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Misused English words in EU publications | ||
Tags: False friends | English | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5320 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes  Speaks: German*, English | Message 1 of 37 19 May 2014 at 3:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I've just stumbled upon an interesting list of misused English words and translations (PDF) published by the EU Translation Directorate. (The list seems to be primarily intended for lawyer-linguists working for the EU, because trained linguists are not likely to mix up most of the words contained in this list.)
IMHO, this list might also be useful for English learners. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cabaire Senior Member Germany Joined 5599 days ago 725 posts - 1352 votes | Message 2 of 37 19 May 2014 at 5:42pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Well, I suppose, EU documents are written in a mixture of Legalese and Globish, and do not have to reflect necessarily the use of native Britons, but the language established, when second language learners use it. If this community agrees that there is a verb "transpose", it exits in this dialect, no matter, what some autochthones think about it.
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| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5320 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 3 of 37 19 May 2014 at 7:20pm | IP Logged | |||||
If EU lawyer-linguists used their kind of EU English only among themselves, there would be no need for an official EU false friends list. However, since their legalese is apparently also read by non-lawyer-linguists, they'd also need to add footnotes to explain their lingo, because I seriously doubt that even linguistically inclined native English speakers would fully understand paragraphs such as the following:
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| Henkkles Triglot Senior Member Finland Joined 4253 days ago 544 posts - 1141 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish Studies: Russian | Message 4 of 37 19 May 2014 at 7:25pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Most people who study music would know what transpose means... in the given context. I know the verb to mean that when you take a song and make the key into D instead of the C you've transposed it a full tone upwards.
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| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5320 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 5 of 37 19 May 2014 at 7:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
Even most non-musicians know what transpose means, however, according to the EU false friends list, some EU lawyer-translators apparently think that transpose is a synonym for enact. Edited by Doitsujin on 19 May 2014 at 7:48pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4668 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 6 of 37 20 May 2014 at 10:10am | IP Logged | |||||
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Continental EU English (cEU) is an epitome of non-idiomatic English,
many times, not only wrong words are used, but non-idiomatic expressions as well: 1. cEU English: We recommended you to take these steps. L1 English: We recommended (that) you take these steps. 2. cEU English: It is not allowed to smoke in enclosed public places. L1 English: You are not allowed to smoke in enclosed public places. or Smoking in enclosed public places is not allowed. or: No smoking in enclosed public places! 3. cEU English: Quite better. L1 English: Quite a bit better. or Quite a lot better. 4. cEU English: Look at the sky. It will rain. L1 English: Look at the sky. It's going to rain. 5 cEU English: Please speak slowlier. L1 English: Please speak slower. or Please speak more slowly. They should hire more English teachers and language experts from the UK and Ireland, instead of relying on non-native ''experts'' and Google translate fans. Just because L2 speakers use and understand things like: '' We recommend you to try the cake; It is not allowed to smoke here; Quite better.; Look at the sky, it will rain; Please speak slowlier'', it does not make them idiomatic English. EU legislators and Wikipedia staff should hire native speakers of English before submitting materials of doubtful idiomatic quality made by L2 users of English (you don't see anything wrong with things like ''please speak slowlier''). Edited by Medulin on 20 May 2014 at 10:23am 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4290 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 7 of 37 20 May 2014 at 10:22am | IP Logged | |||||
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"Quite a bit better" sounds strange, "quite" and "better" and any combination thereof to
me sounds quite odd in general. "It shall rain" or "It will rain" sounds fine to me. The future simple expresses sureity. "It is going to rain" simply sounds more informal. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4668 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 8 of 37 20 May 2014 at 10:29am | IP Logged | |||||
You missed the point. I was referring to the WILL future being used (by L2 speakers) in situations where GOING TO is used by native speakers: Look at the sky... it will rain. The opposite is also true. When we hear a ding dong sound, we say: I'll get the door. But, I've heard non-native speakers say: I'm gonna get the door. Will and going to future are indeed interchangeable in 80% of cases (will sounding more formal), but in 20% of cases only one will sound right. If you're about to fall, you shout: I'm gonna fall, and not I will fall... L2 uses of English often get these 20% wrong. Edited by Medulin on 20 May 2014 at 10:34am 4 persons have voted this message useful |
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