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Author Topic: The Loanword Thread  (Read 6123 times)

Digital Hellhound

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #60 on: April 02, 2014, 07:44:09 am »

And I can keep going, I've got an infinite supply of words. Truly endless.

Oh, PLEASE do. You shouldn't rest until we're all talking like proper Scotsmen at the end of the day.
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Avis-Mergulus

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #61 on: April 02, 2014, 08:27:19 am »

Conversely, I might posit a loanword other languages should take from English: "whatever." In no other language have I encountered an expression with the same utter dismissiveness as "whatever"; who sayeth "whatever" immediately shuts down all debate and has conquered in the most petty of ways. It is one of my favourite words.
Russian has plenty of dismissive expressions, I guess the simplest you could use is "ну нафиг", basically "stuff it". But there's also "фиг с ним", "к черту", "кого парит" and so on. I am kinda glad it doesn't have "whatever" because that word is a verbal tic for me, and it really spoils my English.

On the bear thing, Russian also has this idiom, "медвежья услуга". I wasn't aware so many countries shared it. Must have been a hella popular French fable.

Fakeedit: the Russian Wikipedia says it was a tale by Jean de la Fontaine, called "the Bear and the Gardener". Falkthorpe says that it was an Indian fable first, with a monkey in place of the bear.
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Sheb

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #62 on: April 02, 2014, 08:31:55 am »

Funnily enough, we don't have that bear idiom in french. :p
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Helgoland

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #63 on: April 02, 2014, 08:49:06 pm »

Conversely, I might posit a loanword other languages should take from English: "whatever." In no other language have I encountered an expression with the same utter dismissiveness as "whatever"; who sayeth "whatever" immediately shuts down all debate and has conquered in the most petty of ways. It is one of my favourite words.
Wasever. /Brüno jokes

Seriously, "Was auch immer" is the literal German translation, while the usual responses would be "Ist doch egal" (Doesn't matter) or "Scheiß drauf" (Defecate upon it (Less formal, of course)). "Wayne" is also gaining traction...

My suggestion: Weltschmerz (If it isn't already a loanword.) "World pain". That teenage feeling of being totally disgusted at the world and everything in it; wishing for the world to end just to get it over with. Not to be confused with suicidality.
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SealyStar

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #64 on: April 05, 2014, 12:13:45 pm »

For most languages, I prefer loaning into English. For German, I believe calques are superior. There's no reason to use things like "Eigengrau" and "Aufbau" instead of "owngray" or "arrangement".
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scrdest

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #65 on: April 05, 2014, 06:10:20 pm »

Weltschmertz is already a loanword here.
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Helgoland

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #66 on: April 06, 2014, 07:05:41 am »

'Dienst nach Vorschrift'. German civil servants are not allowed to strike; so instead, they do what they have to. And not one bit more.
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scrdest

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #67 on: April 06, 2014, 07:15:50 am »

'Dienst nach Vorschrift'. German civil servants are not allowed to strike; so instead, they do what they have to. And not one bit more.

It's called Italian Strike over here.
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Sheb

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #68 on: April 06, 2014, 07:40:26 am »

In French we also have "grêve du zèle", where civil servants do their job better than needed. Typically border officials checking every single car/trunk/whatever, people triple checking every forms and having it done again if on letter is slightly not in a case, etc etc...
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Mesa

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #69 on: April 09, 2014, 01:59:56 pm »

I've got another one.
Suchar.

Normally it stands for hardtack, but in Poland it's the equivalent of "dry joke" (ie. a joke that nobody got and didn't laugh).
Naturally, the unquestionable champion of Polish suchars is Karol Strasburger. :P
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scrdest

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #70 on: April 09, 2014, 02:03:55 pm »

I've got another one.
Suchar.

Normally it stands for hardtack, but in Poland it's the equivalent of "dry joke" (ie. a joke that nobody got and didn't laugh).
Naturally, the unquestionable champion of Polish suchars is Karol Strasburger. :P

Oh yes, this one is thoroughly unique, although fairly recent. Although often is a joke that everybody got and nobody laughed, because it's just. Too. Fucking. Awful. Usually a forced pun.
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Avis-Mergulus

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #71 on: April 09, 2014, 02:32:33 pm »

Speaking of recent, Russian has the word 'баян'(bayan), which is normally an accordion, but as an idiom, means "old and tired meme". Or, less often, just something old and tired. Like, I dunno, if somebody posts Doge, and you hate it, you just go "BAYAAAAAAAAAAAN" and roll your eyes pretending to be mortally offended.

'S useful.
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RedKing

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #72 on: April 09, 2014, 03:20:10 pm »

'Dienst nach Vorschrift'. German civil servants are not allowed to strike; so instead, they do what they have to. And not one bit more.
That's called "being a civil servant" here.  :-\

To be fair, there are some dedicated, hard-working folks in the civil service. NONE of them work at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles, the state-level organization that handles driver licenses and such). DMV workers are notorious for their bad attitudes and utter lack of empathy for anyone else.

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #73 on: April 09, 2014, 05:16:49 pm »

'Dienst nach Vorschrift'. German civil servants are not allowed to strike; so instead, they do what they have to. And not one bit more.
We have the similar "white strike" or "work-to-rule".  You don't just do what you have to; you do each and every single thing the rulebook says, irrespective of if that's rational or logical.  Rules say to fill out form 1842B in triplicate every time you do an inventory check, even though that form hasn't been updated since Victoria was Queen?  By golly, then that's what you'll just have to do, and if management complains about the fact that you're holed up in the back rooms instead of doing the work they wanted, they're the ones who set the policy in the first place. 
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Tack

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Re: The Loanword Thread
« Reply #74 on: April 09, 2014, 10:19:15 pm »

"wakaruka" - Japanese for "did you get/understand that". Just so easy to throw at the end of a aentence, and it doesn't have the sense d malice you get from "we clear?", or the slangy taste of 'you feel me', or the condescention of 'you got it', all of which are viable English alternatives.
I'm not very good at this.
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