A short course of purgerski – Zagreb jargon
Walking through the streets of Zagreb, it is still possible, albeit extremely rare, to hear špreha (speech) of the streets of Zagreb, i.e. the expressions of the old Zagreb speech. Language is constantly changing (u jeziku se furtaj nekaj menja), so certain expressions fell into oblivion over time. The old Zagreb expressions such as škrlak (hat), coprnica (witch) and frnjokl (nose) are now unfortunately only used among the elderly population, but there are still glimmers of the Zagreb jargon present. If you stay in the metropolis long enough, you may be able to grasp the basics. The inhabitants of the largest Croatian city like to use diminutives and pet names by adding various suffixes such as -ić or -ač. People often say they are going to restač (restaurant) or to get slatkač (ice cream). When it rains, they will use kišić (umbrella) and fotić (camera) to take pictures. When they mention penzići, they mean pensioners, and by going to ginić they mean going to the gynecologist. If they agree to have gembač, it means that they want to have a spritzer, and they may use mobač (mobile phone) to make plans. Apart from diminutives, some of the more common older jargons which are often heard on the streets of Zagreb today are cuga (drinks) and klopa (food), which are the focus of every date, unless someone is na knap s cajtom or u cajtnotu (pressed in time). The list of Zagreb words is long – klinac is a boy, obleka is clothes, murja is police, etc. Ozbač (really, seriously), the Zagreb speech is very interesting! Zicer (surely) everyone will catch on quickly.