek's Grocery in Moulton and Shiner both sell Czech Band CD's with waltzes and polkas available in English and Czech.

I just came from the Bohemian National Cemetery in Cicero, Ill., and am confused over a word on the family grave site.
What does "cervence" mean or where is it?
Also, what about the phrase, "spi sladce nas milacku"? I always was told it means, "Our daughter sleeps with angels." However, someone else mentioned it means, "Our dearie sleeps peacefully."
Any clues?

I have consulted my expert (i.e. my husband) and he tell me that "cervence" is the month of July. Apparently the case changes when the month is actually written out in date form (i.e. 5 July 2005).

"spi sladce nas milacku" means "sleep sweetly, our darling" - less a declarative sentence, more a command to the deceased.

Hi Brothers and Sisters of Czech descent,
I just surfed in for the meaning of "Jak Se Mas" too.
Imagine that??
Me, a Stasney. Ha!
I should know, right??
Well, here we have another of Czech descent whom the language has been lost within.
My Grandmother, Lillian Repa Stasney, never had the time before passing away to pass this language on to me as I was only 5 years old when she passed away of breast cancer.
Which, I now find is hereditary; FYI to you all.

Genetic mutations of this kind are prolific in the Czech descendants. Look for genetic testing of the BRCA1 and BRCA2. Especially, since Your risk for breast and ovarian cancer may also be heightened if you are of Ashkenazi or Eastern European Jewish heritage. Which many of us are, known or not. Our specific genetic mutation is suggesting that most of the mutation-carrying families of Polish ancestry have the BRCA1 5382insC mutation. Testing confirmed this in this Stasney family. 5 out of 5 tested positive at this point. Genetically speaking, this is un heard off. The odds of this happening are off the scale. So, yes, FYI. My neice is fighting Blacks Carcinoma at his moment.
Only 2 surviving family members are left to be tested, the controlling adult refused to be tested along with his daughter who is 6 and can't choose for herself. What a shame.

Alas, thank you for the definition to Jak Se Mas, "Dobre!" as well. Someday, maybe we'll have time to learn more. The Lord willing..
We've found this thread enlighting, thanks again.

>

Another googler here after seeing a Jak Se Mas? bumper sticker on the way into work this morning -- in Austin, no less! I'm so glad to have found this site! My husband is half-Czech, half-Native American, and the influences of both cultures have been fascinating to me -- and now y'all are making me want to find a Czech class! Has anyone found anything good around Austin lately?

Could someone get a few of the ..Jak Se Mas ? ...bumper stickers and post them to Prague, we dont have them here, and ill take one back to Australia when i return in December. cheers thanks. email me about my adress. thanks. scott

What does pevo mean? It is an abbreviation for Pilot/Escort Vehicle Operator (P/EVO) that escorts an Oversize/Overweight (OS/OW) load on roads and highways. You may have seen a P/EVO car in front & rear of the OS/OW load on a road near you.

Hi. Just thought I would post that I too am another "Jak se mas?" Googler! I have always wondered what that meant, and finally today I thought to look it up. I live outside of Houston. What a kick to finally know. :)

Ajoh! Jak se mas?
Its actually "pivo" and in Czech it means "beer". If anyone knows of a good place to learn the language it would be greatly appreciated. My grandparents are both pure Czech and their parents came straight from the country when they were 15 or so. I live around Granger and many of my friends and family speak fluently but I do not and would love to completely learn it. Nashledanou, Erika

I just googled "jak se maz" to see how to correctly spell it and found this site right away. I already knew what it meant since I visited and fell in love (mluji Prahu) with CZ in 2002. I will be leaving Berlin in a week and start studying at Universität Vienna. I hope to make it to Prague for spring break. When I was Austin, I only remember the bumperstickers "Keep Austin Weird," reminding me of where my home University is, Missoula, MT. I may soon be anxious to return to Missoula, but I'll also be hoping to see Prague again after I leave Europe in August. Interesting thread here, that is for sure!

Ahoj!
Nechci si zvas delat legraci, ale je to je strasna sranda jak se tady bavite o tom, co znamena "Jak se mas?".
Jo, a kdo se chce naucit cesky, at mi klidne napise na Myspace ;-)

Translation of the last comment by Judita provided by Stepan:

I don't want to make fun of you, but it's just too funny how y'all talk about what "jak se mas?" means. Also, whoever wants to learn Czech can email my on MySpace.

I ran across this site and even though it's been awhile, thought I'd post. I'm from small town Texas with large Czech and Polish populations, some first/second generation that still speak the language. I grew up knowing certain words/terms in Czech. One in particular is "Popek". It's the Czech word for bellybutton. People I meet in Houston or people that didn't grow up near me have never heard of it and they think I'm crazy. I just thought everyone called their bellybutton a poo-peck! :-)

Hey you have lint in your POO-PECK! lol

I saw the "jak se mas" bumper sticker today and came home and Googled it. My maiden name was Jackie Mxxs and one of my uncle would always say this to me when I was little - but never told me what it meant. I just thought he was being silly. Interesting!!!

Jak se mas,

If you would like to listen to Czech/German/Polish
music, tune into 1330 KTAE 2pm to 3pm and 4pm to 5pm
monday thru friday or go to ktae.net at those times and hit the icon "listen now"

Charlie

Both of my mother's parents were Czech and she grew up in the El Campo TX area about 60 miles outside of Houston. My husband and I were able to go to the Czech Republic and see the houses where my grandfather and great grandfather lived. It's a beautiful country with wonderful people. I, too, wish I knew more of the language than Jak Se Mas! I think my aunt said that I love you is something like "donde who biska". Anyone???

Mary, I was born in Czech and left to US in 1985, all my family still lives there. I could not make anything from "donde who biska", but I love you in czech is Miluju te.

Mary,

I think you are talking about "give me a kiss" im not sure how to spell it out in Czech but that's the closes thing I can get out of what you typed...lol

Can someone tell me what "Pomaly" or "Pomoly"
means? Thanks

Mary your tring to say kiss in czech it is hubicku. You say dej mi hubicku... means give me a kiss... I'm half czech and grew up in texsas with german and czech community..

Does anyone know of a web site that has an audible pronunciation to learn the language?

Nazdar! I just found this site, and I love reading the comments. My grandparents were from Czechoslovakia, and my mom grew up in the Heights in Houston. My grandmother would get up at 4 to start making kolacky. She never really learned English. My mother was the youngest of six, so English was her first language. As an adult, i joined Sokol, and my daughter became a Sokol coach. Anyone out there with Sokol?