#187177 - 10/08/09 05:07 PM
Re: Most annoying word in the U.S.
[Re: Jackie]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/24/02
Posts: 6595
Loc: Vermont
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#187178 - 10/08/09 06:11 PM
Re: Most annoying word in the U.S.
[Re: Jackie]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 3387
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
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How many countries do you have in mind? Anyway,  here is your survey in yesterdays "Spits", one of our two free daily newspapers for commuters by train: Link This moment's worst word in the Netherlands ? Toppie = superb; also used as helemaal toppie= totally suberb -------- Arghhhh! gruwel! We have no surveys like that, but this is only the top of the iceberg.
Edited by BranShea (10/08/09 06:13 PM)
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#187179 - 10/08/09 06:13 PM
Re: Most annoying word in the U.S.
[Re: BranShea]
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addict
Registered: 12/18/06
Posts: 611
Loc: Auckland, New Zealand
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#187181 - 10/08/09 06:16 PM
Re: Most annoying word in the U.S.
[Re: BranShea]
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Registered: 12/18/06
Posts: 611
Loc: Auckland, New Zealand
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#187185 - 10/08/09 06:32 PM
Re: Most annoying word in the U.S.
[Re: olly]
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old hand
Registered: 06/23/08
Posts: 830
Loc: Land of Flat River
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#187186 - 10/08/09 06:43 PM
Re: Most annoying word in the U.S.
[Re: LukeJavan8]
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Registered: 12/18/06
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#187196 - 10/08/09 10:42 PM
Re: Most annoying word in the U.S.
[Re: Jackie]
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addict
Registered: 12/18/06
Posts: 611
Loc: Auckland, New Zealand
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Wasn't Dumb and Dumberer the title of a movie?
Yes it was a prequel to dumb and dumber. Dumberer was a more apt title.
This from OED
O.E. dumb "silent, unable to speak," from PIE *dheubh- "confusion, stupefaction, dizziness." O.E., Goth. (thumb) and O.N. (dumbr) forms meant only "mute, speechless;" in O.H.G. (thumb) it meant both this and "stupid," and in Mod.Ger. this latter became the only sense. Meaning "foolish, ignorant" was occasionally in Eng. from c.1323, but modern use (1823) comes from infl. of Ger. dumm. Applied to silent contrivances, hence dumbwaiter (1749).
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#187207 - 10/09/09 06:35 AM
Re: Most annoying word in the U.S.
[Re: Jackie]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 12381
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The dumb neighbor's even dumberer boyfriend would say "Whatever" in response to almost anything. I know it takes things a while to get to Loouhvll but sounds like the train was already up to full speed by the time you got on board. PS Totally suberb? How you even pronounce that? Is it like 'superb' only with a voice bilabial in the middle or is it like 'suburb' only with a harsher, more upstate NY er?
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#187208 - 10/09/09 07:55 AM
Re: in my heart of hearts [sic]
[Re: BranShea]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 2270
Loc: R'lyeh
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the term "it is what it is" is an invention of Johan CruyffMr Cruyff, who was born in 1947, probably just made a loan translation. See the late Mr Saffire's musings on what he calls tautophrases cites a usage of the phrase from two years after Johann's birth: The phrase, racing through the language, shows no sign of tiring. The first use I can find is in the Newspaper Archive, from a column by J.E. Lawrence in the Nebraska State Journal in 1949 about the way that pioneer life molded character: "New land is harsh, and vigorous, and sturdy. It scorns evidence of weakness. There is nothing of sham or hypocrisy in it. It is what it is, without apology." [ link] What about: "A rose is a rose is a rose" or "it out-Herods Herod"? As somebody, whose name I have forgotten andwho has the time to find out whom when posting on the Web, once said: "Have you ever noticed how clichéd Shakspear's language is? 90% or more of his more famous plays is tired and hackneyed and full of PC solecisms." [ link]
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#187211 - 10/09/09 08:20 AM
Re: in my heart of hearts [sic]
[Re: zmjezhd]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/24/02
Posts: 6595
Loc: Vermont
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#187223 - 10/09/09 07:25 PM
Re: in my heart of hearts [sic]
[Re: BranShea]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 12381
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Some more details on the Marist poll: A) They only had five choices. They didn't ask people what their most despised word was; they offered five choices and people were to pick from the list. 2) There was no "None of the above." They did have "Not sure." Þ) They did have, in the breakdown of the subsets, Registered Voters. I'm certainly glad to see that. Maybe this will come up in a national referendum sometime soon. For those interested the complete results are here.
