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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 17
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 17 |
Hi!
I'm a Finnish student of translation and interpretation. At the moment, I'm writing my master's thesis on taboo expressions and their offensiveness. My material consists of a Finnish novel Under the North Star (original Finnish version and English translation). As a part of my thesis, I'm testing the offensiveness of some expressions with a questionnaire. The questionnaire is at the pilot stage, but I would like to know if there is interest among the users of this forum to fill it out when the form is finished? The only requirement is that the respondents are native English speakers (preferrably American).
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,529
veteran
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veteran
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,529 |
Yes Milla, I would be happy to answer your questionaire because I am not easily offended. I am not offended because you prefer Americans speakers of English. This only offends the British speakers of English who are easily offended, which I ain't. Fire away... 
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
> This only offends the British speakers of
English who are easily offended, which I ain't.
Milo here demonstrates two platitudes:
1. Only those British speakers of English predisposed to get offended will end up offended
b. He's not a member of that set
Well, we sure knew that, Milo :)
Good luck with the survey, Miia - be glad to help if a mere non-American can slip through the mesh!
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I, too, would be happy to join your team of lab rats.
Pay milum and mav no never mind. They just like chewing on each other.
BTW, is your name really Miiä? I ask only in the interest of vowel harmony.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
> They just like chewing on each other
Nope. Milo is non-discriminatory, in that he assumes 'not American speakers of English' = 'British speakers of English'. This board also has many other members of the family of international Englishes represented. Even Alabama, where they nearly speak English. ;)
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Sure, Miia--I'll be glad to help; it sounds very interesting. Several years ago, there was a British clerk in the office where I worked, and one day I asked her whether our "f**k" was more or less the equivalent of their "bloody". She was deadpan at the first word but her eyes widened at the second one, just as above I couldn't bring myself to spell out our word but had no trouble with the British one.
Oh, yes--it was very intelligent of you to find this place and seek respondents!
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055 |
> Oh, yes--it was very intelligent of you to find this place and seek respondents!
Funk that! Vituperation metres around here must be terrible - what with all the abuse hurled.
... just kidding Miia, I'm sure the board members participating can navigate the mine fields of gutter talk with subtle and competent virtuosity.
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 17
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 17 |
First of all, to Faldage: No, my name is actually spelled Miia. It's of Swedish origin (Mia), but with a Finnish spelling. Both are used in Finland, as well as Piia (Pia), Tiia (Tia is possible, but I've never heard it used in Finland) and Kiia (Kia). Vowel I is quite easy in Finnish, since it can be used with both A and Ä, e.g. liata (to make something dirty) and siistiä (to clean something up), and also with all other vowels.
Second, I did not mean to offend anyone by requesting American English speakers. There are actual reasons for this: the target audience of the translation is American, and conventions of translating are different in American and British culture, which is the reason why some Finnish novels are translated differently to these target cultures, and this is crucial in translation studies...
Happy Easter to everyone, and thank you in advance for those who have already volunteered. More the merrier, so everyone can still participate!
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Hi, Miia! I'm also of the US group and would like to help you out in your questionnaire. I work occasionally as a translator (Portuguese to English) and I know how sensitive and important such issues can be!
I hope you will stick around and maybe participate in other topics. I too have questions about Finnish and may ask you some from time to time, if you don't mind. I think you are the first person from Finland or, really, from any of the Finno-Ugric countries to post here.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Thank you for the explication, Miia. As you may have noticed we love yattering at each other about the respective values of our Englishes. I hope you stay around after your survey.
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