Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

English: what is said & meant

  Tags: English
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages Post Reply
15 messages over 2 pages: 1 2  Next >>
Sprachprofi
Nonaglot
Senior Member
Germany
learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6474 days ago

2608 posts - 4866 votes 
Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian
Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese

 
 Message 1 of 15
15 December 2011 at 1:05pm | IP Logged 
Someone posted this explanatory image:




It's supposed to be about Brits vs. non-native English speakers. However, it seems to me
that this also applies to North Americans or other native English speakers, no?

Native English speakers, please speak up if there's any item on this chart which you
wouldn't mean like that.
3 persons have voted this message useful



floydak
Tetraglot
Groupie
Slovakia
Joined 4858 days ago

60 posts - 85 votes 
Speaks: Slovak*, English, German, Spanish
Studies: French

 
 Message 2 of 15
15 December 2011 at 1:22pm | IP Logged 
I'd say, if you translated all columns into your language, this would hold true for every
nation..
especially if your are talking to some manager or your boss.
2 persons have voted this message useful





meramarina
Diglot
Moderator
United States
Joined 5971 days ago

1341 posts - 2303 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: German, Italian, French
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 3 of 15
15 December 2011 at 8:52pm | IP Logged 
I think that all of these phrases are also used in American English in a very similar manner. The intended meaning, though, would partly depend on context and tone of voice. For example, "That's not bad," "Quite good" and "Very interesting" can be either positive or negative comments, depending on the situation.

Edited by meramarina on 15 December 2011 at 8:53pm

3 persons have voted this message useful



dbag
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5026 days ago

605 posts - 1046 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 4 of 15
15 December 2011 at 10:26pm | IP Logged 
I wouldnt look too deeply into this. I think it is just intended as light hearted humour.

Edited by dbag on 16 December 2011 at 12:18am

1 person has voted this message useful



Elexi
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5569 days ago

938 posts - 1840 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French, German, Latin

 
 Message 5 of 15
15 December 2011 at 11:59pm | IP Logged 
Well that is a very brave thing to say, and, with the deepest of respect, it is an interesting table of idioms.
5 persons have voted this message useful



dbag
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5026 days ago

605 posts - 1046 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 6 of 15
16 December 2011 at 12:31am | IP Logged 
Yes it is interesting, but I wouldnt want a non native speaker of English to look at the chart, and think that all the items on the left hand side always had the meaning shown in the middle column.

They are all extremely context dependent. Im not sure where the table comes from, but I definetly think its intended as light humour, the kind of thing Dilbert would poke fun at.
1 person has voted this message useful



seldnar
Senior Member
United States
Joined 7136 days ago

189 posts - 287 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Mandarin, French, Greek

 
 Message 7 of 15
16 December 2011 at 8:23am | IP Logged 
I originally saw it on the "Interpreting for Europe" Facebook page. I believe the OP said
it was created by a team of Dutch interpreters. And, yes, it is light humor :-)
1 person has voted this message useful



Volte
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Switzerland
Joined 6443 days ago

4474 posts - 6726 votes 
Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian
Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese

 
 Message 8 of 15
16 December 2011 at 8:32am | IP Logged 
I almost agree.


2 persons have voted this message useful



This discussion contains 15 messages over 2 pages: 2  Next >>


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.4531 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.