Discussion Group

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby הענט » 2017-05-09, 13:48

I just found an "old" textbook called Family Album in my bookshelf. It's from 1990 (the year I was born) and it belonged zo my brother. There are some things inside I'm curious about.

If someone calls you on the phone and asks for you, do you really say This is he/she instead of it's me?

And how frequent is the phrase: It's a snap? In comparison to it's a piece of cake or no sweat.

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby linguoboy » 2017-05-09, 19:15

Dr. House wrote:If someone calls you on the phone and asks for you, do you really say This is he/she instead of it's me?

St Peter hears a knock at the Pearly Gates.
"Who is it?" he calls.
"It is I, M--"
"Go to hell! We have enough English teachers up here already!"

Maybe there's some wizened old pedant who still says that, but everyone I know would say, "Speaking" or "That's me" or "I'm [name]".

Dr. House wrote:And how frequent is the phrase: It's a snap? In comparison to it's a piece of cake or no sweat.

It's rarer than either of those, but I would still expect it to be generally recognised, at least in North America.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby הענט » 2017-05-11, 6:26

linguoboy wrote:
Dr. House wrote:If someone calls you on the phone and asks for you, do you really say This is he/she instead of it's me?

St Peter hears a knock at the Pearly Gates.
"Who is it?" he calls.
"It is I, M--"
"Go to hell! We have enough English teachers up here already!"

Maybe there's some wizened old pedant who still says that, but everyone I know would say, "Speaking" or "That's me" or "I'm [name]".

Dr. House wrote:And how frequent is the phrase: It's a snap? In comparison to it's a piece of cake or no sweat.

It's rarer than either of those, but I would still expect it to be generally recognised, at least in North America.


Thanks. I love the overall sitcom look of the book. It's so corny, but it brings back memories too. :)

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby הענט » 2017-06-29, 9:40

What's more natural in thr past.

She didn't have what it takes.
She didn't have what it took.

I'd say the first one, but I'm not dead sure.

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby linguoboy » 2017-06-29, 13:21

Dr. House wrote:What's more natural in thr past.

She didn't have what it takes.
She didn't have what it took.

I'd say the first one, but I'm not dead sure.

They both sound natural. The choice depends on whether the speaker thinks the criteria have changed significantly or not. E.g.:

"She wanted to be a showgirl but she didn't have what it takes." (Becoming a showgirl requires the same qualities/skills now as it did then.)
"She wanted to be a showgirl but she didn't have what it took." (Becoming a showgirl now requires different qualities/skills and she might have passed muster today, but not back then.)

In a case where the goal is no longer possible (say because the profession no longer exists), only the latter sounds natural to me, e.g.:

?"She wanted a job as a switchboard operator but she didn't have what it takes."
"She wanted a job as a switchboard operator but she didn't have what it took."
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby הענט » 2017-06-29, 14:26

I see. Thanks a lot. :)

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby france-eesti » 2017-07-29, 21:00

Hi! Please, a little question!
Is this English + which language ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GYCZGwUZuw

old English or Scottish?
thanks! :)
(fr) Native - (en) Fluentish - (pt) Fluentish when I was younger - (hu) Can sustain a conversation with a patient and kind magyar or order some beer and lecsó in Budapest - (it) On Duolingo ma posso ordinare uno Spritz ed antipasti in un ristorante :blush:

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby Dormouse559 » 2017-07-29, 21:44

Auld Lang Syne is in Scots. Old English is unintelligible for Modern English speakers, whereas there's some mutual intelligibility with Scots. For comparison, Omniglot has an Old English translation and recording of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on this page.
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Re: Discussion Group

Postby france-eesti » 2017-08-03, 13:33

Thanks a lot!
So... Me again. I'm working on my eBook and though my English corrector (the one who did the proof-reading) made a complete correction of my book, I don't think she corrected the back cover summary. I need native's help on this! Which changes would you recommend?
Thanks a lot :D

