Firstly, here are some interesting links connected to the whole PC debate.
Wikipedia overview of Political Correctness
A great GUARDIAN article - and subsequent blog posts - about PC and its opponents
A similar BBC discussion
And here's one of my favourite comedians, Stewart lee, doing a particularly brilliant deconstruction of the anti-PC arguments. Enjoy.
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Next, your homework for today.
Your task is to come up five words from your own language that you think would make good additions to the English language - the words might sound good, or may perfectly represent something that is new to British culture (a new type of food, a political event, a new technology, etc.) - or they may represent something you'd like to be introduced to Britain in the future.
Make a list of your loanwords and then write explanations of them.
Explain which words you think have the best chance of sticking - and explain why.
If it helps you focus, you might want to look at the extracts below from this book:
The meaning of TINGO and other extraordinary words from around the world
Malay, for instance, has gigi rongak - the space between the teeth.
The Japanese have bakku-shan - a girl who appears pretty from behind but not from the front.
Then there's a nakkele - a man who licks whatever the food has been served on, which comes from an Indian language, Tulu.
Then there are some great German compound words which have no real equivalents in English. For instance, Kummerspeck, which literally means grief bacon: it is the word that describes the excess weight gained from emotion-related overeating.
A Putzfimmel is a mania for cleaning and Drachenfutter - literally translated as dragon fodder - are the peace offerings made by guilty husbands to their wives.
Or there's die beleidigte Leberwurst spielen - to stick one's lower lip out in a sulk (literally, to play the insulted liver sausage). Perhaps it's a Backpfeifengesicht - a face that cries out for a fist in it.
Hope these examples give you some ideas.
Looking forward to your posts!
3 comments:
I want to tell you about the word 'gezellig' in Dutch. The closest translation in English is 'cosy'. However, I had a long debate with a Irish friend of mine who lives in Nijmegen, and he pointed out to me that there is no real equivalent. Gezellig means that you are having a great time, usually with friends, family or your partner, or all of them together in a cosy atmosphere in somebody's home, but it could also be in a bar or restaurant, or outside. (basically anywhere ;)). It means that everyone feels at ease, respected and that some good conversations can take place. However, gezellig can also be said as when proposing a plan, and it seems like a great idea to you.
Another word that is missing in English, (but maybe I simply don't know the word) is 'gedoogpolitiek'. It basically means something as 'laissez-faire' politics, and politicians in Holland are extremely good at it. For example: the legalization of softdrugs. We are allowed to have 5 grams on us for personal use. We are allowed to buy this in a coffeeshop (not the regular ones where people actually drink coffee) if you're over 18. But, and this is the strange part, it is not legal to have your own weed plants in your garden or in the attic, it is not legal to deal drugs on the streets, and it is not legal to import drugs from other countries. So how do the coffeeshops get their stock?! To that, the government is ignoring that fact. This is what we caal 'gedoogpolitiek'.
The first word I'd like to tell you about is 'Bouillabaisse' : this word sounds good and has, as far as I know, no equivalent in English. It's the name of a fish stew from the vicinity of Marseille in southern France.
Its only standard ingredients are water, onions and saffron. What else goes into it varies from day to day depending on what the local fishermen caught and what didn't get bought on the quayside.
Another interesting word is the adjective 'affriolant', which literally means alluring,
enticing and titillating but especially for...........sexy underwear.
The verb 'mitonner' means to prepare and cook something slowly with loving care.The same verb can be used in a figurative sense and means to carve out a career for oneself.
Who said France is not the country of love and (good) food ?
Philippe
Thanks for these Juul and Philippe.
We do actually have a word for bouillabaisse.
We call it bouillabaisse!!! It's in all good learner's dictionaries!
Then other two we may well be lacking, I fear.
I particularly liked the double meaning of MITONNER.
GEZELLIG I've encountered before because Dutch friends and students have tried to find an English word for it when we've been talking. IT seems like a fairly central concept to the Dutch state of mind. There's a great book called IN EUROPE by Geert Mak, a Dutch journalist and historian, and he has a whole lengthy section of the word and how it both blesses and curses the nation and how that sense of GEZELLIG was shaken to its core by the Nazi invasion and occupation.
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