Random language thread 6

This is our main forum. Here, anything related to languages and linguistics can be discussed.

Moderator:Forum Administrators

Ciarán12
Re: Random language thread 6

Postby Ciarán12 » 2019-09-08, 20:49

Vlürch wrote:So I just realised that I might have overestimated the freeness of Japanese word order in a brain fart moment, but I'm not 100% sure. Is a sentence like 猫の熱狂的に足を掴む (to mean "enthusiastically grab the cat's paw") grammatical? This isn't the exact sentence that made me question it, but the order and "form" of it is the same. In hindsight I'm pretty sure it's not acceptable, but tbh it was in some really shitty lyrics I wrote and it didn't sound fitting in a normal word order no matter what, and I also wrote a line in Russian that I absolutely butchered the pronunciation of, so I figure it doesn't really matter anyway... but I'd want confirmation that it's not an acceptable word order... right?


For what my confirmation is worth, no, it's not. I can't thinknof many examples where you can separate the "posessed" object of the noun preceding the の from the の itself like that.

Ciarán12

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby Ciarán12 » 2019-09-16, 17:24

So I've massively fallen behind on drilling my vocab list for Portuguese. I've been keeping a spreadsheet with every new word and expression I've come across in Portuguese since about October 2017, it's at about 5100 entries now. I had been pumping them into Memrise and drilling them regularly until a few months ago, I've kept the habit of noting the words and expressions down in the sheet but not of actually memorising them. Every attempt to catch up has lead to me giving up due to the volume and the tedium.
I'm taking a new tack - I've found a free text-to-speech service that produces decent output and is free up to 5k characters a day (about 100 entries in my list, it would seem). I'm going to take them in batches of 50 and create mp3s for them and listen to them rather than drilling them in Memrise. I feel like it will be more convenient as well as much faster to get through them all that way.

User avatar
linguoboy
Posts:25540
Joined:2009-08-25, 15:11
Real Name:Da
Location:Chicago
Country:USUnited States (United States)

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby linguoboy » 2019-09-19, 15:18

One of my friends just called Talk Like a Pirate Day "Talk Like a 19th-century Welshman Day" and I had to take him to school.
"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

User avatar
Osias
Posts:9754
Joined:2007-09-09, 17:38
Real Name:Osias Junior
Gender:male
Location:Vitória
Country:BRBrazil (Brasil)
Contact:

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby Osias » 2019-09-19, 18:52

Did you take him personally or hired a uber? :hmm:

Wait. Is 'hired' correct or is it still under the 'did' umbrella?
2017 est l'année du (fr) et de l'(de) pour moi. Parle avec moi en eux, s'il te plait.

User avatar
Saim
Posts:5740
Joined:2011-01-22, 5:44
Location:Brisbane
Country:DEGermany (Deutschland)

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby Saim » 2019-09-19, 20:17

Osias wrote:Did you take him personally or hired a uber? :hmm:

Wait. Is 'hired' correct or is it still under the 'did' umbrella?


I think I would always ‘get’ or maybe ‘take’ an uber. You’d also ‘take’, ‘get’ or ‘call’ a taxi.

User avatar
linguoboy
Posts:25540
Joined:2009-08-25, 15:11
Real Name:Da
Location:Chicago
Country:USUnited States (United States)

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby linguoboy » 2019-09-19, 20:36

Saim wrote:
Osias wrote:Did you take him personally or hired an uber?

I think I would always ‘get’ or maybe ‘take’ an uber. You’d also ‘take’, ‘get’ or ‘call’ a taxi.

Since the app you use is on your phone, we often speak of "calling" an Uber/Lyft/etc.

If you "call" a taxi it means you are phoning a dispatcher. If you signal one as it drives by, you are "hailing" or "grabbing" 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

User avatar
Osias
Posts:9754
Joined:2007-09-09, 17:38
Real Name:Osias Junior
Gender:male
Location:Vitória
Country:BRBrazil (Brasil)
Contact:

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby Osias » 2019-09-19, 22:30

Thanks. So I should say 'get' a uber, and not 'got', because the 'did' still applies.

Now seriously, how did you "take him to school"?
2017 est l'année du (fr) et de l'(de) pour moi. Parle avec moi en eux, s'il te plait.

User avatar
linguoboy
Posts:25540
Joined:2009-08-25, 15:11
Real Name:Da
Location:Chicago
Country:USUnited States (United States)

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby linguoboy » 2019-09-19, 22:44

Osias wrote:Thanks. So I should say 'get' a uber, and not 'got', because the 'did' still applies.

You should.

Osias wrote:Now seriously, how did you "take him to school"?

The figurative meaning of "to take someone to school" is pretty much the same as "to school someone", i.e. to teach them a lesson, generally in a harsh or emphatic way. (It can even mean to beat someone up, but I don't use it that way.)
"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

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-09-20, 5:13

Yeah, Osias, linguoboy didn't literally mean he took him to a school! :P It's an expression.

User avatar
Osias
Posts:9754
Joined:2007-09-09, 17:38
Real Name:Osias Junior
Gender:male
Location:Vitória
Country:BRBrazil (Brasil)
Contact:

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby Osias » 2019-09-20, 13:32

I know, I know. But the lack of an equivalent in my language made me wonder what exactly it meant. We have "ensinar uma lição" but it has that violence connotation of "to beat someone up".
2017 est l'année du (fr) et de l'(de) pour moi. Parle avec moi en eux, s'il te plait.

