|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
you're in rare form tonight, Dr. Bill... 
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Interesting, Bill. I would argue that well-done is not an absolute and that there are degrees of being well-done. Well-doneness--ha!--is a subjective point in cooking. We could take several steaks to examine and compare their relative, oh, consistency. Let's say the first well-done steak was without any sign of inner pink color, definitely brown or gray, easy to chew, and thickly spongelike in texture. And the second well-done steak was similar, except it was more challenging to chew, not quite thickly spongelike, but more like chewing a savoury wad of gum. And the third well-done steak was similar to the second except the experience of eating it was more similar to trying to chew, if not leather, fruitcake.
We might say that the first steak was well-done, the second was more well-done, and the third was most well-done to the point that it wasn't done well at all.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475 |
does the st ending of first indicate a superlative background? And, if so, what would be the comparative?
Yes, first, for, from, fare, and far all probably come from *per- 'through, for'. The real question is: did the -st suffix always mark the superlative?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
"krEtIn, formerly "kri;tIn (OED2 v3.1) So can anyone tell me what distinction is being drawn here? I don't think I have ever heard this pronounced other than kre-tin with a short e sound. And for a bonus, can anyone suggest any other common English word to have derived from Swiss patois? 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Pretty standard on the Left Bank to pronounce it with a long E.
The brick and mortar COED uses an italic i with some sort of little mark over it that seems to be given as the vowel sound in thief, if I make out the minuscule scribbling aright.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I read somewhere that "cretin" is a corruption of Christian.
Where are any "Kreestians" to be found?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Where are any "Kreestians" to be found?
They're over there between the Krestians and the Americans.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475 |
So can anyone tell me what distinction is being drawn here? I don't think I have ever heard this pronounced other than kre-tin with a short e sound.I've heard and used both /'krEtIn/ and /'kritIn/, but I prefer the former. That's with /E/ as in let and /i/ as in cream and /I/ as in pill. One cognate that I hadn't expected for cretin is grime from the same root * ghre:i- 'to rub'. http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE172.htmlAnd for a bonus, can anyone suggest any other common English word to have derived from Swiss patois?Well, it's a trick question, since there is no "Swiss language" and therefore no "Swiss patois". There are four official languages in Switzerland: French, German, Italian, and Romantsh. Not sure which you mean bise, chalet, couloir, or raclette. (I once ate a a fine restaurant in Mexico City called El Chalet Suizo; they were having a fiesta de las truchas, so I'll have to go with chalet.)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 79
journeyman
|
|
journeyman
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 79 |
- "couloir" meaning "corridor" is good French; does it have some particular (ski-related?) meaning in common between English and Suisse Romande?
- And what is "bise" in English?
- What are "truchas"?
- Are you sure Romansch has "official" status? I know it's not legally on a par with the other three languages in Switzerland. What about in Grisons?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475 |
A couloir is a steep mountainside gorge. Bise is a cold North wind. Wind names are very interesting. Nowadays, they name cars after them: sirocco. Truchas are we anglophones call trouts, the francophones truites, and what are they called in Irish? As for Roman(t)sh, I gave it a tiny bit more status than it seems to have. It's an "offical language for communicating with Romansh-speaking persons." Which I take to mean that you cannot force an Engadine to speak German, but you don't have to translate all documents into it. It is related to Friulan, in which language, the Italian filmmaker Pasolini wrote some poems. http://www.eda.admin.ch/washington_emb/e/home/culedu/cultur/langua.html
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,315
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
253
guests, and
2
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
