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Favorite word from another language? | ||
Tags: False friends | Loanwords | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5336 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 33 09 April 2014 at 2:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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You know how sometimes words are imported into your language from other languages and used in a
particular way? It may correspond exactly to the original meaning, or then again, it may not. A friend still chuckles when telling the story of when he was in Germany and told his shocked religious host family that in Oslo he and his friends enjoyed weekly "Vorspiel"s. They not knowing, that in Norwegian, "vorspiel" is just a pre-party, a small gathering among your friends at home before you go out in the evening, where you would typically serve a few drinks and peanuts, he not realizing that in German it could mean something else entirely. Well anyway, my favorite foreign word in Norwegian is the Finnish word "sisu", which in Norwegian has the meaning "going on beyond the point where you have no physical strength left, and you continue on sheer will power". I love that word, and it has served me well many times when I have had to continue beyond my physical or even mental breaking point, and just had to focus any shred of energy into completing whatever I was doing and continue on pure, liquid will power. It got me through five high school exams taken in my hospital bed when I was 17, and so ill that I could not stand up straight, and it gets me through the training I have to do three times a week, for my back, with a trainer who graduated from the Norwegian Royal Academy of Sadism and Torture. A great word. Do you have a foreign word in your language that you particularly enjoy? 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6599 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 2 of 33 09 April 2014 at 5:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm still not over being amused by the well-known false friends like embarazada, constipado or gift :D Edited by Serpent on 09 April 2014 at 5:45pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 4101 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 3 of 33 09 April 2014 at 10:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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My favourite loan word in any language is the Old Icelandic word "bjannak" from Latin "benedictio" via Old Irish "bennacht". It hasn't changed meanings, but as an archaeologist and ancient historian I just love how unexpected the link seems on the surface, but how obvious it is that there should be such links if you know a thing or two about early European history.
Otherwise I don't think I have any particular favourites. Though, speaking of "Vorspiel", I horrified my mother on a trip to Normandy by responding to her question "What is 'matte' in French?" (female animal owner in Swedish, a diminutive of "matmor") by telling her it's "maîtresse" (used in Swedish only as a fancy word for "the other woman"). She refused to believe me, until one day when my dog started howling for me when I briefly left him with my husband and a woman turned to me, smiled, and said, "Oh, he loves his maîtresse!" 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| daegga Tetraglot Senior Member Austria lang-8.com/553301 Joined 4523 days ago 1076 posts - 1792 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Swedish, Norwegian Studies: Danish, French, Finnish, Icelandic | Message 4 of 33 09 April 2014 at 11:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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"Ski" - so important for Austria, yet we don't have a word of our own for it
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cabaire Senior Member Germany Joined 5601 days ago 725 posts - 1352 votes | Message 5 of 33 09 April 2014 at 11:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, the Norwegian "Vorspiel" is called "Vorglühen" in German, litterally "preglowing", because you warm yourself up for the event, usually with alcohol.
What the Norwegians may say for the German expression, I am not sure. Klining maybe, hångel is Swedish Edited by Cabaire on 09 April 2014 at 11:46pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| daegga Tetraglot Senior Member Austria lang-8.com/553301 Joined 4523 days ago 1076 posts - 1792 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Swedish, Norwegian Studies: Danish, French, Finnish, Icelandic | Message 6 of 33 09 April 2014 at 11:58pm | IP Logged | ||
I've come across the word "forspill" for it in Norwegian. "å kline" is just French kissing, isn't it? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| holly heels Groupie United States Joined 3888 days ago 47 posts - 107 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 7 of 33 10 April 2014 at 4:02am | IP Logged | ||
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One of my favorites is "amok", as in "run amok", which somehow made its way from Malay into the English language, and is understood by nearly everyone, and I believe it has retained its original meaning.
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5336 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 8 of 33 10 April 2014 at 10:06am | IP Logged | ||
I've come across the word "forspill" for it in Norwegian. "å kline" is just French kissing, isn't it?[/QUOTE 'Å kline' comes close to "fooling around" in the non- adultary sense. It covers anything between a warm hug and full sex, those two excluded. But any kissing,groping and general fondling would be included as soon as it leaves the "strictly friends" area. And 'forspill' is quite correctly the term when you move into more serious waters. It may be a gliding slope between those two expressions though. Edited by Solfrid Cristin on 10 April 2014 at 10:07am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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