Rules of Usage: The English Language

[giff57]

Originally posted by jresta

He asked if they had the kind of clothes NASCAR fans might appreciate . . . the befuddled sales clerk went to ask his supervisor if the store carried any rice wire.

My brother moved to Georgia a few years ago. He called wanting advice about buying a PC. He said he talked with the "Dale ga" , I said "Dale who?" took a while but I figured out it was the Dell Guy.

[Doitnow!!]

I had the dubious privilege of living in a town in Germany called Dampfach

U know michelle! When I was in early college 'Dampfach' was one term we used at times. But for different reasons.

I'll mail you soon.

[Tom R]

Vietnamese words can be a problem when anglicized, the city of Phouc Vinh for example. (I may have the spelling wrong, but you get the idea.)

[Tranplanner]

Originally posted by Tom R
Vietnamese words can be a problem when anglicized, the city of Phouc Vinh for example. (I may have the spelling wrong, but you get the idea.)

My favourite Vietnamese restaurant is the Pho King. Say that three times fast!

[Gedunker]

I realized I have been in Indiana too long last night when, helping my son with his first grade spelling, he spelled "fire" thusly: F-I-E-R, just exactly as he heard his old man say it.

I've got to get these Hoosierisms to stop and get my good ol' Joisey accent going again

[Michele Zone]

Originally posted by Tranplanner
My favourite Vietnamese restaurant is the Pho King. Say that three times fast!

Okay, so I have started a "dirty sounding foreign words" kind of trend. I know a number of off-color bilingual jokes/anecdotes. Should I start a new thread? Or just add them to the neverending joke thread?

[Tranplanner]

Originally posted by Michele Zone
Okay, so I have started a "dirty sounding foreign words" kind of trend. I know a number of off-color bilingual jokes/anecdotes. Should I start a new thread? Or just add them to the neverending joke thread?

Michele Zone, sometimes you just gotta step back and let these threads take on a life of their own

[Doitnow!!]

I think i too had a role to play.
Maybe I inspired Michele partly.
Of course Im not taking credit becoz the thread is definitely taking a new turn( quite different to the earlier content but not far from the title of the thread.)
But its definitely interesting.

[Michele Zone]

Originally posted by Tranplanner
Michele Zone, sometimes you just gotta step back and let these threads take on a life of their own

So, is that to say I should just toss out my off-color bilingual stories HERE? lol. They aren't real dirty, mostly faux pas of the type discussed here. But I wouldn't want anyone to feel they were in trouble at work over my ribald sense of humor.

[Doitnow!!]

I think this much is allowded!
Oops I meant allowed.
The forum has enough mature members
to understand and make the difference.
Now thats what i think.

[Michele Zone]

I usually offend people from India in a big way. So if you are up for it, I guess I am pretty safe.
--
My mom is German and she sews. She and a friend, also Geman, were at a store getting sewing supplies. One of the things they needed was elastic. In German, the word for that is Gummi and the literal translation is "rubber". My mom's loudmouthed friend walked around the store asking "WHERE ARE THE RUBBERS?" (much to my mother's horror).
--
My high school French teacher was a tiny little woman, so small that she bought her eyeglass frames from the children's section. She spent a year in France during college. At some big dinner, at the house of a Marquis, after several courses, she simply could not eat another bite. As they were trying to load up her plate with yet more food, she tried to tell them "No thanks, I am full."

The entire table came to a dead silence and you could have heard a pin drop. The expression "I am full" ("je suis pleine", if my French isn't too rusty) is an idiom that means "I am knocked up" ("pregnant", for the non-Americans). Only it is so vulgar you wouldn't normally say it about a person. It is the kind of thing you say about farm animals. (They finally realized it was just some "stupid American expression" and continued with dinner.)
---
A friend of mine, who was learning American Sign Language, tried to say "I am hungry" and was informed by her friend that what she had just told the man was "I am horny". Apparently, there isn't very much difference between the sign for "hungry" and the one for "horny".
---
In German, if you want to indicate that you are overly warm, you say that you are "very warm" or "too warm". If you directly translate the American expression "I am hot" into German, it means "I am horny".
---
I probably know a few more but those come readily to mind.

[Doitnow!!]

we'll see

[Dan]

On the CBS show 60 Minutes last Sunday, they showed a behind-the-scenes look at call centers in India. The Indian employees, most young college graduates, are given voice training so their accents can be more easily understood by North Americans. I've been connected to Indian call centers before, and the speech used tended to be more casual, rather than the very polite Indian English I'm familiar with. No "I am tanking you veddy veddy much for calling Adelphia Cable" -- it sounded like American English, with a wee bit of a jolly Bangalore accent.

[Doitnow!!]

