#fun with languages
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“WHY did that alien ambassador just call me ‘peasant’??”
“Sorry, sorry, it’s a problem with the translation software.”
“What kind of problem? Am I about to insult him by accident too? I want it to be on purpose.”
“No, it’s just that the software had trouble with root words and etymology, comparing our concepts to theirs. They don’t have a word for ‘god,’ you see, and—”
“What the blazes does that have to do with it?”
“Look. The word ‘human’ can be translated as ‘person who lives on the ground, or the dirt, or the Earth, and who isn’t a god.’”
“So how did that—”
“It turned into ‘person who lives in the dirt and has no power over others.’ The closest they had when repeating it back through the translator was ‘peasant.’”
“That is the stupidest thing I’ve heard all week.”
“Why do you think I’ve been pressing for everyone to actually learn the language, instead of relying on the translator?”
“Well, if I make it through this meet-and-greet without having to throw or take a punch, I might take you up on that. Stick close. If somebody says something else dumb, I’m turning to you.”
“Don’t look now; the ambassador’s coming back.”
“Great.”
#fun with languages#translations#in spaaace#humans are weird#etymology#aliens#I could easily see this happening#the more times it goes through the translator the farther it drifts off the mark#everyone should appreciate the multi-lingual people
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If you are having a bad day you should know that in the German dub of Good Omens, instead of saying "tickety-boo," Aziraphale says "supey-dupey," hope that helps
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#a very important question#classics#ancient greek#attic greek#tagamemnon#polls#poll#fun with languages#original post#i am team iota subscripts btw
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Fun fact: In the Japanese dub of Good Omens, Hamlet fails. When Aziraphale gives him a pleading look, Crowley groans and says, "I get it; I'll do Edinburgh" and stalks off.
Aziraphale remains delighted.
#good omens#japanese good omens#aziraphale#crowley#hamlet#self post#fun with languages#as methods of supernatural communication go a pleading look is quite versatile#you can say a lot with a pleading look#for example aziraphale's pleading look said 'i'm sad i lost that coin toss because i really don't want to go to edinburgh and ride a horse'#and as far as he was concerned crowley's groan meant 'i'll love you forever and forgo the entire reason i came here if it makes you happy'#ineffable husbands
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The fact that all of these jokes about being naked work in two languages and are able to be translated so easily is absolutely fantastic. Like, I know there more nuance but they still worked and I love it.
#zenra meshi#bl drama#bl series#asianlgbtqdramas#asian lgbtq dramas#jdrama#naked dining#japanese bl#japanese bl series#japanese drama#japanese bl drama#japanesebl#fun with languages#i found this fantastic
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A bit more pronunciation fun...
Vase (thing to put flowers in) can be vaaz or vays, both are correct, the difference is usually based on class or region.
Scone (small crumbly bun / US biscuit) is skonn or skown, both are correct for the same reasons.
In both instances a particular version can be used just because it fits better: the classic example here is Discworld’s The Scone of Stone, pronounced as you might expect, even though in its real-world equivalent The Stone of Scone, that Scottish place-name is pronounced more like skoon.
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Rain, Reign and Rein are all pronounced more or less the same yet all have different, non-interchangeable meanings - but you’ll still see the second two used wrongly more times than you’d like.
And then there are words like Pique Peek and Peak, Breach and Breech, Peel and Peal, Compliment and Complement - again all pronounced more or less the same, all with completely different non-interchangeable meanings varying with context and indeed whether they’re used as noun or verb.
English is a succession of successful pitfalls placed in plain sight - this site could be seen from a plane - to trip or trap any weary wanderer who is less than wary.
While wandering, this one went wondering out of his way to weigh a secret load of lodestone that someone had secreted under a tree near a well. He meant to seize it but now sees, through eyes that secrete tears, the tears in his clothes caused by a bear which couldn’t bear his presence.
It probably believed he was after the hoard of food that had once been a horde of creatures, cheap stuff like birds that once went cheep and deer that might have been dear to buy if they’d got by the bear.
The maid at his lodging might have made repairs though first he had to flee. So he leapt like a flea many feet across a brook, quite a feat, but the bear brooked no denial. Its muscles coiled like a spring, then it made a spring the way bears do in Spring.
He breathed in short pants while its claws, sharp as any clause in a rent agreement, rent his short pants, but they barely bared his hide as he tried to hide. He could have tried the bear in court, but so near its homestead it might have caught him instead.
The breaches in his breeches came apart. A part of the bear’s failure to meet the meat was not getting a grip; maybe it suffered from grippe after taking a fall in the fall. We end our tale with no sting in its tail, since the wanderer didn’t fall in the well.
So all’s well.
I had to stretch a bit in places (grippe? come on!) but not as much as I’d expected, and it goes a long way to demonstrate why English is such a difficult language to learn, never mind master. And that’s before class, regional and dialect variations get added to the mix.
Are we having fun yet?
:->
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Finally...
Colonel (military rank) is spelt that way but pronounced kurnel / kernel because it started as the French rank for an officer commanding the sort of infantry column (la colonne) familiar from the Sharpe series. That rank was "Colonnel” and both “L”s were voiced.
The French pronunciation changed over time and became (approximately) “co’onel” while the spelling became “Colonel”. Italian still has and sounds every “L” as “Colonello”, Spanish went the other way as “Coronelo”, while in Irish it’s Coirnéal, pronounced and now usually spelt “cornal”.
Why the English version looks and sounds as it does, I have no idea; possibly a long familiarity with words that don’t sound the way they look, along with a disinclination to pronounce anything foreign (especially French) the way the foreigners do.