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#187230 - 10/11/09 02:58 AM
Re: in my heart of hearts [sic]
[Re: Faldage]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 08/27/02
Posts: 2031
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
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They only had five choices. They didn't ask people what their most despised word was; they offered five choices and people were to pick from the list. Ah, so that's why they didn't report Americans as being "totally annoyed" by totally.
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#187240 - 10/11/09 07:07 PM
Re: in my heart of hearts [sic]
[Re: Faldage]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 08/27/02
Posts: 2031
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
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#187243 - 10/11/09 09:53 PM
Re: in my heart of hearts [sic]
[Re: Faldage]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 03/15/00
Posts: 10232
Loc: Louisville, Kentucky
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#187244 - 10/11/09 11:48 PM
Re: in my heart of hearts [sic]
[Re: Faldage]
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enthusiast
Registered: 11/24/07
Posts: 361
Loc: कहीं &...
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They didn't have moist on the list. I have tried to read up on this but still do not understand it. In the English of my country it is most often used in a positive sense of cakes and other baked confectioneries. The extreme aversion to the word I find bewildering. Perhaps I am better off this way.
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#187246 - 10/12/09 04:57 AM
Re: in my heart of hearts [sic]
[Re: olly]
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enthusiast
Registered: 11/24/07
Posts: 361
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#187253 - 10/12/09 12:29 PM
Re: in my heart of hearts [sic]
[Re: latishya]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 3387
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
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I have tried to read up on this but still do not understand it. In the English of my country it is most often used in a positive sense of cakes and other baked confectioneries. The extreme aversion to the word I find bewildering. Perhaps I am better off this way.
But, Latysh, are there not in your native language or languages words that irritate you and others when used in a conversation? Not particularly urban or youngster's slang , but just fashionable words that are overused? There is in French a word that irritates me. In conversations, they very often say: -'génial' for any little thing or idea they think funny, good or pleasant. It baffles me. I never dared make a comment on it, because it does not seem to irritate them one bit.
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#187256 - 10/12/09 02:31 PM
Re: warm, moist leatherette
[Re: Jackie]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 2270
Loc: R'lyeh
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Here's my top ten most annoying words in English: 1. the 2. of 3. to 4. and 5. a 6. in 7. is 8. it 9. you 10. that The whole list. But seriously folks, I really cannot even begin to comprehend why people are annoyed with words. It's like saying that sand annoys you. I can see being annoyed with the people who use the words.
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#187261 - 10/12/09 05:02 PM
Re: in my heart of hearts [sic]
[Re: BranShea]
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enthusiast
Registered: 11/24/07
Posts: 361
Loc: कहीं &...
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[quote=latishya]
But, Latishya, are there not in your native language or languages words that irritate you and others when used in a conversation? Not particularly urban or youngster's slang , but just fashionable words that are overused?
There is in French a word that irritates me. In conversations, they very often say: -'génial' for any little thing or idea they think funny, good or pleasant. It baffles me. I never dared make a comment on it, because it does not seem to irritate them one bit. It is a question of degree. There are words whose sound I dislike but from what I read about moist it seems to generate an unusual aversion a real loathing or revulsion not merely a "oh that's an ugly word" sort of reaction.
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#187262 - 10/12/09 06:02 PM
Re: warm, moist leatherette
[Re: zmjezhd]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 3387
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
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Here's my top ten most annoying words in English: 1. the 2. of 3. to 4. and 5 6. in 7. is 8. it 9. you10. that The whole list.But seriously folks, I really cannot even begin to comprehend why people are annoyed with words. It's like saying that sand annoys you. I can see being annoyed with the people who use the words.  -- That really made me laugh. Excuberantly! Annoyed with the people only the for second they use THE word. Toppie. GRRRrrr..... Sorry Latishya, I always struggle with both with the lenght of your name and always must take an extra look for what to put first, y or i. It doesn't annoy me, but....
