Calimac's language lessons
Feb. 22nd, 2005 11:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calimacI've spent more than minimal time in three countries where English is not the default language. In each country I found it especially useful to know one particular word in the native language.
Netherlands: gesloten. Means "closed." A really useful word to know the meaning of when you see it on a sign in the front door of a public building or museum just as you are about to climb a long flight of stairs to get there.
Germany: Bahnhof. Not much of a cognate for "train station." A really useful word to look for on little city maps when you're traveling around Germany by train.
Italy: basta. Means "enough." A really useful word to say politely to Italian street market vendors who are selling you groceries by weight. An even more useful word to say more sharply to people who without being asked grab your bags on trains and hoist them into the overheads and then expect 20 Euros tip when you're trying to offer them 5.
Of course, even in the United States one may find words that one doesn't encounter at home.
Hawaii: Aloha. Means ... just about anything, actually. Just say it a lot.
(Actually, Aloha was the answer to a riddle I learned when I first moved to Seattle. The riddle was: "How do people who live on Mercer Island say 'Merry Christmas'?")
Here's one that genuinely puzzled me when I first encountered it:
North Carolina: bah. Means "purchase." "Do you wanna bah that?" uttered by a store clerk required a couple reiterations before I could figure out what he was saying.
Netherlands: gesloten. Means "closed." A really useful word to know the meaning of when you see it on a sign in the front door of a public building or museum just as you are about to climb a long flight of stairs to get there.
Germany: Bahnhof. Not much of a cognate for "train station." A really useful word to look for on little city maps when you're traveling around Germany by train.
Italy: basta. Means "enough." A really useful word to say politely to Italian street market vendors who are selling you groceries by weight. An even more useful word to say more sharply to people who without being asked grab your bags on trains and hoist them into the overheads and then expect 20 Euros tip when you're trying to offer them 5.
Of course, even in the United States one may find words that one doesn't encounter at home.
Hawaii: Aloha. Means ... just about anything, actually. Just say it a lot.
(Actually, Aloha was the answer to a riddle I learned when I first moved to Seattle. The riddle was: "How do people who live on Mercer Island say 'Merry Christmas'?")
Here's one that genuinely puzzled me when I first encountered it:
North Carolina: bah. Means "purchase." "Do you wanna bah that?" uttered by a store clerk required a couple reiterations before I could figure out what he was saying.
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Date: 2005-02-23 09:53 am (UTC)My favourite encounter with Southern accents came when I talked to K.W.Jeter who remarked that he had been told that my (still) unpublished novel was very good. 'Is it a Hoar novel?' he asked.'Well yes,' I said, 'it's a novel in which most of the characters are prostitutes'. 'Yes,' he said,' I know that, but is it a Hoar novel?' This went round for several turns before I caught the bat squeak of an r in the middle of the word.
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Date: 2005-02-23 04:13 pm (UTC)That's a good Southern accent story. I am reminded of another: I believe it was Gardner Dozois who told this one. He was once approached at an SF con by a man who said, "I'm hard." "Well, that's very interesting, sir," replied Gardner (if it was he), "but I lack the inclination to do anything about your condition." "No, no," replied the man. "I'm H'ard! H'ard Waldrop!" And that is how they met.