Messages: 66,548 - Threads: 3,311
posted
03-Dec-2009 06:53
by:
kalpea_tuli »
last reply
03-Dec-2009 09:01
by:
shilgia »
4
replies
,
34
views
is there anything weird about the word "Multiplicity"? is it a mix of latin or greek or something?
I was watching a German made and German language with English subtitles murder mystery on TV the other day and I noticed that when many of the actors would say ''no'' in German they would not pronounce it ''NINE'' but what sounded to me like : ''NAY'', ryming with pay or hay. This suprised me a little, and I asked a German I know to explain it, be he couldn't. Is this just a slangy or casual usage, the equivalent of 'yeah' or 'yep' for 'yes'?
posted
03-Dec-2009 03:05
by:
homeopathusa »
last reply
03-Dec-2009 03:05
by:
homeopathusa »
0
replies
,
14
views
Can anyone translate the following series of SMS messages into English? They are a combination of Balinese and Indonesian abbreviations.
11/16 kt ken ken kabara ne bli gede ane sai meblanje di restaurant
kbre baik, oh ne bli gede. posi2ne dje jn?
tiang di rumahne tut. sedang ngapainne tut?
ne lg nungguin tmu mkn. Men bli ngudiangin jn? Bli kok sush x nylanin hdup d rantauan. Bnxk cobaan n mtngn. Q cb tuk trsenyum wlaupn bnxk d mslh.
Terangin yg lebih singkat ama bli lagi tut, please. Sibuk ya tut? Tut adi bisa jegeg ketu sih? ape sih rahasianne? apang jegeg been manis.
Slit nylnin hdp drntauan. Bnyk cob'n n mtngn. Hrs" sbr mnghdapny. Ada deah he he... ne pntng sbr, slalu snyum, brcnd n lbh bnyk mkn sayuran gt lho bli gede?
ya itulah perantaun, banyak durinya. Nyaan seng lemet naar sayur daen tut, haha. Tut seng ade rencana main2 mejep.
Y jnglh mkn syuran j, ...
more »
posted
02-Dec-2009 08:41
by:
mathilda »
last reply
03-Dec-2009 01:55
by:
VinnyD »
9
replies
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166
views
Are germans the only ones who show the number two (for example when entering a very noisy bar and showing the barmaid that you want two beer) with thumb and index finger?
The Dutch already don't understand index and thumb to mean two. They themselves would use, and only understand, index and middle finger to mean "two". The same for Russians. I am almost sure French and English do the same, but if anyone on here wants to correct me that will be welcome.
How about our next other door neighbours the Danes, or the Poles, might they use their thumb as well as their index finger?
Feel free to chip in from any place around the world.
Russians and Germans also count differently using their fingers. A german will say "on" while opening his fist, thumb out first, then "two", index, and so forth.
A Russian will say "one" and flip down his or her pinky from an opened palm, then "two" and...
more »
posted
02-Dec-2009 08:02
by:
VinnyD »
last reply
03-Dec-2009 10:21
by:
sneaker_fish »
15
replies
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166
views
In the TLS for November 20, the poet Hugo Williams describing a weekend in Ireland says:
posted
02-Dec-2009 07:55
by:
VinnyD »
last reply
03-Dec-2009 10:20
by:
VinnyD »
5
replies
,
91
views
. . . with two n's.
I saw a 19th century US text recently that referred to Havanna cigars, and I'm aware that there's a bakery in Buenos Aires (said to make good alfajores) called Havanna. And when I tried to find out something about the second n, I learned that the standard German spelling of the Cuban capital is Havanna.
So where does that second n come from? Was it the standard Spanish spelling at one time?
posted
02-Dec-2009 03:45
by:
mathilda »
last reply
02-Dec-2009 05:05
by:
nutraxfornerves »
1
replies
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64
views
gene barabtarlo is the translator to russian of nabokov's "the original of laura". Of what origin is the surname "barabtarlo"?
posted
02-Dec-2009 02:30
by:
itsasmallworld1 »
last reply
03-Dec-2009 08:53
by:
itsasmallworld1 »
14
replies
,
187
views
Hi all
How do they say in slang in your country, in your language, "how much does it cost"?
I mean, not the "combien ce coute *spelling? " or the literal translation.. just other ways.
A person just asked by my side "cuanto duele ?" as in "how much does it hurt?"
I found it totally annoying and vulgar...is same phrase used in other places?
TIA
posted
02-Dec-2009 00:12
by:
JeremyintheCzec... »
last reply
02-Dec-2009 08:03
by:
anolazima »
1
replies
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53
views
This one looks interesting. Amazing how much work he has put into it.
posted
01-Dec-2009 00:19
by:
AndrewSmith »
last reply
03-Dec-2009 07:07
by:
stefo »
5
replies
,
141
views
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. "
posted
30-Nov-2009 23:54
by:
stormboy »
last reply
03-Dec-2009 01:14
by:
AndrewSmith »
1
replies
,
73
views
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 »
posted
30-Nov-2009 23:25
by:
stormboy »
last reply
02-Dec-2009 17:01
by:
chriskean1 »
7
replies
,
183
views
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 »
posted
30-Nov-2009 18:02
by:
Lonelier_Planet »
last reply
03-Dec-2009 07:11
by:
Kano_Jim »
8
replies
,
176
views
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?
posted
30-Nov-2009 17:20
by:
Myanmarbound »
last reply
01-Dec-2009 13:18
by:
Myanmarbound »
11
replies
,
178
views
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?
posted
30-Nov-2009 15:41
by:
james_in_footsc... »
last reply
02-Dec-2009 23:02
by:
889 »
6
replies
,
176
views
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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