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#381
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In English the difference was between 'thee' and 'thou' until a couple
of hundred years ago when they morphed into 'you' in common usage. Some Quakers still maintain the distinction. CK wrote: Marina wrote: I suppose our culture is just much more relaxed here in Scandinavia. Everyone uses first names, and hardly ever do you hear a Mr or Mrs, not to mention a Professor or a Sir/Madam (I don't even think we have that kind of words in Swedish or Finnish). I was on first-name basis with my teachers at university from day one. At work everyone, from the head of the department to every part-time teacher, are on first-name basis with each other. The only time you use last names is to avoid confusion if there are several people with the same first name. I've never worked in the corporate world, but as I understand it, the same goes there. I work "in the corporate world" and it's first names galore here too fairly high "up the ladder", except I don't think I'd address any of the big directors by their first names, as I don't meet them on a daily basis and they wouldn't know who I am. Can't expect them to know names and faces of thousands of employees, now can you? I'd address the biggies with Director last name, would "read the situation" from there on, whether to use the "formal you" (teititellä, ni-form, siezen, vouvoyer(sp?)), or the "familiar you" (sinutella, du-form, duzen, tutoyer). |
#382
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wrote in message news Jette Goldie wrote: My name - as given to me by my parents - is perhaps a little difficult for the average Scot to pronounce - Georgette, with a soft French G So is it pronounced "Zheor-zhette" (the "zh" is like the s in "vision", or like the j in the French "je".) Or is one of the G's like the English j (like "jello", etc)? Zheorzhette. But in Scots that gets "J....jet". Close as anyone is gonna come, so Jette it is! (but I do love visiting France and getting my proper name) -- Jette "Work for Peace and remain Fiercely Loving" - Jim Byrnes http://www.jette.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ |
#383
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wrote in message ... badwilson wrote: Air trapped in a cavity or loose filling may expand when increased altitude causes it to expand. It could be very painful. Yer really grasping at straws there, dude. I mean, what about all the other pilots from say North America and Europe and places like that. I guess all of their cavity filled mouths must be screaming in pain every time they go flying! Yeah, I mean, great. Next time I fly (which will be this Sunday), I'm going to worry that the pilot might get a sudden expansion of air inside one of his fillings and go insane with the pain and crash the plane. Oh thanks - I'm flying on Sunday too! And I have to take two planes ..... one from Glasgow to Newark and one from Newark to Orlando. -- Jette "Work for Peace and remain Fiercely Loving" - Jim Byrnes http://www.jette.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ |
#384
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wrote in message ... David Yehudah wrote: Hebrew has no curse words, so the Israelis curse in Arabic. The worst you can do in Hebrew is "atta beheymah (you're an animal)" or "lech l'Azazel (go to the devil). I didn't know that. I mean, I know it was a "dead" language for eons (as far as common speech is concerned) before Israel was established, but didn't the ancients ever swear?? For that matter, haven't any new curses been invented? I guess not, apparently they don't need to, with the availability of Arabic swears. I dunno - I had a Japanese friend for a while, over here as an exchange student. He swore colourfully and fluently in Scots English..... and said that his native Japanese had no curse words he could really use. So that's probably why they are so prone to seppuko - can't curse worth a darn, so they have to go commit violence on themselves! -- Jette "Work for Peace and remain Fiercely Loving" - Jim Byrnes http://www.jette.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ |
#385
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In message , Adrian
writes Cathi wrote: Anyone else get ticked off if their name is shortened beyond where they would care to shorten it? Example: My name is Catherine. I choose to be known as Cathi in common parlance (although family have always called me Katie). But I don't choose to be known as Cath.. *Particularly* with the Estuary English "pronunciation", which is a long "a", and a double "f" at the end :"Caaaaaff" It just sounds lazy and sloppy. I had one co-worker who would always remember half-way through using it, so it would come out as"*Caaaaff*-i" For heaven's sake - I'm a human being, not a greasy spoon diner as immortalised in EastEnders! Would Cat be OK? ;-) :-D I use the nickname "Catsmeat" on a number of talkboards, and get a fair number of variations on that, including Cat, Catz and Catsy. I guess what I *really* objected to, if the truth be told, was the "ff" instead of the "th". Cath is at least a name given to people (my aunt was a Kath, short for Kathleen). Didn't help that co-worker in question was a nasty piece of work anyhow ;-) -- Cathi |
#386
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Sounds like the Israelis and the Palestinians. The Israelis refuse to
learn Arabic and the Palestinians refuse to learn Hebrew, so they communicate in English. I saw a news clip of israeli soldiers ordering Palestinians out of a bunker, and the phrases they were using sounded like an old gangster movie. John F. Eldredge wrote: The various ethnic-Chinese exchange students that I came to know were from a variety of countries, and a variety of ethnic sub-categories (my room-mate was Hakka, for example), so they didn't always share the same dialect of Chinese and sometimes had to use English to communicate between themselves. |
#388
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Not really. I guess it would depend on the circumstances and whether you
came across as chilly or distant. Most likely they would consider the source and figure you are just trying to be polite or were unfamiliar with the verb forms involved. Personally, I almost always use the formal mode, but that's just the way I was taught. It's awful hard to unintentionally offend that way. Seanette Blaylock wrote: David Yehudah had some very interesting things to say about Mom [OT]: A lot depends on where she's from. In most parts of Mexico the informal "tu" is okay unless there is a great disparity in social level or age. In some parts, particularly around Eastern Mexico, to call someone you don't know well or who is on a higher social level or older than you, to say "tu" is a deliberate insult. Which has me wanting to double-check on a related question: if you're normally on a "tu" basis with someone and switch to "usted" forms, will the other person take that as evidence that you're seriously unhappy with him/her? |
#389
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They were born and raised in Mexico until age 5 when we moved here for
them to go to school. They still say "Ma-MA" to their mother. A funny side note; when we moved here to the US, they didn't speak a word of English (they spoke mostly Spanish and a bit of Hebrew). They wanted to put them in bilingual classes but I refused. English only I insisted. Within 6 weeks they sounded like little gringos; today they speak both languages without an accent. In English they sound like typical Texans, and in Spanish they sound as if they never left Mexico. Kreisleriana wrote: Ooooh! Are they American!! Do they say "Mom"? See, we've come round full circle. |
#390
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Hi, Joyce
We live in Riverside, now, near Norco and Corona. I'm originally from Texas and Potty. . .I mean Patty is from Iowa. Cheers, Dave wrote: David Yehudah wrote: Hebrew has no curse words, so the Israelis curse in Arabic. The worst you can do in Hebrew is "atta beheymah (you're an animal)" or "lech l'Azazel (go to the devil). I didn't know that. I mean, I know it was a "dead" language for eons (as far as common speech is concerned) before Israel was established, but didn't the ancients ever swear?? For that matter, haven't any new curses been invented? I guess not, apparently they don't need to, with the availability of Arabic swears. Over the years I've learned to speak several languages fluently, but between lack of practice and several strokes, I can no longer claim fluency in any except Spanish. Here in SoCal I get a lot of practice. You do OK in English, too. I keep forgetting you're in SoCal - I always imagine you in Texas. You're in LA, correct? Which part? Joyce |
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