Talking the lingo in Rio: Chatting with your new Macedonian speaking friends about wheelchair fencing

This article is a series of language learning posts by ParaSport News. The goal is to provide sport fans some very basic sport and Paralympic vocabulary so you can talk with the world about disability sport at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio.
Macedonian is spoken by around 2 million people who live in Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Serbia. The South Slavic language is native to the Republic of Macedonia, but the name of the language and country it is native to is politically controversial because of the situation with regions of the same name in Greece and Bulgaria. Republic of Macedonia started competing independently at the Paralympics in 1996, and won their first medal, a silver, at the 2004 Games. In London, Olivera Nakovska-Bikova won the country’s second ever medal, a gold, in the Women’s 10 metre air pistol SH1. She was one of two members of the country’s delegation. The other was fellow shooter, Vanco Karanfilov.
Wheelchair fencing specific words:
- Алуминиумска профилна писта – Aluminium profile piste
- Гумена проводлива писта – conductive rubber piste
- мечувалство – fencing
- Флорет – foil
- Современ флорет – modern foil
- Писта – piste, strip
- мечувалци – fencers
- Рипост – riposte
- Плетена метална писта – woven metal piste
Their language is actually a Bulgaria dialect modified and rename “Macedonian” by Yugoslav communists. It has about as much to do with Macedonia as Polish, Russian, or any other Slavic Russia.
Reporters are supposed to report not just parrot their official government line. Its not exactly hard to notice the former Yugoslavias now claiming to be founders of the Hellenistic period and using name “Macedonia” to promote irredentism.