User avatar
OldBoring
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:6152
Joined:2012-12-08, 7:19
Real Name:Francesco
Gender:male
Location:Milan
Country:ITItaly (Italia)
Contact:

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby OldBoring » 2019-09-20, 13:43

Probably either by car or by The El

User avatar
linguoboy
Posts:25540
Joined:2009-08-25, 15:11
Real Name:Da
Location:Chicago
Country:USUnited States (United States)

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby linguoboy » 2019-09-20, 14:37

Osias wrote:We have "ensinar uma lição" but it has that violence connotation of "to beat someone up".

Same with "teach a lesson" in English.

ObRandom: I had my first comment reported for "violation of community standards" on Facebook. A friend posted a picture of himself in Munich eating “New York Style Cheeseburgers" which he described as "open face on a half a garlic baguette that must be eaten with fork and knife like we do all the time in NYC". I replied "Die spinnen, die Amis", which is a play on the German version of Asterix' "Ils sont fous, ces Romains!" You could translate it as, "They're crazy, these Yankees". So even if you missed the underlying joke completely, it's really the mildest form of disparagement imaginable.

There are some fraaaaagile snowflakes in Menlo Park.
"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

User avatar
Osias
Posts:9754
Joined:2007-09-09, 17:38
Real Name:Osias Junior
Gender:male
Location:Vitória
Country:BRBrazil (Brasil)
Contact:

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby Osias » 2019-09-20, 14:37

OldBoring wrote:Probably either by car or by The El



O certo é ir de van escrito 'transporte escolar', Rogerinho.
2017 est l'année du (fr) et de l'(de) pour moi. Parle avec moi en eux, s'il te plait.

User avatar
Osias
Posts:9754
Joined:2007-09-09, 17:38
Real Name:Osias Junior
Gender:male
Location:Vitória
Country:BRBrazil (Brasil)
Contact:

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby Osias » 2019-09-20, 14:41

linguoboy wrote: I replied "Die spinnen, die Amis", which is a play on the German version of Asterix' "Ils sont fous, ces Romains!" You could translate it as, "They're crazy, these Yankees". So even if you missed the underlying joke completely, it's really the mildest form of disparagement imaginable.

There are some fraaaaagile snowflakes in Menlo Park.


Or maybe they think like the guy in/on this meme:


Image
2017 est l'année du (fr) et de l'(de) pour moi. Parle avec moi en eux, s'il te plait.

User avatar
OldBoring
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:6152
Joined:2012-12-08, 7:19
Real Name:Francesco
Gender:male
Location:Milan
Country:ITItaly (Italia)
Contact:

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby OldBoring » 2019-09-20, 14:46

Not necessarily Menlo Park, it was probably reported by users.

User avatar
linguoboy
Posts:25540
Joined:2009-08-25, 15:11
Real Name:Da
Location:Chicago
Country:USUnited States (United States)

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby linguoboy » 2019-09-20, 14:52

OldBoring wrote:Not necessarily Menlo Park, it was probably reported by users.

I'd be surprised, knowing his friend group. Our German friend thought it might be an AI.

Update: The review is complete and Facebook apologised for "getting it wrong".
"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

User avatar
Vlürch
Posts:943
Joined:2014-05-06, 8:42
Gender:male
Location:Roihuvuori, Helsinki
Country:FIFinland (Suomi)

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby Vlürch » 2019-09-20, 18:40

linguoboy wrote:I had my first comment reported for "violation of community standards" on Facebook. A friend posted a picture of himself in Munich eating “New York Style Cheeseburgers" which he described as "open face on a half a garlic baguette that must be eaten with fork and knife like we do all the time in NYC". I replied "Die spinnen, die Amis", which is a play on the German version of Asterix' "Ils sont fous, ces Romains!" You could translate it as, "They're crazy, these Yankees". So even if you missed the underlying joke completely, it's really the mildest form of disparagement imaginable.

Could it be that it was misinterpreted as being a death threat or something in English? It's a short enough sentence that maybe the die was all that was picked up by some algorithm, or maybe someone saw it and thought Amis was a misspelling of "Amish" and ignored the word spinnen entirely, thinking it was some kind of anti-Amish slogan?

Probably not, but...

User avatar
Osias
Posts:9754
Joined:2007-09-09, 17:38
Real Name:Osias Junior
Gender:male
Location:Vitória
Country:BRBrazil (Brasil)
Contact:

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby Osias » 2019-09-20, 19:41

Vlürch wrote:Probably not, but...

Probably not, but probably yes.
2017 est l'année du (fr) et de l'(de) pour moi. Parle avec moi en eux, s'il te plait.

User avatar
linguoboy
Posts:25540
Joined:2009-08-25, 15:11
Real Name:Da
Location:Chicago
Country:USUnited States (United States)

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby linguoboy » 2019-09-20, 21:40

Vlürch wrote:Could it be that it was misinterpreted as being a death threat or something in English? It's a short enough sentence that maybe the die was all that was picked up by some algorithm

This actually sounds like the most likely possibility. The user whose page it was is primarily English-speaking and the post was in English, so it could be the 'bots just weren't expecting German in that context.
"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

User avatar
Massimiliano B
Posts:1962
Joined:2009-03-31, 10:01
Real Name:Massimiliano Bavieri
Gender:male
Location:Lucca
Country:ITItaly (Italia)

Re: Random language thread 6

Postby Massimiliano B » 2019-09-23, 17:44

In A description of Abun: a West Papuan language of Irian Jaya, I have found the following sentence (page 68):

Fredik bari-wa git yetu, and the meaning is... "Fredik does not want to eat people" :shock: :o


Return to “General Language Forum”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests