As we all know, a calque is a borrowing of a word from one language to another, sometimes by translating the roots of the word or compound word and combining the translations. For example, the American slang word "skyscraper" worked its way into common parlance in many languages, as a calque. Here are some interesting language variations:

Afrikaans: "wolkekrabber" ("clouds-scraper")
Bulgarian: "небостъргач" ("sky-scraper")
Chinese: "摩天大樓" (mótiān dàlóu, "sky-scraping big building")
Czech and Slovak: "mrakodrap" ("cloud-scraper")
Danish: "skyskraber" ("cloud-scraper")
Dutch: "wolkenkrabber" ("clouds-scraper")
Estonian: "pilvelõhkuja" ("cloud-breaker")
Finnish: "pilvenpiirtäjä" ("cloud-sketcher")
French: "gratte-ciel" ("scrapes-sky")
German: "Wolkenkratzer" ("cloud-scraper")
Greek: "ουρανοξύστης" ("skyscraper")
Hebrew: "גורד שחקים" ("sky-scraper")
Hungarian: "felhőkarcoló" ("cloud-scraper")
Icelandic: "skýjakljúfur" ("cloud-splitter")
Indonesian and Malay: "pencakar langit" ("scraper-sky")
Italian: "grattacielo" ("scrape-sky")
Japanese: "摩天楼" (matenrou, "sky-scraping tower")
Lithuanian: "dangoraižis" ("skyscraper")
Norwegian: "skyskraper" ("cloud-scraper")
Persian: "آسمانخراش" ("skyscraper")
Polish: "drapacz chmur" ("cloud-scraper")
Portuguese: "arranha-céu" ("skyscraper")
Romanian: "zgârie-nori" ("scrapes-clouds")
Russian: "небоскрёб" ("skyscraper")
Serb: "neboder" ("sky-ripper")
Spanish: "rascacielos" ("skyscraper")
Swedish: "skyskrapa" ("skyscraper")
Turkish: "gökdelen" ("sky-piercer")
Vietnamese: "nhà chọc trời" ("sky-poker")

SO here's the question. What does it mean about the deeper mindset of language speakers, for example, when the Vietnamese building "pokes" the sky rather than scrape it, the Turkish one "pierces" it, the Serbian buyilding "rips" it, and the Icelandic building "splits" it?

Enquiring minds want to know. In a deeper sense, what does it really mean to "define" something?


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