scofală

Forms

scofală f (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.^[2][3][4][1] MDA2 also calls it of unknown origin and compares the noun for “glory”.^[5]

Scriban derived it, with the northern variant ⟨hofală⟩, from Old Church Slavonic хвала (xvala, “praise”), the source of fală.^[6] Ciorănescu rejects any link with that word.^[7] He suggests an expressive formation, perhaps built at first on scobi “to hollow out”: a slice cut round from a fruit, compare the regional scofleaje “slice of pumpkin” and Damé's ⟨scofală⟩ “deformation”.^[7] In his view it first meant a trifle, and the present sense “a great thing” arose as irony.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from Ion Creangă in 1876, in the ironic sense of something grand: „Vezi în ce se încheie toată scofala de pe lumea asta?” “See what all the grandeur of this world comes to?”.^[3] MDA2 cites Creangă from the 1939 edition of his works.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Tiktin labels the word Moldavian and colloquial, and Șăineanu glossed it as “prosperity”.^[3][4] It is used mostly in negative or ironic phrases: Creangă says of a poor family that „nici vro scofală mare nu era de dânșii” “they were nothing much to speak of”.^[3][8]

Barcianu in 1886 gave “dent in metal” and a nu face nici o scofală “to have no success at all”.^[9] MDA2 lists a technical sense, the bulging part of a metal plate, and two regional dishes: a soup of meat broth thickened with flour and cream, and a thin mămăligă.^[5]

Timeline

• 1876 – Creangă, the first record.^[3]
• 1886 – Barcianu gives “dent in metal” and the phrase a nu face nici o scofală.^[9]
• 1929 – Șăineanu labels it Moldavian, of unknown origin.^[4]
• 1939 – Scriban records the northern variant hofală.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (colloquial, usually ironic) gain, profit, an achievement: Mare scofală! “Big deal!”.^[2][10][1]
2. (colloquial) Something useful or valuable.^[2][5]
3. (regional) A dish of meat broth thickened with flour and cream; a thin mămăligă.^[5]
4. (technical) The bulging part of a metal plate.^[5]

Usage notes

It is common in fixed phrases: nu e (mare) scofală “it is nothing special”, a nu face (mare) scofală “to achieve nothing much”.^[10][5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 991
3. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. scofală
4. ^ a b c Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 575
5. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 816
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1173
7. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. scofală
8. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 60
9. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 572
10. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. scofală