Meet Alice, diabetic and idealistic. And meet Tibor, paraplegic and hungry for love. Could anyone think they would make that kind of perfect couple?
But they did. Until that day, when Tibor unexpectedly commits suicide the day Alice is due to give birth to their baby.
Deeply broken-hearted, Alice has no idea how she can get over this, and so decides the best way to heal is to leave her adapted flat in France to go back to Tibor's land - Budapest.
While she starts her new life with her new-born baby Csilla, some evidences start to show up, until it becomes obvious things aren't what they seem to be...
(fr) Native - (en) Fluentish - (pt) Fluentish when I was younger - (hu) Can sustain a conversation with a patient and kind magyar or order some beer and lecsó in Budapest - (it) On Duolingo ma posso ordinare uno Spritz ed antipasti in un ristorante :blush:

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby linguoboy » 2017-08-03, 15:03

france-eesti wrote:Thanks a lot!
So... Me again. I'm working on my eBook and though my English corrector (the one who did the proof-reading) made a complete correction of my book, I don't think she corrected the back cover summary. I need a native's help with this! Which changes would you recommend?
Thanks a lot :D

Meet Alice, diabetic and idealistic. And meet Tibor, paraplegic and hungry for love. Could anyone think they would make that kind ofthe perfect couple?
But they diddo. Until that day, when Tibor unexpectedly commits suicide the day Alice is due to give birth to their baby.
Deeply broken-hearted, Alice has no idea how she canto get over this., and so She decides the best way to heal is to leave her adapted flat in France toand go back to Tibor's homeland - Budapest.
WhileAs she starts her new life with her new-born baby, Csilla, some evidencesclues start to show upbegin to appear, until it becomes obvious things aren't what they seem to be...

Since this is for a blurb and blurbs have certain stylistic requirements, I made rather more corrections than I normally would if I were just correcting for grammar and idiomaticity.

I have no idea what "adapted" is supposed to mean in regards to a flat so I excised it.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby france-eesti » 2017-08-03, 18:57

Oh, thank you so much for having corrected so finely my summary! This is very kind of you! Thanks!! :partyhat:
I'm going to complete the publishing process (at least, try!) :silly:
(fr) Native - (en) Fluentish - (pt) Fluentish when I was younger - (hu) Can sustain a conversation with a patient and kind magyar or order some beer and lecsó in Budapest - (it) On Duolingo ma posso ordinare uno Spritz ed antipasti in un ristorante :blush:

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby Kenny » 2017-08-17, 20:14

What would younger Americans refer to this as?

What I found out over on WR a while ago is that wardrobe seems to be largely unknown to/unused by younger Americans (with this specific meaning -- not when referring collectively to the clothes one owns), but armoire is something you'd only use for older style furniture of this type and closets are built into the walls/structure of the house/apartment...so what does that leave us with? :D
I mean wardrobe seems the most logical choice, because armoire to me feels like something probably not used by your run-of-the-mill under-40 crowd (it even sounds fancy - by virtue of being a direct French borrowing) and closet just doesn't fit the physical definition. I understand these are not very common in American homes, but still...

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby linguoboy » 2017-08-17, 20:33

Kenny wrote:What would younger Americans refer to this as?

I can ask some under-40 Americans I know, since I don't make the cut off. FWIW, I agree this isn't fancy enough to be an "armoire" and even "wardrobe" seems a bit much. Without knowing its function, I would call it a "cabinet".

ETA:

Damn, my friends list is old.

The leading choice overall was "cabinet", followed by "wardrobe". Several people mentioned that it would depend on function: if clothes are hung inside, it's a "wardrobe", otherwise it's a cabinet. "Armoire" was third followed by the Yinglish and Indian English variant "almirah". (Two guys said "chifforobe", but they don't know what they're talking about because a chifforobe has drawers on one side.)