"WHERE ARE THE RUBBERS?"

This was way back when i was in school( high school mind you)
we(guys) deliberately asked the girls.
" Hey, U have a rubber ?"

Because out here rubber is a common term used for an eraser.

"No thanks, I am full."

In India, not only is " I'm full used commonly" even " Im totally full" or "I'm absolutely full" is quite common. I use it too

American Sign Language, tried to say "I am hungry" and was informed by her friend that what she had just told the man was "I am horny". Apparently, there isn't very much difference between the sign for "hungry" and the one for "horny".

Good to know that they have a sign for 'horny' in the american sign language. I would have expected that...


ou want to indicate that you are overly warm, you say that you are "very warm" or "too warm

Strange thing really! Waths the point in indicating/telling someone that you are overly warm. The best way is to be just "overly warm".

Bangalore accent.

You know what Dan Indians are doing all this back end also because they speak better english.
Although many states are grouping up in the US to stop that ouflow of work( The last I heard was that even Arnold was pushin for it) .

The Y2k then and now the BPO boom has really affected cities like mine( Hyderabad).
In fact I am an 'external guide' to a thesis titled 'Effect of Information Technology, on Spatial structure of Cities'. Now doesnt that sound interesting.
===================================================

Talking about language usage Im sure that first e-mail then chatiing and now the sms has really encouraged new words, shortcuts etc. All that may need another forum exclusively.

More later...

[jresta]

I was always aware of the fact that there are many languages in India but i was always under the impression that they were very similar and most of the were mutually intelligible by at least 75%

I just noticed that the languages in northern india are mostly in the Indo-Iranian subgroup of Indo-European and nearly all of those are in one smaller subset . . . but in the south the languages are Dravidian.

how does that work? what language would you use if you met someone from Delhi or Calcutta?

[Gedunker]

I do not wish to hijack this thread (shh, Homeland Security may be listening...) back to its original purpose, but I do have a quick question:

"Demolition" or "Demolishment", as in "the first phase of the project involves ____________ of two historic structures".

Preferences, please.

[biscuit]

Originally posted by Gedunker
I"Demolition" or "Demolishment", as in "the first phase of the project involves ____________ of two historic structures".

Preferences, please.

Demolition.
Demolishment just sounds awkward

[Gedunker]

Originally posted by biscuit
Demolition.
Demolishment just sounds awkward

I'm with you, Biscuit I had never heard "demolishment" before moving here. I'm wondering if others agree.

[Tranplanner]

I would do with demolition too.

[jresta]

i've never heard of "demolishment" either.

where is "here"?

[Duke Of Dystopia]

You also have to look for sources of change language devoloution on things like ESPN's sports center. Those talking sports heads are at the bottom of the journalistic barrel for a reason. This can be evidenced by the use of the term:

strategery, stategerie (?)

I understand a living language, and I know people have different levels of use, but this type of language use should be fit for a crowd bearing torches and ill will. Strategery isn't even a word! And our primary planner uses it all the time and is proud of that! Tell me, who woulda thunk?

[Doitnow!!]

Jresta, your right to a large extent.
The two most coomon languages( that can be used and understood by most in India) are Hindi and English.
Not just the North-South{ See theres a north south divide everywhere }

From the north to the central parts and even the east adn the west of India English and Hindi is accepted more or less.
While in the south( as you rightly mentioned the dravidian languages) English and the local/regional language is accepted.

Since theres a slight mix in the local cultures due to the flexibility people have in setlling dwon anywhere in the country, HIndi is widely understood. Thats the reason its the national language too. Although English usage is very common too.
Most state governments too use english as the language to do official work.

t'

'strategery and demolishmen

I've heard them for the first time here.

[Wannaplan?]

Originally posted by Duke Of Dystopia
Strategery isn't even a word! And our primary planner uses it all the time and is proud of that! Tell me, who woulda thunk?

Will Ferrel from Saturday Night Live coined the term while impersonating Presidential candidate George Bush in October of 2000. Either your primary planner is making a joke whenever he uses strategery or he is dim bulb.

[Gedunker]

Originally posted by jresta
i've never heard of "demolishment" either.

where is "here"?

Southern Indiana.

My Webster's actually notes that demolition "is often specific to the use of explosives", whereas demolishment is "to pull down, tear down, or smash to pieces (a building, etc.)". In this context demolishment would be more appropriate.

I will use "demolition", however, as I believe it is more common and therefore better understood.

[Duke Of Dystopia]

Originally posted by Wanigas?
....... Either your primary planner is making a joke whenever he uses strategery or he is dim bulb.

He is not dim by any stretch of the imagination, but strategery is not a word. I hear it used on Sports Center all the time to. Drives me crazy!