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Thread: Questions of a weird mind
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2012-02-08, 06:23 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
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2012-02-08, 06:35 PM (ISO 8601)
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2012-02-08, 06:46 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
Haha, I think it's more that foreign words sound exotic and interesting, no matter what language you are native in.
Take the word 'nap', which conjures up the image of a short sleep, quite commonplace and dull - but the word 'siesta', which to a Spanish person means exactly the same as 'nap' to an anglophone, sounds to us all exotic and funky!
'I've seen it already'. Ok, fine. 'Déjà vu'? OMGsodeep!
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2012-02-08, 07:15 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
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2012-02-08, 07:24 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
Goes both ways, by the way. German is full of English words. Everywhere.
Resident Vancian Apologist
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2012-02-08, 07:29 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
Du kann nicht Deutsch sprechen?
Everybody is to a certain point, ashamed of their own language.
"Siesta" is the literal equivalent of nap. It's the exact word for nap, only in spanish. It doesn't even add any meaning, or context or anything, it's the exact equivalent, word in definition for word in definition.
Probably even worse, Spanish at least has idiomatic regional variations to it to define different naps. Like the one after breakfast, or after lunch, or before lunch. And English took the word they already had.Last edited by AsteriskAmp; 2012-02-08 at 07:31 PM.
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2012-02-08, 07:33 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
In Spain at least, while 'una siesta' is indeed the exact literal equivalent of 'a nap', 'la siesta' is more specific, and refers to the afternoon nap taken between 2pm and 5pm. By extension, it can also refer to that timeslot, when most shops close, and you can't get anything useful done
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2012-02-08, 07:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
The Iron Avatarist Crypt of Fame - Exorcising photobucket from the historic archives of the forum.
Go and went by many names Ast, Avgvst, Pink-Haired August, araveugnitsuga and nowadays AsteriskAmp.
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2012-02-08, 07:48 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
That's something else different about English - the lack of an institution like the RAE, or the Académie Française, which has official control over language usage. Is there such a thing in Germany?
I guess it's another proof of our complete laissez-faire attitude to what enters our language. Or allez-prendre, or allez-voler, if you likeLast edited by Goosefeather; 2012-02-08 at 07:52 PM.
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2012-02-08, 07:52 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
Last edited by Ravens_cry; 2012-02-08 at 07:55 PM.
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2012-02-08, 07:54 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
The lack of those things is probably for the better.
The RAE makes more issues than solves them, heck, overzealous Spanish teachers sometimes disagree with it despite overzealousness being the need for it to even exist.
At least Spanish countries don't have the no non-French words restrictions France has.
Gut, Deutsch ist ein wunderbar sprache.
One day I'll finish my German lessons and take the SprachdiplomLast edited by AsteriskAmp; 2012-02-08 at 08:03 PM.
The Iron Avatarist Crypt of Fame - Exorcising photobucket from the historic archives of the forum.
Go and went by many names Ast, Avgvst, Pink-Haired August, araveugnitsuga and nowadays AsteriskAmp.
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2012-02-08, 08:00 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
We have the people from Duden who hand out the official spelling of words every so often. Of course, they have to bring out a different version of the dictionary for Switzerland because we have so called Helvetisms.
Basically: Switzerland has its own family of weird and strange dialects. However, we also have our version of standard written German, which is very different from what we speak. It has the same rules as German standard German, except that we have official license to add a few handfuls of our own words to it. Mostly French words. One I remember is that the western cantons use the word "Camion" for "Lastwagen", a truck.
Similarly, the Germans decided to Germanize the spelling of (Teutonize? Allemandize? Who knows) French and other foreign words. As French and Italian are some of thee languages spoken in Switzerland, we refused, so we are officially allowed to use the spellings "Mayonnaise" instead of "Majonäse" and "Spaghetti" instead of "Spagetti" as the Germans now spells those words. Those barbarians.
Edit: There's also the Idioticon for Swiss German, which is weird, since, of course, Swiss German has no written version.Last edited by Eldan; 2012-02-08 at 08:06 PM.
Resident Vancian Apologist
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2012-02-08, 08:14 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
I'm still not quite over the whole recent tilde issue (points 4 and 5) I'm trying to learn the language here, please don't go changing it half-way through!
I recently decided to pick up German again, after 5 years of not speaking it (put off by a terrible teacher). So far, my only progress has been to download lots of German music to listen to and pick up random vocab and structures!
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2012-02-08, 08:23 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
You've just experienced a minor change, ask Chileans about the Bello Grammar...
But most of those changes were somewhat logical, and try to simplify the language, and it isn't like the tilde is completely unintuitive, it's got only 3 rules, and now that there are no monosyllabic exceptions, the only odd cases are those created by hiato and diptongo, both of which are easy to spot.
