| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Off topic: What vocabulary tells you about a culture Thread poster: OffMag
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OffMag 
France
Local time: 10:21
German to French
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TOPIC STARTER | French drama queens | Jul 7, 2009 |
And why do the French love drama so much?
We have a rich vocabulary in French when it comes to tragedy:
tragedy tragédie
tragedy (calamity) calamité
tragedy (catastrophe) catastrophe
tragedy drame
tragedy (disaster) désastre
tragedy malheur
And is it only a matter of syllables if the song "The lion sleeps tonight" becomes "le lion est mort ce soir" ("the lion died tonight")?
Compare the 2 versions here... See more And why do the French love drama so much?
We have a rich vocabulary in French when it comes to tragedy:
tragedy tragédie
tragedy (calamity) calamité
tragedy (catastrophe) catastrophe
tragedy drame
tragedy (disaster) désastre
tragedy malheur
And is it only a matter of syllables if the song "The lion sleeps tonight" becomes "le lion est mort ce soir" ("the lion died tonight")?
Compare the 2 versions here: http://www.leblogdelamirabelle.net/article-33473517.html
-first 2 videos = English version
-third video= French version ▲ Collapse
| | | | Paul Dixon
Brazil
Local time: 05:21
Portuguese to English
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| Swearwords in Portuguese | Jul 8, 2009 |
Regarding the Spanish swearwords mentioned, I could add that "hijo/a de puta" has an equivalent, while the husband cheated by his wife here is a "corno" or "chifrudo" (literally "horned one"). "Zorra" here has a different meaning, something like chaos - we even have a TV programme called "Zorra Total", which is a humour programme.
There is significant difference between Brazil and Portugal, a word which is a swear word in one linguistic variant is inoffensive in the other. The class... See more Regarding the Spanish swearwords mentioned, I could add that "hijo/a de puta" has an equivalent, while the husband cheated by his wife here is a "corno" or "chifrudo" (literally "horned one"). "Zorra" here has a different meaning, something like chaos - we even have a TV programme called "Zorra Total", which is a humour programme.
There is significant difference between Brazil and Portugal, a word which is a swear word in one linguistic variant is inoffensive in the other. The classic example is "bicha" which in Portugal is a queue, but in Brazil is a gay.
You may also be interested to know that in Brazil there is a swear-word dictionary:
Dicionário do Palavrão e Termos Afins, by Mário Souto Maior
Finally, the word for "swear word" in Portuguese is "palavrão" which literally means "big word". although most swear words are short.
[Edited at 2009-07-08 14:48 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Numerous examples | Jul 8, 2009 |
Examples! examples! 
See Johnson, Sterling, English as a Second F*cking Language: How to Swear Effectively, Explained in Detail with Numerous Examples Taken From Everyday Life, St. Martin's Griffin, 1st edition, June 15, 1996. (ISBN-10: 031214329X ISBN-13: 978-0312143299).
| | | | Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 02:21
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Eskimos have many words to define water.
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Paul Dixon
Brazil
Local time: 05:21
Portuguese to English
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| Corruption and Scandal Terms | Jul 8, 2009 |
As corruption is rife among Brazilian politicians, it comes as no surprise that we have a series of words relating to scandals and dishonesty with political reference. Some of them are:
malufar = to rob, steal. Coined in honour of Brazilian Congressman Paulo S. Maluf who is always being accused of robbing public funds.
valerioduto = refers to the corruption scheme organized by the businessman Marcos Valério to distribute resources to Parliamentarians, a scandal which h... See more As corruption is rife among Brazilian politicians, it comes as no surprise that we have a series of words relating to scandals and dishonesty with political reference. Some of them are:
malufar = to rob, steal. Coined in honour of Brazilian Congressman Paulo S. Maluf who is always being accused of robbing public funds.
valerioduto = refers to the corruption scheme organized by the businessman Marcos Valério to distribute resources to Parliamentarians, a scandal which has shaken the Lula government.
mensalão = a scandal of 2004-2005, which involved illegal monthly side-payments from the executive’s office to legislators ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Having convictions is dangerous | Jul 9, 2009 |
A couple of days ago I was wondering why in English "conviction" (belief) and the noun "convict" (imprisonned criminal) share the same root...Interesting...and frightenning isn't it?
| | | | | '14% of Chinese vocabulary is foreign loan-words' ... ; Marxism and adoption of martial terminology | Jul 9, 2009 |
lai an wrote: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language#New_words ... direct phonetic borrowing of foreign words has gone on since ancient times. ... 葡萄 "grape," 石榴 "pomegranate" and 狮子/獅子 "lion." 佛 "Buddha" and 菩萨/菩薩 "bodhisattva." 胡同 "hutong." 琵琶 "pípa", the Chinese lute, or 酪 "cheese" or "yoghurt"
1 '14% of Chinese vocabulary is foreign loan-words... ': According an article from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (link below), 14% of Chinese vocabulary is foreign-loan words (see a list of examples at Table 3). This compares with 50% for English ...