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#187264 - 10/12/09 06:17 PM
Re: warm, moist leatherette
[Re: BranShea]
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enthusiast
Registered: 11/24/07
Posts: 361
Loc: कहीं &...
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[quote=zmjezhd]Here's my top ten most annoying words in English:
Sorry Latishya, I always struggle with both with the lenght of your name and always must take an extra look for what to put first, y or i. It doesn't annoy me, but....
it was not primarily for you Branshea. I know you tried and did not intentionally chop my name to one ugly syllable.
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#187268 - 10/12/09 07:00 PM
Re: Just curious...
[Re: twosleepy]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 2270
Loc: R'lyeh
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Why is one syllable ugly?Could be because of the meaning of लत (i.e., lat) meaning in Hindi (see especially entry 3 at link).
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#187272 - 10/13/09 04:41 AM
Re: Just curious...
[Re: zmjezhd]
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enthusiast
Registered: 11/24/07
Posts: 361
Loc: कहीं &...
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Why is one syllable ugly?Could be because of the meaning of लत (i.e., lat) meaning in Hindi (see especially entry 3 at link). or perhaps i simply like my name as is and am not pleased when someone i do not know takes it upon themselves to shorten it without asking for my view on the matter. would the person who called me lat have called gandhiji mo?
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#187273 - 10/13/09 08:33 AM
Re: Just curious...
[Re: latishya]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/24/02
Posts: 6595
Loc: Vermont
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would the person who called me lat have called gandhiji mo? on this forum, very likely, yes. in this culture, the shortening of names is usually a sign of familiarity, even affection, and no insult is intended.
Edited by Buffalo Shrdlu (10/13/09 08:54 AM)
Edit Reason: fixed quote
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#187274 - 10/13/09 08:44 AM
Re: gramineous
[Re: BranShea]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 2270
Loc: R'lyeh
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how do you find themI found it from an aggregation of online dictionaries about half a decade ago. Because I have studied both Sanskrit and Hindi, the former much more seriously than the latter, I am familiar with Devanagari, but I did find a a new site for transliterating Latin into Devanagari ( link). The Hindi-Urdu dictionary was digitized from a public domain work from 1884.
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#187275 - 10/13/09 09:19 AM
Re: Just curious...
[Re: latishya]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 2270
Loc: R'lyeh
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would the person who called me lat have called gandhiji mo?
I have always been slightly uncomfortable in shortening names on Web forums. Some of the processes of picking a hyporcorism are interesting though. And, as Mr Shrdlu says mostly this is for benign and affectionate reasons, it can be for demeaning or insulting ones, too: e.g., Tricky Dick and Slick Willy for presidents Nixon and Clinton respectively. back to the actual formation processes: (1) shortening (the most common), from one or the other or both ends, or sometimes an initialism: e.g., Ed for Edward, Joe, Joseph (but sometimes with a mutated sound, as in Ned or Ted for Edward, Bob for Robert), Topher for Christopher, FDR, JFK; (2) then there are nicknames that have nothing to do with the form of the person's name, like Ginger for somebody with red hair, Nuncle for Zmjezhd (from another of my noms de ouaisbe, Uncle Jazzbeau). What to call people is a socially complex situation in most cultures, and I tend to not shorten a person's name because it's long or difficult to remember. Back to Mr Gandhi: we here in the States usually abbreviate Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to Gandhi (or Mr Gandhi if writing for newspapers such as New York Times). I noticed in India that most refer to him as Gandhiji (the -ji being a title of repsect and not some lengthening of his name for hypocoristic purposes). Many refer to him as Mahatma Gandhi, thinking that Mahatma is his first name rather than another honorary title.
When visiting my friend's family in India, the adults mostly called me Jim, though on several occasions I was referred to by family members (in the third person with folks outside the family) as Mr Jim. The eldest brother was surprised when I gave him my business card to find out Jim is a nickname form of James and that I had a surname); the children all called me Jim Uncle, though one of the nephews, who's now in the States, asked for Uncle Jim once when my wife answered the phone (becoming culturally acclimated). As I am studying Japanese, I am amazed at how social niceties are handled in Japanese, grammatically (different verb forms) and lexically (different words depending on whether in relationship to the first person or to the second and third person). It is amazingly easy to insult somebody in Japanese.