Spanish really is annoying in terms of synonyms, paronyms, homonyms and homophones, where the vocab is simply too insanely mixed, big and strict to even make sense at times. Not made easy by the RAE's idea that changes should take decades and refuse to incorporate new meanings and drop outdated ones, or accept anything that is not from Spain. Or worse, when it does accept them and "blue jean" becomes "bluyin", a word not even overzealous Spanish teachers, pedants, or university entry exams use.
Most of a language is random vocab and structures though.The Iron Avatarist Crypt of Fame - Exorcising photobucket from the historic archives of the forum.
Go and went by many names Ast, Avgvst, Pink-Haired August, araveugnitsuga and nowadays AsteriskAmp.
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2012-02-08, 08:41 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
'Bluyin' is just the tip of the iceberg, once you get into Spanglish and Llanito territory.
I get endless amusement from Gibraltarian words like 'chakarau', which apparently means 'bouncer' (from 'chucker-out' in English), or the replacement of the word 'cachondeo' (possibly one of those words mainly used in Spain) with 'cachonfinga' - (dedo, finger... )
I wish I were making this up!
True, but right now I'm at a point where I can tell you all about how the shark hides in the ocean so no-one sees his tears, hence why it is salty, but I can't satisfactorily explain what my plans are for this evening!Last edited by Goosefeather; 2012-02-08 at 08:42 PM.
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2012-02-08, 08:48 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
The Iron Avatarist Crypt of Fame - Exorcising photobucket from the historic archives of the forum.
Go and went by many names Ast, Avgvst, Pink-Haired August, araveugnitsuga and nowadays AsteriskAmp.
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2012-02-09, 10:37 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
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2012-02-09, 11:15 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
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2012-02-09, 05:21 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
True, but right now I'm at a point where I can tell you all about how the shark hides in the ocean so no-one sees his tears, hence why it is salty, but I can't satisfactorily explain what my plans are for this evening!
But I think that's how I picked up many English words too, back when I was young. I also played a lot of videogames in English and read some Warhammer 40k novels (without properly understanding anything) so my vocabulary was very specific. But hey, eviscerate is a fun word!Si non confectus, non reficiat.
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2012-02-09, 05:41 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
But English is so much easier to learn from videogames and music than German.
Pretty much every game is in English and the only German music in my collection is an album of Peter Fox and '99 Luftballons'.
I've heard of Rammstein... It's seems to be very popular among a particular group of people at my school. I don't really like them, so I probably won't like Rammstein, although I've never heard it.
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2012-02-09, 05:52 PM (ISO 8601)
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2012-02-09, 05:55 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
And the texts are surprisingly poetical, once you really listen to them. Quite a few double meanings and archaic words, too.
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2012-02-09, 05:59 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
"Elephant trunks should be used for elephant things only. Nothing else."
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2012-02-09, 06:01 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
Heh. Also, the Shark Song is totally useful: you learn about three dozen possible uses of the verb "halten" in figures of speech.
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2012-02-09, 06:06 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
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2012-02-09, 09:24 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
There is a very good Call of Duty mod which makes the entire game into Star Wars, new maps and everything. It was designed by a German team and is probably available in German. Just google "cod star wars mod"
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2012-02-09, 09:31 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
I'm only just really getting into Rammstein, but swiftly discovering how much more there is to them than just Du Hast and Amerika.
They do seem to love their wordplay, which is always good when you're trying to learn a language. And yes, surprisingly poetical. Engel and Haifisch immediately spring to mind. They may be cynical, but that just leads to funkier ways of expressing their humour - Links-2-3-4 deserves a special mention for the way it handles its 'Germans aren't evil' message.
Plus pyromania
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2012-02-10, 12:39 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
Question: Has anyone ever tried to get to the center of a tootsie pop without biting, and if so, how many licks did it take?
I remember trying this as a kid, but, much like the owl, I could never do it without biting.
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2012-02-10, 12:53 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2011
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
I wouldn't know. Being Australian, I've never had one. But, I'll try and find an answer. Perhaps an experiment should be set up?
Wait... The University of Cambridge beat me to it.
As did half a dozen different universities.
Wow, that is a wide range of results...
Here's a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tootsie...or_Tootsie_Pop
In conclusion, I'm going to say it varies from person to person.Last edited by Elemental; 2012-02-10 at 12:55 AM.
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2012-02-10, 04:08 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions of a weird mind
They do seem to love their wordplay, which is always good when you're trying to learn a language. And yes, surprisingly poetical. Engel and Haifisch immediately spring to mind. They may be cynical, but that just leads to funkier ways of expressing their humour - Links-2-3-4 deserves a special mention for the way it handles its 'Germans aren't evil' message.Si non confectus, non reficiat.
The beautiful girl is courtesy of Serpentine
My S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripjat Let's Play! Please give it a read, more than one constant reader would be nice!