The English Language


Recommended Posts

I once asked a Polish fitter who I worked with in Australia what language he thought in.....English he said, if I thought in Polish I'd be forever translating, he even said he dreamed in English!

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 303
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Posts

There have been several topics recently, whereby mention has been made regarding the correct use of the English language, especially punctuation which certainly gets people baffled at times. I mentio

Yes, it's good when people's posts are spelt correctly but if they aren't then I couldn't care less. I'm more interested in what they have to say than if they've missed an apostrophe off or misspelt a

Why is everyone going on about grammar?  I suspect that  it's often predictive text or twitchy fingers that cause any mistakes on here anyway.   As long as the.post  is clear and unambiguous,  does it

Just returned from London where I saw another extremely irritating thing.

Draught beer advertised as DRAFT beer FFS. .. If I write a letter it's a draft. Not beer...... Tw4ts.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh.... I did find someone down there who spoke English..... You've guessed it. He was a New Zealander .LOL

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

My local Co-op had a sign up in April about St George's Day which stated it was on the 23th! When I pointed it out to the cahsier she didn't have the foggiest idea what I was on about. I have also seen the 23th recently on one of those documentaries that recall events in 'real time'.

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 months later...

This would seem to be the correct thread to post this item.

I have never liked the use of the word 'gay' to describe homosexuals. To me it has always smacked of a beautiful verb being hijacked for a sordid reason. I have never used it and never will. Imagine my surprise, then, to find that it is genuine and relevant. My Pocket Oxford Dictionary has the following entry for the word 'gay'.

Light-hearted, sportive, mirthful, showy, brilliant. Then it says '(euphemism)dissolute'. Checking the word 'dissolute' it says 'morally lax, licentious'. And for 'licentious' it says 'immoral in sexual relations'.

So, it appears that the word is correct, and was originally coined by those opposing the actions of homosexuals, and over the years has taken on an opposite meaning by those involved, which seems strange.

  • Upvote 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

It just goes to prove my theory beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have the most amazing, diverse and complex language imaginable.

We have so many words from different languages which slot into English perfectly. Not all though I must add.

Well done Chulla for that little exercise.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I saw (and photographed) giant Valentine's cookies in Morrison's today that said 'Your the one'

The different complexities of languages I find interesting as I speak a few. The most complex and difficult language to learn is apparently Polish, as it has so many cases and genders. A waitress can ask 'tea or coffee' and there are 9 different common ways of asking using only 3 words. I do maintain that English is the hardest to sound like a native in though as we have so much colloquial or 'shorthand' ways of saying things. it is also the most nuanced language together with Cantonese. Where we stress a word can alter or add to the meaning of the sentence. I always give the following example.

She said she didn't do it - exactly as it sounds

She said she didn't do it - but others presumably said she DID.

She said she didn't do it - but her body language said she did

She said she didn't do it - but she sure as hell knows who did

She said she didn't do it - pretty emphatically didn't

She said she didn't do it - so she only planned it did she

She said she didn't do it - But she obviously did SOMETHING

It would take forever for a foreigner to acquire such an understanding of our language that they would appreciate those differences.

  • Upvote 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

A good point DJB, I'll try to remember that when under interrogation from madam. LOL

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Excellent example, DJB. I often wonder if any other language has such nuances that change the understanding of a word. Does French, German, and does Italian, nonna? How would an Italian stress the word 'she' in the first example?

Somewhere back on a previous thread I gave the different sounds to 'ough'.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes it does Chulla . But "she" (lei) can get mixed up with formal you ( lei)

Its not as comlpex as english

Link to post
Share on other sites

Presumably then, an Italian might say 'she said she didn't do it', and has to be careful not to imply that 'you' said she didn't do it?

Link to post
Share on other sites

A favourite of my old English teacher was to ask how you would pronounce the made-up word 'ghoti' as an example of how irregular English spelling and pronunciation was.

