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posted
01-Dec-2009 00:19
by: AndrewSmith »

last reply
01-Dec-2009 05:21
by: TonyK »

2 replies , 47 views

Police fail to catch naked cyclist

because they're too busy stalking women joggers in west London.

I love misrelated participles in news stories. According to http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8386167.stm
"Police are looking for a naked cyclist stalking women joggers in west London. "

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posted
30-Nov-2009 23:54
by: stormboy »

last reply
30-Nov-2009 23:54
by: stormboy »

0 replies , 28 views

Moldovan Government Switches To 'Romanian' Language On Websites

From the Radio Free Europe website:

Moldovan Government Switches To 'Romanian' Language On Websites
28 November 2009

CHISINAU -- In a sign of growing rapprochement with neighboring EU-member Romania, Moldova's government has changed the language signs on all of its websites from "Moldovan" (MD) to "Romanian" (RO), RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports.

The Moldovan Constitution states that the official language of the country is "Moldovan," although most linguists say the language spoken in Moldova does not differ enough Romanian to be considered a different language.

The new pro-Western government has said it will try to amend the constitution in the future to remove the "Moldovan language" concept.

The term "Moldovan language" was coined by the Soviets after th... more »

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posted
30-Nov-2009 23:25
by: stormboy »

last reply
01-Dec-2009 11:34
by: VinnyD »

1 replies , 48 views

The du and du waltz - German linguistic correctness

From this week's edition of The Economist:

The du und du waltz

The complex etiquette of du and Sie in Germany

“AT 2.12 our work was finished. At 2.15 we called each other Horst and Guido. This is the beginning of a great friendship.” That is how Guido Westerwelle, the Free Democratic leader in Germany’s coalition government, broke the news that he and Horst Seehofer of the Christian Social Union would henceforth address each other by the familiar du rather than the formal Sie. Since Mr Seehofer had called Mr Westerwelle a crybaby just weeks earlier, it was a touching reconciliation. But how much warmth does the intimate du convey?

It used to be so simple. Relatives, friends, children and dogs were du; everyone else was Sie. The offer of du, usually by an older interlocutor, was not made lightly. But this formula has become scrambled during the past 40 years. Germany i... more »

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posted
30-Nov-2009 18:02
by: Lonelier_Planet »

last reply
30-Nov-2009 20:33
by: Riesling »

1 replies , 69 views

Particular German dialect

After World War 2 German-speaking East Prussia was partitioned between the Soviet Union and Poland, and most of its German population was expelled.

Before that, did East Prussians speak with a distinctive accent or use vocabulary/grammatical structures that were particular to that area of Germany?

In other words, in the early 1940s would it have been possible for other German speakers to identify people from East Prussia by their accent(s) or dialect expressions?

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posted
30-Nov-2009 17:20
by: Myanmarbound »

last reply
01-Dec-2009 11:34
by: shilgia »

10 replies , 123 views

Are the compilers of spellcheck Puritans?

They don't object if I go to one wine tasting but if I go to two or more wine tastings the red ink comes out.

What should I be writing instead?

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posted
30-Nov-2009 15:41
by: james_in_footsc... »

last reply
01-Dec-2009 04:48
by: nutraxfornerves »

3 replies , 93 views

replying to a compliment

How do you reply politely when someone says you speak a language well?

For example, if a German tells you you speak German well, what do you say? Do you just say 'Danke', or do you say it isn't true? (And what should you say exactly?)

It would be interesting to hear about different languages ...

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posted
30-Nov-2009 07:54
by: mathilda »

last reply
30-Nov-2009 07:54
by: mathilda »

0 replies , 25 views

cafrande

´which language is the word "cafrande" and what does it mean?
it is a website where you can listen to kurdish, caucasian, armenian, balkan and turkish music

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posted
30-Nov-2009 03:03
by: mathilda »

last reply
30-Nov-2009 04:41
by: mathilda »

4 replies , 95 views

brian molko

of what origin is brian molko's surname?
he is scottish but of american and italian/french origin

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posted
30-Nov-2009 01:32
by: mathilda »

last reply
30-Nov-2009 10:05
by: tonya001 »

5 replies , 139 views

Dieu, day

Is there any etymological relation between French "dieu" (god) and English "day"?

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posted
29-Nov-2009 18:06
by: bjd »

last reply
30-Nov-2009 16:44
by: psw »

7 replies , 144 views

Enjoy some puns

1. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.

6. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

7. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

8. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

9. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

11. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking i... more »

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posted
29-Nov-2009 09:23
by: VinnyD »

last reply
01-Dec-2009 00:05
by: stormboy »

6 replies , 159 views

Illegal letters

It is reported that Osman Baydemir, a prominent human rights activist now the mayor of Diyarbakır, is being prosecuted for sending out cards containing New Year's greetings in Turkish, Kurdish, and English. "Happy New Year" in Kurdish is Newroz Píroz be!, the publication of which violates Act 1353 of November 1, 1928 on Adoption and Application of Turkish Letters, which forbids the use of any letters not found in the Turkish alphabet. Turkish does not use the letters q, w, or x.

Source and a more detailed radio story

Is Turkey the only country which makes the use of particular letters a criminal offense? I believe it's illegal to post signs in the Roman alphabet in Libya, but I'm thinking of use even inside a sealed envelope. more »

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posted
28-Nov-2009 14:09
by: qingdao_aborigi... »

last reply
28-Nov-2009 21:33
by: qingdao_aborigi... »

2 replies , 91 views

How to write Chinese Character?

I want to make the new season of Bruce Shaw's Chinese, I have made some vides on Chinese Character

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnZE0pZiXmk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiwKXX6HlHw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rw8S9ahey8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rw8S9ahey8

I am not sure if they are useful for guys who want to learn Chinese. Or do you have any ideas to promote my videos? Thanks.

Bruce Shaw

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posted
28-Nov-2009 13:51
by: Lonelier_Planet »

last reply
30-Nov-2009 02:48
by: VinnyD »

3 replies , 141 views

Could Sigmund Freud...

...speak English well?

I know his French was good enough to study in Paris when he was training as a neurologist, and I know that when he was in his fifties he was invited to lecture in the United States. Did he deliver those lectures in English, or was there a translator?

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posted
28-Nov-2009 04:25
by: bjd »

last reply
01-Dec-2009 09:39
by: NorthAmerican »

27 replies , 459 views

Pages 1 2

Translating place names

French compound place names are always written with a hyphen. For example, Trifoullis-les-Oies. This is not the case in English, as far as I know.

I just did a translation from French to English that contained names of churches and places. The museum curator whose text it is is complaining that I left out the hyphens, even though I kept the French name. For example, I said Saint Etienne Cathedral, instead of St Stephen's Cathedral, since I feel that whoever buys this book might look on a map to go to the cathedral and will find it written as Saint-Etienne and not Saint Stephen's. However, I did not include the hyphen of Saint-Etienne Cathedral.

Any opinions? She just called me and I said I was trying to get some expert opinion.

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posted
28-Nov-2009 02:03
by: keppiezbt »

last reply
29-Nov-2009 17:51
by: keppiezbt »

11 replies , 236 views

Don't learn the language

Learning a language overseas can be great but sometimes its better not to learn the language.

Here's why:

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/learn-a-foreign-language/

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