Balkan trivia: What means “Trebit Krevet”

Keywords and the stories behind

In every city where I lived, there are words that mean something only in a particular place. I will try to summarize one short list here and the reason is to get you closer to the general ambiance and mentality of the Balkan places. Similar insight you can get if you check the story about “naked males” around Skopje and Belgrade.

When in Ohrid, you can be asked "Trebit krevet?" Or just "Krevet?". Ohrid, according to most, is the best place in Europe. This makes it touristic during two-three months of the year. Many people are dealing with tourism as a private business here. The people that are offering a place to stay, believe that a direct approach is the key to a successful trade. It is a common situation to be stopped by a domestic person and to be asked “Krevet?”. If you give a just confused look as your response, they probably will continue in different languages: “Rooms? Zimmer?” This in Ohrid is the ultimate question if you are first time seen there.

There’s a variety of jokes related to this question, and I think the reason why this question became something as a “souvenir” to Ohrid, is ending whit the letter T. Even if it is not a verb, it’s very Ohrid like. Here is a longer explanation of my thoughts: on every verb in present tense third person singular, they add hard T at the end. Just to illustrate the difference and the hard sound this dialect gets, try this: “ima” becomes “imat” (have). Ohrid people are very proud of their dialect and they are stuck to it even long after they lived here. According to me, a big irony is that Ohrid doesn't end with T, just with D. So close, my dear OhriT. So close!

Ohrid

Ohrid, Macedonia (FYROM)