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Lieutenant (military rank) is lootenant in the US armed forces, luhtenant in the British navy and leftenant in the British army and air force.
That British “lef-” version is the outlier. Apart from Malay (Leftenan, a possible Britfluence) no other language (that I bothered checking) which starts this word with “L” has an “F” sound anywhere.
French (Lieutenant), German (Leutnant), Dutch (Luitenant), Danish (Løjtnant), Swedish (Löjtnant ), Norwegian (Løytnant), Estonian (Leitenant), Finnish (Luutnantti), Polish (Lejtnant), Ukrainian (Лейтена́нт, pron leytenant,) Russian (Лейтена́нт pron. leitenant)…
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ETA: @katbelleinthedark has pointed out (in no uncertain terms, gosh) that "Lejtnant” isn’t the Polish word for Lieutenant (thanks for nothing, Wikipedia link from “Lieutenant”.) The proper word is “Porucznik”, which fairly obviously doesn’t have either “L” or “F” sounds anywhere. So, deleted. Any other corrections will also be, er, corrected. No need to shout, just ask.
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And that’s enough of that. Stannat-EASE. Dis-MISS.
@dduane - “Why is a plane coming out of his head?”
Me - “It’s a Spitfire.”
DD - “And?”
Me - ....
DD - “That’s the only answer I’m going to get, isn’t it?”
Me - :->
#fun with english#fun with pronunciation#fun with languages#confusion#discworld#scone of stone#GNU Terry Pratchett
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Phrase: Na czczo
I deliberately chose this word for its fantastic pronunciation!
Na czczo means "on an empy stomach". Adjective "czczy" means empty, but is quite archaic and not used anymore exept medical language and the phrases describing iddle, unprodictive talks like:
czcza gadanina - gadanina is a noun from the verb "gadać" - colloquial word for "to talk", "to chat"
czcza paplanina - paplanina itself is already a useless senseless iddle talk, the verb is "paplać". It's made from the pla pla pla sounds (equivalent of blah blah blah).
czcza dyskusja - unnecessary and unprodictive discussion.
Na czczo is build from "na" + adverb, and it's a common way of saying X is in a certain way, style.
Zemsta najlepiej smakuje na zimno - Revenge is a dish best served cold
So na czczo is something you will hear from your doctor, when they order you to come form a blood test without breakfast or advise you how to take your med.
Na badania należy przyjść na czczo - blood tests should be taken on an empty stomach.
Ile jajek można zjeść na czczo? - Tylko jedno :) - How many eggs can you eat on an empty stomach - only one.
poziom glukozy na czczo - fasting glucose level
To be exact, na czczo is understood as a state of not having eating anything this day, while you can have an empy stomach after a few hours after a meal. There is a literal phrase "na pusty żołądek" = on empty stomach to differenciate it.
Leki przeciwólowe nie powinny być brane na pusty żołądek. Painkillers should not be taken on an emtpy stomach.
If you had your breakfast at 8 a.m. and haven't eaten anything and now at 1 p.m. you want to take your meds, you will be taking them "na pusty żołądek", while you won't be exactly "na czczo".
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#image description in alt#I didn’t come here to fuck spiders#I don’t want to see the fuckable spiders in Australia 😬😂#fucking spiders#australia#idioms#fun with languages#fun sayings
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Naysayers gnaw rice
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youtube
One of my favourite interpretations.
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Three cheers for the only word I know of with three different double letters in a row: "bookkeeping."
English continues to be a nonsense language.
#best of luck to anyone trying to learn it#English: where the spelling's made up and the rules don't matter#fun with languages
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Shoutout to the dude dubbing Crowley in German for really stretching out the last "RECCCHHHT" in the apology song. Genuinely sounds like an angry snake contemplating homicide
#good omens#good omens spoilers#fun with languages#german#i look forward to hearing him do drunk-on-laudanum crowley
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ERIC CONTINUES BEING THE BEST
Obviously Eric the Disposable Demon is MVP, but they did him ABSOLUTE JUSTICE in the Japanese dub and I CONTINUE BEING IN LOVE
First off, he's the only demon who talks in desu/masu form. Y'know. Like a normal person. Like a darling. Like the cutie-pie he is. Not like an overly dramatic wannabe gangster (Crowley) or actual gangster (the rest of the demons). Love that for him. Really playful lilt to his voice, too. He's having such a great time with his job. Love that for him, too.
And then
And then
Eric: Do you know what a 'selfie' is?
Hastur: *angry breathing*
Eric: It's something Crowley-sama invented...
Hastur: *MURDERS*
Crowley-sama
Crowley-sama
CROWLEY-SAMA
I have no words.
#good omens#japanese good omens#fun with languages#s1e4#self post#eric the disposable demon#crowley-sama#aef;ljkjtaw;khj#no fucking wonder hastur murdered him instantly#CROWLEY-SAMA i mean COME ON#ships have been built on less than this awsf;lkaf#at least let them hang out and be chill!!
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English: ~butterfly pea flower~
German:
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It’s so weird, native speakers keep commenting on my “really excellent German”, and this sounds like a humble brag except that I haven’t spoken or read or even really thought of the German language since I moved back to the states FIVE YEARS AGO, and I very firmly believed I’d forgotten it all until we got to Frankfurt and I opened my mouth and fluent German fell out. It’s uncanny. There is absolutely no reason for this. And yet here I am in Vienna, astonishing people. And myself. No one is more astonished by this than I am.
#personal#fun with languages#German#yes I lived in Berlin for the better part of a decade#but I didn’t think very highly of my language skills at the time#but now I’m having no issues at all and it’s kind of freaking me out
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