Ghoti is pronounced FISH.

Gh as in couGH

o as in Women

and Ti as in Station and you end up with Fish

The reason English is so nuanced and varied is because it's a mongrel language. The Latin and Germanic languages all have pretty strict rules. Show me any French, Spanish and Italian word I don't know and I can tell you with almost absolute certainty how it is pronounced. The same with German. There are very few irregular verbs in the Latin languages compared to English too. One of the things I'm curious about is why, in so many languages, the most common verbs, such as 'to be', are irregular. You'd think the most commonly used verbs would become simplified such that they were regular

English

I AM

You ARE

He IS etc

French

Je SUIS

Tu EST

Nous SOMMES,

Ils SONT etc

Spanish

Soy

Eres

Es

Somos etc

German

Ich BIN

du BIST

wir SIND etc

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

One of the great things about english is that we have got rid of the stupid idea of making nouns masculine or feminine. Why do other languages persist with it?

The one I know best is French; so you get the pointless idea that a door is female but a wall is masculine. A tree is feminine but a roof is masculine. Why ?

  • Upvote 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

The reason genders persist is because by the time you're an adolescent, you use them without thought so you don't consider them a problem. Think of all the irregular verbs in the English language. We don't give the slightest thought to the different words we use instead of saying I be, you be, he be, they be, we be. It's just not a problem conjugating irregular verbs when it's your native language. It's only when learning a new language that it's a problem and no-one is going to change their language just to make it easier for foreigners to learn. We would have to deliberately start imitating poor English speakers to simplify our language. French isn't even a great example, they only have 2 genders. German and many others also also have neuter and Swahili has 18 noun classes or genders. Other than English, I think Finnish is the only Western European language without noun genders.

Sorry to be a bit of a bore but linguistics was my thing through school and Uni.,

Link to post
Share on other sites

I can't answer your question about irregular verbs, DJ, but it might have something to do with 'be', in this case, being an intransitive verb (one that does not imply direct action). Just a guess.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Presumably then, an Italian might say 'she said she didn't do it', and has to be careful not to imply that 'you' said she didn't do it?

L' detto che non la fatta. Or Lei ha detto che non la fatta. Or Ha detto che non la fatta lei.

Lei is used when talking to an older person or writing a letter. The same thing in english when one word has more than one meaning. You have to see it in its context.

Link to post
Share on other sites

DJB

Also Italian

Io sono

Tu sei

Lui/ Lei e'

Noi siamo

Voi siete

Loro sono

I agree its was a pain conjugations but every language is learnable

Link to post
Share on other sites

DJB #113. Or even tu es? I'm having a picky day today - everything needs to be exactly right! Now why aren't my daffodils in neat clumps and where are the serviettes that match the dinner plates and why am I writing this rubbish.....

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Now then Margie, no waffling or you'll have Mr F back.

  • Upvote 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

DJB #113. Or even tu es? I'm having a picky day today - everything needs to be exactly right! Now why aren't my daffodils in neat clumps and where are the serviettes that match the dinner plates and why am I writing this rubbish.....

Sorry, mistype. Of all the languages to get wrong, it's the one I'm most fluent in nowadays. despite my degree being in Spanish, the different amount of time I've spent in the two countries mean my French is now better than my Spanish, although you wouldn't know it from that post. <hangs head in shame>

Link to post
Share on other sites

#117. Sorry nonna, but without an English translation your explanation is meaningless to me.

BTW, where has your avatar gone?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Chulla all three say the same thing. She said she didn't do it.

In fact I made a mistake in the first one it should have been " L'ha detto che non la fatta" she said she didnt do it.. I was fed up with my avatar and tried to post a different one but although I cropped the photo it said it was too big , so in the end I got fedup and left it.

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

OK, got it now, thanks. I note the L'. Is this like French where the vowel is removed to make the word flow easily into the next? But in this case the next word is not a vowel.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...