Ambiguous words...

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Solange, Mar 26, 2007.

  1. Solange

    Solange Sergeant Major

    This happened so long ago, so I dare tell you without blushing too much..

    The word "Video" is in Swedish ONLY used about VHS.

    So the first time someone asked me about my video card, I went something in the line of...

    "er... no, I can't watch video on my computer..."

    Damn all those difficult words! :D

    First time someone asked about my ISP, I thought it sounded really posh and didn't really know if I had one...

    And don't get me started about Properties and Task Manager and Device Manager... Things are easier now, since I decided to get an English OS... roflmao

    To give you and idea, those are called the following in Swedish:

    Egenskaper, Aktivitetshanteraren and I think the last one is called Maskinvahanteraren, but I can't remember for sure... :D

    EDIT: Actually, I think it is Enhetshanteraren... Good thing I have forgotten! :D
     
  2. ItsWendy

    ItsWendy MajorGeek

    Audio and Video are actual latin words (as in Roman empire). They haven't changed much in 3000 years.

    Direct translations:

    I Hear, I See
     
  3. Solange

    Solange Sergeant Major

    Yeah, I know the reason why. It is just funny how that word has become so strongly associated with a particular piece of technology here! :)
     
  4. Sailor

    Sailor First Sergeant

    I feel ya. The poor guy who translated XP from English to Greek made a word-by-word translation. Sometimes error messages don't make sense grammatically. I've learned a lot about the terminology here, on the forum as well as the Geektionary.

    (btw Solange has 666 posts..... evil LOL)
     
  5. Calltaker

    Calltaker MajorGeek

    For more of the same: www.engrish.com

    I think someone posted that in the link forum a while back, but it fits here too.

    :)


    ~C
     
  6. Lev

    Lev MajorGeek

    My gosh! You should have no problem remembering the simple english words after that mouthful! LOL
     
  7. BCGray

    BCGray Guest

    Hey I for one salute, both Solange and Sailor your English is totally faultless. We who are communicating in our "Mother Tongue", do not realize most of the time, just how difficult the "English" language can be for others, especially if you throw some Geek speak into the mix. Just one more great thing about MG is our Solange and Sailor, just a great pair of Geeks.
     
  8. Calltaker

    Calltaker MajorGeek

    Intersting thought there BC. I know that my english is probably not the best at most times, of course, when I am typing ehre, I tend to take shortcuts too, but even in everyday conversations. I know how to speak properly, and can when the situation warrants it, but I think that a large part of it is laziness :)

    I was having a conversation on the bus the other day with a gentleman about how the teenage crowd of certain ethnicity (trying to be Politically Correct here) have a major tendancy to be looked down upon because of their limited vocabulary. Of course, when every other word out of their mouths is F this and N that, I think you can see where the conversation stemmed from.

    WHen I was in High School, I took 4 years of German and by the time I graduated, I was very fluent. German was actually not too difficult as English is a derivative of the Teutonic languages, but the genderisms were what usually got me :) My other issue is that people like Soalnge and other geeks from countries where English is not the primary language speak/type so well, but people who come to the US to 'make a better life' don't feel that they need to learn the language at all. Worse yet, is that we have to cater to them like they are doing us a favor by being here. My paternal grandparents came here from Italy and took great pride in the fact that they were able to speak english fluently... of course, there was a lot of Italian in the home, and my early Italian was not repeatable in polite company *grin*. My how things have changed.

    Sorry, did not mean to have a mini rant there, just kinda hit the topic tho.


    ~C
     
  9. bigbazza

    bigbazza R.I.P. 14/12/2011 - Good Onya Geek

  10. darlene1029

    darlene1029 A Grand Lady- R.I.P. 06/06/2012

    True, my grandmother though from Hawaii her mother was from Portugal, so speaking correctly was very important. I almost died once she approached an Asian woman and congratulated her for being so Americanized I was hiding but the woman seemed very thankful for the complement. I still cringe when I remember. :eek:
     
  11. Natakel

    Natakel Guest

    Wow, Solange . . . I don't think I can even begin to pronounce those terms . . . I have enough problems pronouncing english words . . . and it's my first (well, only) language!

    :eek:
     
  12. BILLMCC66

    BILLMCC66 Bionic Belgian

    English is a great language but sometimes difficult to work with it, is a mix of a number of languages and depending on where or in which context it can be a compliment or offencive.

    as an instance here in belgium we have two dialects our primary language is dutch but where i live we speak flemish and some of our words would get me thrown off the forum I.E. the f word is a name for a dog breeder and c**t means your backside so if us foreigner's slip up from time to time please forgive.:eek:
     
  13. Natakel

    Natakel Guest

    LOL . . . Perhaps then, BILLMCC, I am lucky I'm only able to converse in one language! I can accidently offend in english easy enough, I've been told . . .lol

    :)
     

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