Schelinger, Jiří. (1951-1981).

Popular singer. The long-haired and gravelly-voiced Schelinger achieved fame with just his second record, the sentimental “Home of the Doves.” He went on to become a youth idol as the Czech popularizer of hard rock – his personal taste – in addition to singing lighter pop fare with his bandmate/prankster, František Ringo Čech. Schelinger died near the height of his fame under mysterious circumstances; he jumped from Bratislava’s SNP bridge, allegedly over a bet and probably after heavy drinking.

lesní zákon (forest law).

By the eighteenth century most of the abundant native forests of the Czech lands had been cut down for firewood. Empress Maria Thereza’s far-sighted forest laws, however, stipulated both that every tree felled had to be replaced with a newly planted tree and that even privately-owned forests must allow right-of-ways for pedestrians traveling from one town to another. While the former provision contributed to the reforesting of the country, the latter evolved into the extensive system of hiking trails in wide use today.

de Funès, Louis (1914-1975).

This French comedian is perhaps the Czechs’ favorite foreign actor. De Funès made his name in dozens of film comedies in the fifties and sixties where he typically played overbearing and quick-tempered figures of authority. The most famous of these is his role as the gendarme of St. Tropez who battles against nude bathers and tries to rise in the police hierarchy. His popularity among Czechs stems from a combination of his distinctive looks – he was short and bald with a plastic face – his prodigious gifts as a physical comedian, and brilliant Czech dubbing by the actor František Filipovský. All of de Funès’s films are reprised annually on Czech Television.

inspekce (inspection).

Rather than letting the free market or even the courts sort out problems of quality and discipline, Czechs prefer to rely on state-mandated inspections. There are thus inspectors who make the rounds of pubs – making sure that a half-liter beer measures exactly that and the 200 gram pork chop is no more or less than its listed weight – and others who check that employees who claim to be home sick have not taken a step out of their home. All this effort, however, makes little dent into widespread corruption..

dabing (dubbing).

Like many non-American nations, Czechs are serious and experienced dubbers of foreign films. Most foreign programming on television is dubbed and only more serious films in theaters receive the benefit of subtitles. Major foreign actors are assigned a specific actor so that viewers build up an association between a face and a voice. While standards of dubbing of course vary, many Czechs insist that in the best cases, the dubbed films represent an improvement over the original, particularly in the case of French comedies staring Louis de Funès. Indeed, a special award is given each year to the country’s best dubber.

Branky, body, vteřiny (Goals, Points, Moments).

First broadcast in 1956, this sports program which follows the evening news is the country’s longest running television program. It features highlights not just of major sports like football and hockey, but also less well-known ones like team handball, bicycle soccer (kolová), football tennis (nohejbal) and a thousand others, especially in cases where Czechs have some international success. For most Czechs, sporting achievements are one of their greatest sources of national pride – indeed, a recent poll put them in first place above even the country’s contributions to world culture.

pacy, pacy, pacičky (hands, hands, little hands).

The Czech equivalent of “Pat a cake, pat a cake, baker's man”, its rhyming text goes “Hands, hands, little hands; Daddy bought a pair of shoes; Mommy a belt made from cat’s tail.”