Talking with a friend who was born and raised in Japan, but moved to the US after serving as a stewardess on Japan Airlines, and ultimately becoming an interpreter at the UN....
She still has trouble with American colloquialisms... such as "play it by ear" or "flying by the seat of your pants".
But she said her major faux pas was at her first job...
She came in one morning, all cheery, and announced, "Good morning! Today is Wednesday. Wednesday is the day for humping" ;-)
...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
What was she trying to say? "Humping" as in "get moving" or something else?
A Chinese friend just sent me several recipes for preparing duck tongues (I had mentioned that they were on offer in a local Chinese supermarket). Her translation of one includes the line "add wine for getting rid of the tongue smell". ;-) Maybe I'll try making them. Fresh, raw, and in the package, they look like neat rows of little penii (sic). Steamed, with no sauce, not much better:
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
-- "it\'s the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
-- My wife likes to tell the tale of when one of her colleagues confusedly combined "Shooting from the hip" and "Flying by the seat of your pants" to describe being able to respond, quickly, in real time, as: "Shooting from the seat of your pants." :-)
-- In the US, Wednesday is halfway between Monday and Friday, so it\'s like the "hump" of the week. That is, climb up to Wednesday and then coast down to Friday. That\'s what she was referring to, and was trying to use an American colloquialism in an effort to bridge a cultural gap. Humorously, in the US, humping also means sexual intercourse. In the same genre as JFK calling himself a doughnut in Berlin. :-)
Not all of us, anyway. C. says they call Wednesday "hump day" on the radio. I wasn't aware of it.
;-)
I was just talking about this with some Indians and Pakistani immigrants yesterday. They are quite fluent in (their form) of English but I will likely never be able to talk to them on the same level because they lack not only a command of idioms, but also knowledge of rare words such as "waxing" (in the sense of "increasing" or "specifying") that are typically used only in set phrases, and also common cultural references such as SNL, Monty Python, American movies, and so on. No doubt it works both ways, but I'm not planning on living in Islamalbad or Mumbai. Even everyday expressions such as "by all means" give immigrants problems.
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
-- "it\'s the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
I rather like that one. I may even steal it.
Mark L. Fergerson
Is it much different elsewhere? ;-)
Yes.
I think pretty much everywhere in the English-speaking world that is true.
"Donut", innit?
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
-- "it\'s the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
Try asking them what "Wuthering Heights" means!
Actually, myth. What he said (Berliner) was grammatically correct.
:-) So, did she get lucky that day?
We have a Japanese friend who posed this stumper: What are the rules for the use of the word "in" versus "on"? You sit on a stool but in a chair and on a sofa. Do you ride in a bus or on a bus?" She worked for the State Department teaching Japanese, and I suspect one of her students asked how to translate that kind of thing to Japanese. I couldn't answer her.
Ed
"hump day" monday and tuesday are "uphill", thursday and friday are "downhill". the verb she was looking for was "cresting the hump"
Bye. Jasen
ISTM that's a usage rule, not a structural or content rule. Kinda like riding a car as opposed to driving a bicycle. ;>)
Mark L. Fergerson
Native speakers are pretty useless when it comes to explaining 'rules'. We know something is wrong instantly when we hear it, but generally don't know rules as such.
A floor is a plain, an office is a cubicle ;-)
...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
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?ehsjr sez:
The Brits, especially, are fond of saying they work "in" Broad Street, or such, whereas we yanks say "on" Broad Street. Go figure...
-- John English
Homer J Simpson sez:
The title of a book. Not in a dictionary. What do you think it means?
-- Al, the usual
It refers to winds howling around a high set house. (See also "Black Narcissus" for another emotive rendition).
wuthering
Etymology: 19c: from dialect wuther to roar or bluster; related to Norse hvitha ('squall of wind')
Why? You gonna get some kind of evil thrill from watching his eyes glaze over and his brain come rolling out his ears in the form of dense black smoke? :)
-- Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net - If your "From:" address isn\'t on my whitelist, or the subject of the message doesn\'t contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow" somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... for more info
Hehe. Well, besides the obvious evil thrill, it does sorta drive home the 'translate by word' problem, don't you think?
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