|
FAQ | Members List | Calendar |
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
10-02-2006, 05:22 PM | #1 |
Master of Orchestration President Emeritus of Entmoot 2004-2008
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Lost in the Opera House
Posts: 9,328
|
Some words in one language, mean something else in another...
Point to illustrate: when in Mexico City (I was not born then), my older brother who was just a young lad, said something which by normal spanish standards means something quite innocent. But the Mexico City woman who was babysitting, spanked my brother for saying it...
Any stories or examples?
__________________
ACALEWIA- President of Entmoot hectorberlioz- Vice President of Entmoot Acaly und Hektor fur Presidants fur EntMut fur life! Join the discussion at Entmoot Election 2010. "Stupidissimo!"~Toscanini The Da CINDY Code The Epic Poem Of The Balrog of Entmoot: Here ~NEW! ~ Thinking of summer vacation? AboutNewJersey.com - NJ Travel & Tourism Guide |
10-02-2006, 05:27 PM | #2 |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, CA
Posts: 10,820
|
Puta means "Think" in Latin. It's a very naughty word for "whore" in Portuguese.
"Book" means poop in, I think, Tatar. There are so many examples...
__________________
Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle |
10-02-2006, 05:28 PM | #3 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: here and there
Posts: 3,514
|
Fanny ...
|
10-02-2006, 08:36 PM | #4 | |
Master of Orchestration President Emeritus of Entmoot 2004-2008
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Lost in the Opera House
Posts: 9,328
|
Quote:
__________________
ACALEWIA- President of Entmoot hectorberlioz- Vice President of Entmoot Acaly und Hektor fur Presidants fur EntMut fur life! Join the discussion at Entmoot Election 2010. "Stupidissimo!"~Toscanini The Da CINDY Code The Epic Poem Of The Balrog of Entmoot: Here ~NEW! ~ Thinking of summer vacation? AboutNewJersey.com - NJ Travel & Tourism Guide |
|
10-02-2006, 09:10 PM | #5 | ||
Co-President of Entmoot
Super Moderator Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 8,397
|
The Spanish word "excusado" sounds a lot like it should mean, "excuse me," but what it really means is "toilet".
If you want to say you're full of food in French, you might directly translate "I'm full" into "J'ai plein." However, the verb "avoir plein" (to be full) is one that must be conjugated with the verb "être," to become "Je suis plein." What does "J'ai plein" mean? "I'm pregnant." Similairly, to be "full" in Swedish means you're drunk. Hee.
__________________
"I can add some more, if you'd like it. Calling your Chief Names, Wishing to Punch his Pimply Face, and Thinking you Shirriffs look a lot of Tom-fools." - Sam Gamgee, p. 340, Return of the King Quote:
Quote:
|
||
10-02-2006, 10:08 PM | #6 | |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, CA
Posts: 10,820
|
Quote:
__________________
Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle |
|
10-02-2006, 10:13 PM | #7 | |
Salt Miner
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: gone to Far Harad
Posts: 987
|
Quote:
A German idiom (eine Redewendung): “Er hat einer Vogel in der Kopf,” literally “He has a bird in the head.” The English variant: “He has bats in the belfry.” Try this one: “He’s a few bricks shy of a full load” (there’s a direct German counter-part to this one, too), or “He’s not playing with a full deck [of cards].” -|- You can always tell a German tourist in an English restaurant. The German verb meaning “to order” something, as in a restaurant, is zu bekommen, leading to this grand declaration: “I become steak and baked potato, please.” The English speaker’s goof in German, “Ich habe ein Steak und Kartoffel, bitte,” would leave the waiter rolling on the floor: where do you have it, coming out your ears? Just one steak, sir? (The really English foul-up is even funnier: “Ich will Steak und Kartoffel haben, bitte,” which more or less means, “I’m going to have [want to have, will have, am trying to get] steak and baked potato [growing out of my head, nose, what have you], please.”) Zu bekommen is really and truly the same verb as the English to become, but 1,000 years of linguistic drift seperates the usage. Will means almost the same thing in English and German, and to have/zu haben are still almost identical in every respect – except that the important adjective here is “almost.” I wonder what funny things Tolkien imagined Quenya and Sindarin speakers said to one another in the first years of the First Age? Last edited by Alcuin : 10-02-2006 at 11:32 PM. |
|
10-03-2006, 12:47 AM | #8 |
An enigma in a conundrum
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 6,476
|
a taco is something made at home when you visit MX; visting the US the only place to find 'em is at Taco Bell which 99% of the time doesn't have a mexican employee in sight.
__________________
Vizzini: "HE DIDN'T FALL?! INCONCEIVABLE!!" Inigo: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." |
10-03-2006, 03:44 AM | #9 |
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium)
Posts: 14,363
|
'Fokken' is the Dutch word for 'to breed'. One Belgian entertainer who bred race horses as a hobby messed up during an English interview that gave a quite... eh interesting phrase.
__________________
We are not things. |
10-03-2006, 11:23 AM | #10 |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, CA
Posts: 10,820
|
__________________
Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle |
10-03-2006, 11:29 AM | #11 | |||
Master of Orchestration President Emeritus of Entmoot 2004-2008
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Lost in the Opera House
Posts: 9,328
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Similarly, in spanish "Embarasada" (not sure of the spelling...) sounds like it should mean "embarassed"...but it means "pregnant".
