Unusual or unfamilar word or phrase?

[badgoodDeb]

Gesundheit!!

then, going by the definition I found here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usufruct
(no, I won't post the definition, just where I found it)
Presumably that means I can huggggg your robot body all I want as long as I don't damage it.

Or shall I go huggggg that horrific gourmand, Marc? :smitten too but can't stand his dietary habits:

[mores]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

these words come from the latin "fenestra". i don't know what the origin of "Fenster" is but i would like it if a german could tell me...

since german is also a roman language I would very much think that "fenster" is a derivative of "fenestra".

it's funny how english uses a lot of words that do not hint to any latin background.
"window" - "fenestra"

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by mores

since german is also a roman language I would very much think that "fenster" is a derivative of "fenestra".

it's funny how english uses a lot of words that do not hint to any latin background.
"window" - "fenestra"

Isn't this partly a product of repeated invasion and conquest (from about the 5th century up to and including the Norman conquest) bringing the Norman language and Anglo-Saxon languages with words of West and Norse/North Germanic origin?

...or something like that?

Cheers,
Marc

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by mores

since german is also a roman language I would very much think that "fenster" is a derivative of "fenestra".

it's funny how english uses a lot of words that do not hint to any latin background.
"window" - "fenestra"

german is a romance language ? i'm pretty sure that's not true... it seems to me german is, well, a *germanic* language, which is not the same thing at all. does it have roman origins as well ?

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

german is a romance language ? i'm pretty sure that's not true... it seems to me german is, well, a *germanic* language, which is not the same thing at all. does it have roman origins as well ?

It has Latinate incursions, but remains Germanic, along with Flemish and the Nordic languages.

English is the true bastard son language of Europe. It draws from Germanic, Romance, Celtic, and then absorbs other languages like Ankh Morpork absorbs invaders. (Ghurka knife, anyone?)

[GeoffC]

Interestingly from wikipedia :

I particularly like the summary at the end ...

One of the consequences of the French influence is that the vocabulary of English is, to a certain extent, divided between those words which are Germanic (mostly West Germanic, with a smaller influence from the North Germanic branch) and those which are "Latinate" (Latin-derived, either directly from Norman French or other Romance languages).

Numerous sets of statistics have been proposed to demonstrate the origins of English vocabulary. None, as yet, is considered definitive by most linguists.

A computerised survey of about 80,000 words in the old Shorter Oxford Dictionary (3rd ed.) was published in Ordered Profusion by Thomas Finkenstaedt and Dieter Wolff (1973)[45] that estimated the origin of English words as follows:

Influences in English vocabulary

* Langue d'oïl, including French and Old Norman: 28.3%
* Latin, including modern scientific and technical Latin: 28.24%
* Other Germanic languages (including words directly inherited from Old English): 25%
* Greek: 5.32%
* No etymology given: 4.03%
* Derived from proper names: 3.28%
* All other languages contributed less than 1%

A survey by Joseph M. Williams in Origins of the English Language of 10,000 words taken from several thousand business letters gave this set of statistics:[46]

* French (langue d'oïl): 41%
* "Native" English: 33%
* Latin: 15%
* Danish: 2%
* Dutch: 1%
* Other: 10%

However, 83% of the 1,000 most-common, and all of the 100 most-common English words are Germanic.[47]

The "skeleton" of the English language is Germanic, but the "flesh" is Latinate.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

The "skeleton" of the English language is Germanic, but the "flesh" is Latinate.

fascinating. i love that summary at the end as well. thank you.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

fascinating. i love that summary at the end as well. thank you.

So, when the English talk about us Aussies and Yanks mangling the language, should we respond with "Which one?"?

Cheers,
Marc

[Taylor514ce]

No, the appropriate response is whatever you would normally do when the English talk about Aussies and Yanks mangling the language. For me, I say "What's that again, Gov?"

Always a riot. I think Aussies have an inoculation against Anglophilia. Fosters.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

So, when the English talk about us Aussies and Yanks mangling the language, should we respond with "Which one?"?

Cheers,
Marc

Depends who you calling the English .....

There's 4 nations that make up the UK , all use English as their main language . Plus within those nations each region is quite capable of mangling their own versions and sub-versions ...

You must be able to tell a scouse from a geordie , from a cockney and a manx ?

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Depends who you calling the English .....

There's 4 nations that make up the UK , all use English as their main language . Plus within those nations each region is quite capable of mangling their own versions and sub-versions ...

You must be able to tell a scouse from a geordie , from a cockney and a manx ?

Then there is Welsh and Celtic, which remain on life support. And, lest we forget, Scottish, which resembles no other language I am aware of other than Yorkshirian.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Depends who you calling the English ...

Australians call the English English (or "pommy bastards" ) the Scottish Scottish, the Welsh Welsh, and the Irish Irish (Northern or not). Differentiation still occurs down here.

Cheers,
Marc (whose Dad was born in Streatley, Berkshire, whose mum's ancestors were (mostly) from Wales, and who was himself born in Newcastle, though the Aussie one and not the Geordie one)

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

Then there is Welsh and Celtic, which remain on life support. And, lest we forget, Scottish, which resembles no other language I am aware of other than Yorkshirian.

In that case I'm doomed - a Yorkshireman in Scotland stands no chance at all !!

Originally Posted by montsnmags

Australians call the English English (or "pommy bastards" ) the Scottish Scottish, the Welsh Welsh, and the Irish Irish (Northern or not). Differentiation still occurs down here.

Of that we ought to be truely thankful, pity some of the English can't differentiate between the use of England and GB/St. George's Flag and Union Jack.
For instance if an Englishman is doing well, he's English; but if a Welshman or Scot are doing well, then they are British.

[Taylor514ce]

I'm a Scots-Cherokee mutt, born in Texas.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

For instance if an Englishman is doing well, he's English; but if a Welshman or Scot are doing well, then they are British.

Urban myth - e.g. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7367197.stm - "Welshman" not "British"