#folklore terms

• Blessed — Having received a blessing; sanctified through ritual, protected by divinity, or endowed with spiritual grace. In popular usage, the term applies to lucky individuals, cult objects that have been sprinkled with holy water, or houses protected against evil spirits through prayer.
• Alas — An old popular interjection or a cry of alarm, astonishment, or pain, historically used in certain Romanian rural dialects to express an unexpected surprise or deep dissatisfaction. In some border contexts, it can be a connective form or an adapted loan from neighboring dialects.
• Aloghiță — An archaic and regional popular name used to describe a small herbaceous plant or a variety of weed with discrete flowers. In the folkloric lexicon and local idioms of certain rural areas, the term is metaphorically associated with the notion of fragility or wild plants that grow spontaneously at the edge of agricultural crops, without any special forage value.
• Aloviță — An archaic popular name or regional diminutive used in certain dialects to describe a small herbaceous plant with a bitter taste or, metaphorically, a tiny rudimentary wooden or metal tool. The term belongs to the traditional rural folkloric lexicon and is partially preserved in dialectal archives as a local linguistic identity marker.
• Tall youth — A rare regional variant of the word 'nandralău' (or derived from 'handralău'), used in the Moldavian dialect to designate a tall, sturdy, and robust young man, often characterized as a rascal, a loafer, or prone to wandering. In a linguistic and structural context, the term describes a robust person who spends their time without serious occupation, serving as an expressive form of individualization in popular narratives.
• Backwards — A popular and regional adverbial form used in certain areas of the country to express the idea of inversely, backwards, upside down, or inside out; an action executed contrary to the natural or logical order of things.
• Little water — Diminutive form of the noun 'apă'; it designates a small quantity of water, a clear little stream, or, in an affectionate sense, clean, fresh, and beneficial water, frequently used in popular language, fairy tales, charms, or lyrical poetry.
• Young Transylvanian girl — An affectionate, literary, or popular diminutive for a young woman or girl originating from the region of Ardeal (Transylvania). In a structural-ethnographic and lyric sense, the term evokes the idealized image of a country girl characterized by diligence, the sobriety of the traditional black-and-white folk costume, and gentle speech, frequently appearing in folk poetry, dance shouts, and Transylvanian ballads.
• Little silver piece — An affectionate, popular, or poetic diminutive for a small silver coin or a tiny piece of this precious metal; in an ethnographic sense, the term can also refer to miniature metallic pieces used as ornaments or stitched onto traditional costumes (dowry necklaces, tiny tokens). In a figurative sense, it describes a tiny shimmer, a clean tinsel-like coating, or a natural element (such as a plant with silvery hairs or a larva) that visually recalls the texture of silver.