2 'civilian adoption of martial terminology' in the mid-20th century, see Wasserstrom, p227:
'... civilian adoption of martial terminology was not born in the Cultural Revolution. The trend can be traced back to the early years of the PRC ...' Perhaps this was a language 'wave' or 'fashion' of the times ... what do others think ...
[ 1 'Borrowed words are the products of language development and cultural contact ...' http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt/article/viewFile/336/299
Borrowed Words in English and Chinese Vocabulary, Yingying Shen, Center for Lexicographical Studies, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
2 Modern borrowings: The T.3 examples (which seem to be modern borrowings) cover the following fields: politics, economics, military, religion, food, clothing, daily life, art/entertainment/sport, value of life, social position, science and technology, computer and website, transportation, health and medicine ]
[ J.N. Wasserstrom, Twentieth-century China, 2003: http://books.google.com/books?id=7MQYyphZPiMC&pg=PA227&lpg=PA227&dq=chinese%20revolutionary%20civilian%20adoption%20of%20martial%20terminology&source=bl&ots=itkAuN2ctO&sig=5ByLy9uQfAyeYDTxDCOwqQGZZ6o&hl=en&ei=iH9VSpWCMYTcsQPNhoX0AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1 ]
[Edited at 2009-07-09 07:03 GMT]
| | | | | the 'basic word stock' of English is Anglo-Saxon; emotionally-colored language | Jul 13, 2009 |
1 Classification of English Words: Origin: native words and loan words: Native words are words brought to Britain in the fifth century by the German tribes: the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. Words of Anglo-Saxon origin are small in number, but they form the basic word stock of the English language. ...
2 I have mentioned elsewhere the presence of praise and pejorative language in Chinese. Here is an essay noting (under 'Coloring: Emotion') the same feature in English (below) ... See more 1 Classification of English Words: Origin: native words and loan words: Native words are words brought to Britain in the fifth century by the German tribes: the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. Words of Anglo-Saxon origin are small in number, but they form the basic word stock of the English language. ...
2 I have mentioned elsewhere the presence of praise and pejorative language in Chinese. Here is an essay noting (under 'Coloring: Emotion') the same feature in English (below)
3 Names for things: Why is it that Chinese uses one word to cover sheep and goats 羊, cattle and water-buffalos 牛 and mice and rats 老鼠, whereas English has two ... Why is it that English has three words asphalt/bitumen/pitch where modern Chinese has only one 沥青 ...
[ 1 http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:5uVoQWgQ8o8J:sfs.scnu.edu.cn/tblogs/liuhy/attachments/month_0903/220093322022.ppt%20chinese%20lexis%20basic%20ordinary%20vocabulary&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk (bottom of the document)
The Basic Word Stock: It includes the most frequently used words that are essential to life, and words denoting the most fundamental things of life. ...
Native words vs. loan words: Despite large-scale borrowings over the centuries, the major part of words spoken and written by English-speaking people ... are native words, ...
2 http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:JSianClRFFMJ:www.tysy.net/dag/bylw/2006/wenke/wyx/2.doc%20chinese%20synonyms%20commendatory%20pejorative&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk English synonyms can be mainly distinguished in three ways: meaning, coloring and usage ...
http://www.proz.com/forum/prozcom_job_systems/136172-why_would_an_agency_requesting_english_into_spanish_want_native_english_speakers_to_quote-page2.html#1136264 ]
[Edited at 2009-07-13 11:08 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Yaotl Altan wrote:
Eskimos have many words to define water.
Hello Yaotl
'Eskimos have many words for 'snow' ?...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow
(it's Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, isn't it, but it's a myth it seems ... )
I wonder if you know, the word 'Eskimo' is not PC anymore in some quarters, apparently.
Lesley
[Edited at 2009-07-24 01:36 GMT]
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