The last word of your mother tongue you have learnt ?

[linguoboy]

elytra the hardened forewings of beetles
sharn cow dung

[linguoboy]

pillion a pad behind a saddle to accommodate a second rider

[IpseDixit]

preternatural

[Dormouse559]

mackerel sky

[Ashucky]

mackerel sky

Oh, so that's the term in English. In Slovene such clouds are called "little sheep (in the sky)"

[Dormouse559]

Oh, so that's the term in English. In Slovene such clouds are called "little sheep (in the sky)"

Yeah, it had never occurred to me that it might have a name, but someone used the phrase in passing on the radio, and I was very confused until I pulled up Google.

The Slovenian expression reminds me of the French one — "ciel moutonné" or "fleecy sky", where "moutonné" is derived from the word for "sheep".

[Car]

Oh, so that's the term in English. In Slovene such clouds are called "little sheep (in the sky)"

Yeah, it had never occurred to me that it might have a name, but someone used the phrase in passing on the radio, and I was very confused until I pulled up Google.

The Slovenian expression reminds me of the French one — "ciel moutonné" or "fleecy sky", where "moutonné" is derived from the word for "sheep".

In German, they're called "Schäfchenwolken" ("little sheep clouds"), as the article also mentions.

[Ashucky]

In German, they're called "Schäfchenwolken" ("little sheep clouds"), as the article also mentions.

Which is probably where Slovene stole its word from (but Slovene just loves stealing words from German)

[IpseDixit]

and in Italy the clouds are known as a pecorelle (little sheep).

This is confusing to say the least. First of all, we would call those clouds pecorelle, a pecorelle means "little sheep-like" and you can't use it as a noun on its own, you'd have to say nuvole a pecorelle "little sheep-like clouds", but most importantly, nobody calls them that way, maybe only in baby talk.

Like other languages, we do have the phrase cielo a pecorelle though (with cielo meaning "sky", for the few who never studied a Romance language), meaning "mackerel sky".

[pittmirg]

emablować to court

[Ciarán12]

passel - parcel

[linguoboy]

passel - parcel

Do these really mean the same thing? "Passel" in my dialect is a synonym for "lots" (e.g. "a passel of things to do") whereas the word for "something wrapped to be sent by post" is "package".

[Ciarán12]

passel - parcel

Do these really mean the same thing? "Passel" in my dialect is a synonym for "lots" (e.g. "a passel of things to do") whereas the word for "something wrapped to be sent by post" is "package".

I guess I got it wrong, I know that passel is derived from parcel, but I guess it doesn't mean the same thing.

[linguoboy]

passel - parcel

Do these really mean the same thing? "Passel" in my dialect is a synonym for "lots" (e.g. "a passel of things to do") whereas the word for "something wrapped to be sent by post" is "package".

I guess I got it wrong, I know that passel is derived from parcel, but I guess it doesn't mean the same thing.

Nope. Some meanings of parcel are common to both varieties, notably "plot of land". I've also seen parcel used in computing to mean "data shipment", e.g. "Temporary cookies are tiny parcels of data that are installed on your computer's hard drive while you are visiting the website that make it easier for you to use the site."

However, even though Americans "mail packages" instead of "posting parcels", we still call the service that handles these "parcel post".

[Ciarán12]

Nope. Some meanings of parcel are common to both varieties, notably "plot of land". I've also seen parcel used in computing to mean "data shipment", e.g. "Temporary cookies are tiny parcels of data that are installed on your computer's hard drive while you are visiting the website that make it easier for you to use the site."

However, even though Americans "mail packages" instead of "posting parcels", we still call the service that handles these "parcel post".

For me, the meanings of parcel include:
- package, normally sent through the post, though it sounds vaugely more quaint than "package", it sounds as though it's homemade
- to parcel up, parcel out = to divide up, divvy up
- a parcel can be an amount of something that has been parceled up, so "parcel of land" as in your example above.

Passel for me doesn't mean anything, from what you are saying above it seems to mean "a load of, a large amount of", but are there any uses of it where it can be synonymous with parcel?

[vijayjohn]

That's odd; passel doesn't mean anything to me, either.

Wiktionary says "(US, informal) An indeterminately large quantity or group."

[linguoboy]

Passel for me doesn't mean anything, from what you are saying above it seems to mean "a load of, a large amount of", but are there any uses of it where it can be synonymous with parcel?

Technically, that is a synonymous usage, since parcel for "a load of" is present in Shakespeare ("A holy parcel of the fairest dames that ever turn'd their backs to mortal views") and persists in regional UK dialects. But that's the only usage of passel I know of in contemporary American English (and it's striking to me that it's not familiar to vijayjohn because I strongly associate it with a friend of mine from Oklahoma).

[vijayjohn]

Dem Okies talk all funneh.
(Translation: People from Oklahoma talk really weirdly.)

[Ciarán12]

Passel for me doesn't mean anything, from what you are saying above it seems to mean "a load of, a large amount of", but are there any uses of it where it can be synonymous with parcel?

Technically, that is a synonymous usage, since parcel for "a load of" is present in Shakespeare ("A holy parcel of the fairest dames that ever turn'd their backs to mortal views") and persists in regional UK dialects.

Interesting. In my dialect (or at least ideolect), it doesn't have any connotation of being a large amount, just an amount. In fact, "a small parcel of land" sounds like a more natural collocation than "a parcel of land" or "a large parcel of land", and certainly more natural than "a whole parcel of land" (which seems to be how passel would mostly be used).

But that's the only usage of passel I know of in contemporary American English (and it's striking to me that it's not familiar to vijayjohn because I strongly associate it with a friend of mine from Oklahoma).

Isn't Vijay from Texas? Or are you just referring to Southern dialects in general?

[vijayjohn]

Yeah, I am, but Oklahoma is right next door (though far away from where I live in Austin), so it's not unreasonable to think I might know what it means. I also think isoglosses/the distribution of features in the US is just really weird, so you can't necessarily be sure whether someone from a particular area will share a feature that everyone has just a short distance away.