Among the under-40s, two had no word and one who was raised bilingual preferred a non-English word ("armário"). Overall there was a weak consensus for "wardrobe", with "cabinet" a close second. One had the use distinction between these two mentioned earlier.
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Re: Discussion Group

Postby Dormouse559 » 2017-08-18, 2:23

I'm a younger American! Though I might not be the best person to ask, being more used to built-in closets. I wasn't entirely sure what to call the item in your picture. "Wardrobe" came to mind, but for me that suggests an older piece of furniture, like you described for "armoire". "Closet" could also work, but as I've implied above, my prototypical closet is built-in rather than a free-standing piece of furniture.
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Re: Discussion Group

Postby Kenny » 2017-08-27, 10:59

Thank you both!
These are completely ordinary around here, hence my question. I have one about 3 feet from where I'm sitting right now for our clothes and another one in the hallway. The first one has shelves that we put folded clothes on and the second one has a rail to hang stuff on (but they're both way taller than I am, 7 feet+). I would use the same word for both in Hungarian, but I guess the one with shelves could more easily be called a cabinet in English, with the one for hanging clothes being more of a wardrobe type thing, right?

(Again, I am speaking of American English, since afaik built-in closets are not as widespread/not the default option in GB.)

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby Dormouse559 » 2017-08-29, 6:34

Kenny wrote:I would use the same word for both in Hungarian, but I guess the one with shelves could more easily be called a cabinet in English, with the one for hanging clothes being more of a wardrobe type thing, right?
I'm inclined to agree with you. Even though the first one almost defies naming for me, "cabinet" probably works best. It reminds me of a "linen cabinet", which has shelves but is for storing sheets and towels.
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Re: Discussion Group

Postby Bubulus » 2017-08-30, 18:34

A couple questions.

First, which is the correct place to put "just" in, in your opinion, in the following sentence?

    Did anybody check the translation is correct? It's clear that the Hakka translation is wrong just from looking at the Chinese characters...
    Did anybody check the translation is correct? It's clear that the Hakka translation is wrong from just looking at the Chinese characters...



Second, how does one make the second part of this sentence elliptical?

    I am a good tennis player, but my brother is also a good tennis player.

I'm trying to remove the underlined part. Would it have to be like this, changing the placement of "also" and "is"?

    I am a good tennis player, but my brother also is.

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby eskandar » 2017-08-30, 18:39

Serafín wrote:First, which is the correct place to put "just" in, in your opinion, in the following sentence?

    Did anybody check the translation is correct? It's clear that the Hakka translation is wrong just from looking at the Chinese characters...
    Did anybody check the translation is correct? It's clear that the Hakka translation is wrong from just looking at the Chinese characters...

The first one is best, in my opinion, but the second one is possible too.

Second, how does one make the second part of this sentence elliptical?

    I am a good tennis player, but my brother is also a good tennis player.

I'm trying to remove the underlined part. Would it have to be like this, changing the placement of "also" and "is"?

    I am a good tennis player, but my brother also is.

"but my brother also is" doesn't work. I would suggest "but so is my brother".
Please correct my mistakes in any language.

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby linguoboy » 2017-08-30, 18:41

Serafín wrote:First, which is the correct place to put "just" in, in your opinion, in the following sentence?

    Did anybody check the translation is correct? It's clear that the Hakka translation is wrong just from looking at the Chinese characters...
    Did anybody check the translation is correct? It's clear that the Hakka translation is wrong from just looking at the Chinese characters...

Both are correct IMD. The second would sound better if the prepositional phrase were shifted left, i.e. "It's clear from just looking at the Chinese characters that the Hakka translation is wrong." Can't explain why I think that.

[You're not concerned about the ungrammatical first sentence, I take it?]

Serafín wrote:Second, how does one make the second part of this sentence elliptical?

    I am a good tennis player, but my brother is also a good tennis player.

I'm trying to remove the underlined part. Would it have to be like this, changing the placement of "also" and "is"?

    I am a good tennis player, but my brother also is.

No, I would keep "also" last. Sounds better with "too" in place of "also" or completely reconfigured to "...but so is my brother".
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: Discussion Group

Postby Bubulus » 2017-08-30, 19:11

linguoboy wrote:[You're not concerned about the ungrammatical first sentence, I take it?]

I wasn't but now I am. Is it that I have to add an "if" or a "whether" in there? "Did anybody check if/whether the translation is correct?"


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