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#187281 - 10/13/09 07:08 PM
Re: Just curious...
[Re: Buffalo Shrdlu]
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enthusiast
Registered: 11/24/07
Posts: 361
Loc: कहीं &...
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would the person who called me lat have called gandhiji mo? on this forum, very likely, yes. in this culture, the shortening of names is usually a sign of familiarity, even affection, and no insult is intended. and it is normal to do this without asking? Most North Indians have two 'given' names, a legal one and one that is used by family and close friends. It would never occur to me to use the 'intimate' name of someone I did not know well, even if I happened to know it.
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#187285 - 10/13/09 10:28 PM
Re: Just curious...
[Re: latishya]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 03/15/00
Posts: 10232
Loc: Louisville, Kentucky
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When I do it, you can be sure it is done with affection, or at least not meanly. Occasionally I have done it here simply to save myself some time, if someone has a really l-o-n-g screen name.
It can also be, funnily enough, a sign of trust, as in, "I think we have developed enough trust that I believe you won't take umbrage". Thus my facetious (denoted by deliberately bad grammar or spelling) request to call zmjezhd zoom.
Face to face is different, I think. I would call someone by whatever they were introduced. If I met you as Latishya, I'd be very unlikely to call you Lat or Latty, etc. Though some people do, I have to say.
Maybe it's because in English we don't have a set way of indicating a close relationship, such as tu vs. vous in French. When I was in high school I met some Japanese exchange students; when I said "konchiwa" instead of "konichiwa" (sp?) to one guy, he blushed. Oops.
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#187287 - 10/13/09 11:27 PM
Re: Just curious...
[Re: Jackie]
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enthusiast
Registered: 11/24/07
Posts: 361
Loc: कहीं &...
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Maybe it's because in English we don't have a set way of indicating a close relationship, such as tu vs. vous in French.
French only has 2?  There are 3 in Hindi - आप Aap for formal and respectful, तुम tum for normal friendship among peers and तू tu for the most intimate and familiar and for addressing god.
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#187289 - 10/14/09 06:59 AM
Re: gramineous
[Re: zmjezhd]
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enthusiast
Registered: 11/24/07
Posts: 361
Loc: कहीं &...
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how do you find themI did find a a new site for transliterating Latin into Devanagari ( link). THANK YOU! I have been looking for a site to transliterate from devnagri to gurmukhi for a long time now as i wish to learn how to read gurmukhi and i think that being able to compare familiar words will help. This site is a tremendous assistance, thank you once again. Now if only it had nastaliq it would be everything i need.
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#187308 - 10/14/09 03:01 PM
Re: gramineous
[Re: zmjezhd]
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enthusiast
Registered: 11/24/07
Posts: 361
Loc: कहीं &...
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You're welcome.
devnagri to gurmukhi
How mutually intelligible are Hindi-Urdu and Panjabi? I think the intelligibility is better from Panjabi to Hindi than the other way around. An old Panjabi friend calls his language a bastard Hindi but there are many Panjabi words that are not familiar to Hindi speakers who have not been exposed to Panjabi. Perhaps I could some it up by saying that I find causual eavesdropping on a Panjabi conversation tiring because I have to pay much more attention to what is being said to follow the details of it, though the general gist is clear enough.
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#187509 - 10/29/09 05:14 AM
Re: in my heart of hearts [sic]
[Re: olly]
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stranger
Registered: 10/26/09
Posts: 8
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Why does (do?) one out of nine Americans live in California? 0% humidity. You should see my Californian sister's reaction to 'moist'. It's visceral. I've lived in semi-tropical climates most of my life and gotten quite used to moist air. I get the impression smells are more pungent in moist air. Anyone know why it may be so?
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#187524 - 10/29/09 10:10 PM
Re: in my heart of hearts [sic]
[Re: BranShea]
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Carpal Tunnel
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Just curious... [Re: latishya]
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