__________________
ACALEWIA- President of Entmoot hectorberlioz- Vice President of Entmoot Acaly und Hektor fur Presidants fur EntMut fur life! Join the discussion at Entmoot Election 2010. "Stupidissimo!"~Toscanini The Da CINDY Code The Epic Poem Of The Balrog of Entmoot: Here ~NEW! ~ Thinking of summer vacation? AboutNewJersey.com - NJ Travel & Tourism Guide |
|||
10-03-2006, 11:47 AM | #12 |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, CA
Posts: 10,820
|
That could make you embarassed quickly.
__________________
Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle |
10-03-2006, 11:53 AM | #13 |
Master of Orchestration President Emeritus of Entmoot 2004-2008
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Lost in the Opera House
Posts: 9,328
|
Well, since my parents were missionaries in central America, I never used spanish wrongly, only forgot it... (Can you blame me, I was young!)
__________________
ACALEWIA- President of Entmoot hectorberlioz- Vice President of Entmoot Acaly und Hektor fur Presidants fur EntMut fur life! Join the discussion at Entmoot Election 2010. "Stupidissimo!"~Toscanini The Da CINDY Code The Epic Poem Of The Balrog of Entmoot: Here ~NEW! ~ Thinking of summer vacation? AboutNewJersey.com - NJ Travel & Tourism Guide |
10-03-2006, 12:10 PM | #14 |
An enigma in a conundrum
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 6,476
|
Bad-o- Hector....Spanish is almost the worlds second language
Personally I miss the old useage of 'gay' as in a gay old time. When you watch some old movies it always gives your innards a lurch when they use that expression and yet it wasn't that long ago when it meant just what they intended it to. Sad.
__________________
Vizzini: "HE DIDN'T FALL?! INCONCEIVABLE!!" Inigo: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." |
10-03-2006, 12:41 PM | #15 | |
Master of Orchestration President Emeritus of Entmoot 2004-2008
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Lost in the Opera House
Posts: 9,328
|
Quote:
...you're right of course, the usage of it now makes you cringe when you read classic books, too.
__________________
ACALEWIA- President of Entmoot hectorberlioz- Vice President of Entmoot Acaly und Hektor fur Presidants fur EntMut fur life! Join the discussion at Entmoot Election 2010. "Stupidissimo!"~Toscanini The Da CINDY Code The Epic Poem Of The Balrog of Entmoot: Here ~NEW! ~ Thinking of summer vacation? AboutNewJersey.com - NJ Travel & Tourism Guide |
|
10-03-2006, 01:02 PM | #16 | |
Master of Orchestration President Emeritus of Entmoot 2004-2008
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Lost in the Opera House
Posts: 9,328
|
Quote:
The German-English exchange nearly killed me
__________________
ACALEWIA- President of Entmoot hectorberlioz- Vice President of Entmoot Acaly und Hektor fur Presidants fur EntMut fur life! Join the discussion at Entmoot Election 2010. "Stupidissimo!"~Toscanini The Da CINDY Code The Epic Poem Of The Balrog of Entmoot: Here ~NEW! ~ Thinking of summer vacation? AboutNewJersey.com - NJ Travel & Tourism Guide |
|
10-03-2006, 01:49 PM | #17 | ||
Co-President of Entmoot
Super Moderator Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 8,397
|
You can still say "gay" as in "gay old time". People might misunderstand, but you can say it. I don't misunderstand the word in old books, since it's all about context, and characters are always saying stuff like "Oh George, can we go, even if we get our boots wet? Oh, do let's." (I'm looking at you Edith Nesbit. )
Alcuin, that was an awesome post! Idioms are awesome. Judging by your avatar, I'm sure you'll understand, "It's not right for my..." "Idiom, sir?" "Idiom!" Another French-English idiom is if you want to say you're hot. You might say, "J'ai chaud." What you should say is, "Je suis chaud." "J'ai chaud," means, again, "I'm drunk." There seems to be a lot of ways to accidentally proclaim drunkenness and pregnancy in this thread eh? Hmmm...
__________________
"I can add some more, if you'd like it. Calling your Chief Names, Wishing to Punch his Pimply Face, and Thinking you Shirriffs look a lot of Tom-fools." - Sam Gamgee, p. 340, Return of the King Quote:
Quote:
|
||
10-03-2006, 01:50 PM | #18 | |
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium)
Posts: 14,363
|
Quote:
In a far more innocent example: the word 'folder' is translated in Dutch as 'map'. I think I managed to confuse at least one English person when telling I had some papers in a map somewhere.
__________________
We are not things. |
|
10-03-2006, 02:32 PM | #19 |
the Shrike
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: San Francisco, CA <3
Posts: 10,647
|
Y'know, earniel, that means to breed in english as well.
__________________
"Binary solo! 0000001! 00000011! 0000001! 00000011!" ~ The Humans are Dead, Flight of the Conchords |
10-03-2006, 02:51 PM | #20 |
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium)
Posts: 14,363
|
Really? I would never have guessed.
__________________
We are not things. |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
LOTR Discussion: Appendices E and F | Forkbeard | LOTR Discussion Project | 11 | 09-15-2008 06:16 PM |
Evidence for Evolution | jerseydevil | General Messages | 599 | 05-18-2008 02:43 PM |
It's not the words you say.. | Nerdanel | Writer's Workshop | 4 | 08-15-2006 02:53 PM |
punishment thread - aka chalkboard thread | jerseydevil | General Messages | 0 | 03-06-2004 09:24 AM |