Untranslatable Words

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

Wait, wait... that term would go into the other thread, unfamiliar words and expressions. You've got your threads all tangled up, pshrynk. This is the thread where you get to make up and define your own words, and/or reveal words in a non-English language with no English equivalent (so that others can be amused by your attempt to do so).

Yes, but Point Blimfark is totally unfunny without the definition and over there, this robot keeps censoring definitions.

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

troublé(e)

i have never found a good english equivalent for one specific meaning of this word.

Concerned.

[Taylor514ce]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

Yes, but Point Blimfark is totally unfunny without the definition and over there, this robot keeps censoring definitions.

That's because it's FUN to look that stuff up. If you just outright define Point Blimfark, look at all the awesome websites you'd deprive one of finding on their own! There is method to the madness, as I'd expect any pshrynk to accept. This thread is the reverse of the coin.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

This is the thread where you get to make up and define your own words, and/or reveal words in a non-English language with no English equivalent (so that others can be amused by your attempt to do so).

that's right, mock me. this is all your fault you know...

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

Oh, I think I know exactly what that feeling is. Yes, indeed.

I frequently am "troubled" by the mere bodily presence of a woman, or her perfume, or the residual warmth in the air as I move through the space she just vacated. Not quite the same as "aroused", but stimulated, distracted, confused, yes... troublé. Wonderful!

right, what you said... that's a bit closer than my definition is.

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

Alright, someone mozzle a word meaning "to change one's avatar to reflect the context of an unutterably silly thread".

shouldn't that be something along the lines of "to marvinate" ? (only funnier obviously...)

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Concerned.

not that meaning. but i will file that away for future reference.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

Alright, someone mozzle a word meaning "to change one's avatar to reflect the context of an unutterably silly thread".

avatameleon

Although really, we should leave pics of the past avatar with the thread that they went with -- cuz future readers will have no CLUE what we were talking about. Such as my short lived appearance "en towele' "

[badgoodDeb]

I frequently am "troubled" by the mere bodily presence of a woman, or her perfume, or the residual warmth in the air as I move through the space she just vacated. Not quite the same as "aroused", but stimulated, distracted, confused, yes... troublé. Wonderful!

Does "enticed" come in the right ballpark of meaning? "intrigued" ?

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Does "enticed" come in the right ballpark of meaning? "intrigued" ?

not really. it's a more visceral* / primal sensation, whereas those are more intellectual.

*1575, "affecting inward feelings," from M.Fr. viscéral, from M.L. visceralis "internal," from L. viscera, pl. of viscus "internal organ," of unknown origin. The bowels were regarded as the seat of emotion. The figurative sense vanished after 1640 and the literal sense is first recorded in 1794. The figurative sense was revived 1940s in arts criticism.

[Taylor514ce]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

avatameleon

Although really, we should leave pics of the past avatar with the thread that they went with -- cuz future readers will have no CLUE what we were talking about. Such as my short lived appearance "en towele' "

I don't know. It's kind of like avatar-un-moment. You had to be there. You snooze, you lose. The early squirrel gets the spleen.

(On a technical note, it would take an alteration in the core table MySQL table structure of the forum software, plus a change to several PHP modules.)

avatameleon (Ay-vuh-tuh-ME-le-un) noun
Someone who changes their avatar to blend in with the context of a thread.
mozzled Friday May 9, 2008 by badgoodDeb

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

not really. it's a more visceral* / primal sensation

That's what I was referring to, that sensation. It isn't even always pleasurable, exactly, like when I shiver involuntarily 2-3 seconds after a pretty girl walks behind me. Ok... someone better tell me that happens to them, too.

[yvanleterrible]

Troublée, (troublé : masculin) and troubled are virtually the same. It is defined by the contextual mindset of the person being troubled. ie: physically troubled, troubled by emotion, shock, burden, despair, loss of a relative etc.

As to "esprit de l'escalier", that again is contextual. It could have such a silly meaning as ghost of the staircase.

[badgoodDeb]

I was thinking more of a picture included with the message, but I don't see that those are insertable after the fact.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Troublée, (troublé : masculin) and troubled are virtually the same. It is defined by the contextual mindset of the person being troubled. ie: physically troubled, troubled by emotion, shock, burden, despair, loss of a relative etc.

As to "esprit de l'escalier", that again is contextual. It could have such a silly meaning as ghost of the staircase.

no, to me "troubled" in english is a fundamentally negative feeling (from "trouble" as in "worries"), whereas this meaning in french is more like trouble in the sense of "eau trouble" (cloudy water), mixed-up and confused but it can be quite agreeable. tu n'as jamais été troublé par une belle femme qui s'est penchée sur toi ?

"esprit de l'escalier" is contextual, but it's a very well-known expression (here anyway ; it's sort of slang, so maybe it's not used in québec) so it's more rarely used to talk about ghosts.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

no, to me "troubled" in english is a fundamentally negative feeling (from "trouble" as in "worries"), whereas this meaning in french is more like trouble in the sense of "eau trouble" (cloudy water), mixed-up and confused but it can be quite agreeable. tu n'as jamais été troublé par une belle femme qui s'est penchée sur toi ?

Troubled in English can have those connotations too.

BOb

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

no, to me "troubled" in english is a fundamentally negative feeling (from "trouble" as in "worries"), whereas this meaning in french is more like trouble in the sense of "eau trouble" (cloudy water), mixed-up and confused but it can be quite agreeable. tu n'as jamais été troublé par une belle femme qui s'est penchée sur toi ?

Bien sûr, et elle me trouble encore après 30 ans de marriage, mais elle me trouble encore lorsque la maladie l'approche, dans un contexte émotif différent. C'est ce que je tente d'expliquer, c'est un mot contextuel relatif à l'émotion qui perturbe un individu hors de son état normal.

[zelda_pinwheel]

oh really ? i've never seen it used that way. in the dictionary, they only have negative definitions. judging by the ways i've seen it used, and the dictionary, i think it's used in a different way in french. it's a bit hard to explain though...

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Bien sûr, et elle me trouble encore après 30 ans de marriage, mais elle me trouble encore lorsque la maladie l'approche, dans un contexte émotif différent. C'est ce que je tente d'expliquer, c'est un mot contextuel relatif à l'émotion qui perturbe un individu hors de son état normal.

oui voilà ; mais justement ce premier sens, je ne le trouve pas en anglais. alors par contre que ton deuxième exemple me semble plus proche de l'anglais ; je ne dirais pas que j'étais "troublée" dans une situation analogue, mais plutôt que j'étais "préoccupée" ou "inquiète". c'est pas du tout le même ton.