The Language (and travel) Thread

[J.P.]

3 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

Google says: "Beware of bumping into each other", but the pictogram suggests something a bit different:
Crotch might refer to the top part of a door or ceiling, and "mind" reminds me of the famous "mind the gap". So maybe "beware of low ceiling"?

A truly Sherlockian case!

[J.P.]

On 9/20/2025 at 7:33 AM, Van Buren Supernova said:

Thing I do for you guys…
Now you made me turn to the Dark Side - I asked Grok:
 

Quote

The link between the words "F***" and "dry" in Chinese likely stems from a phonetic and cultural misunderstanding involving the Chinese slang term "干" (gān). Here's the breakdown:

1. "干" (gān) as "Dry": In Chinese, "干" is a common word that means "dry" or "to do" depending on context. It’s a versatile character used in many expressions, such as "干燥" (gānzào, meaning "dry" or "arid") or "干活" (gānhuó, meaning "to work" or "do a job").
2. "干" (gān) as Slang for "F***": In modern Chinese internet slang, "干" is sometimes used as a euphemism or substitute for the vulgar term "操" (cāo), which means "F***" in a crude sense. This usage likely arose because "干" sounds somewhat similar to "操" in certain dialects or contexts, and it serves as a less offensive way to express the same sentiment. For example, saying "干他" (gān tā) can imply "F*** him" in a confrontational or emphatic sense, though it’s less explicit than using "操."
3. Cultural Context: The connection between "dry" and "F***" via "干" is coincidental and rooted in the word’s multiple meanings and phonetic flexibility in Chinese. The character "干" is polysemous, and its slang usage for "F***" is a playful or euphemistic extension, not a direct reference to "dryness." This kind of wordplay is common in Chinese slang, where homophones or near-homophones are used to skirt censorship or add humor.

So, the link is primarily through the character "干" (gān), which can mean "dry" in standard usage but doubles as a slang term for "F***" in certain informal contexts. There’s no deeper semantic connection between the concepts of "dry" and "F***" beyond this linguistic quirk.

BTW: those kinds of "translations" happen when ppl trying to translate have NO IDEA about the other language and use simple dictionaries.

[Carol the Dabbler]

On 9/26/2025 at 5:55 AM, J.P. said:

the Venn diagrams of meanings (including colors!) might be very different for different languages

That's quite true.  The reason that people with orange-colored hair are called "redheads" in English is that the color orange was thought of as merely a shade of red -- until a) citrus trees started being grown in Spain, and b) Britain started importing the (duh) oranges.

On 9/26/2025 at 6:31 AM, J.P. said:

BTW: those kinds of "translations" happen when ppl trying to translate have NO IDEA about the other language and use simple dictionaries.

Yeah, I remember thinking (when I was a kid) that the way to translate (for example) an English sentence into Spanish would be to simply look up each word in an English-to-Spanish dictionary.  Wasn't till I actually studied Spanish in high school that I realized literal translations don't always work (even when no slang is involved).

 

[Van Buren Supernova]

On 9/26/2025 at 6:31 PM, J.P. said:

BTW: those kinds of "translations" happen when ppl trying to translate have NO IDEA about the other language and use simple dictionaries.

Is it my setting because I can’t read the text without having a serious headache. Everything else looks fine. This is how J.P’s quote appears in my monitor.

[Van Buren Supernova]

On 9/27/2025 at 10:13 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

The reason that people with orange-colored hair are called "redheads" in English is that the color orange was thought of as merely a shade of red -- until a) citrus trees started being grown in Spain, and b) Britain started importing the (duh) oranges.

Thank you! I have been wondering about redheads, but I just let it go because if I squint really, really hard I can accept it as red.

Another language problem, all this time I thought advise and advice is just a difference in American and British spelling! 

[J.P.]

20 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

Is it my setting because I can’t read the text without having a serious headache. Everything else looks fine. This is how J.P’s quote appears in my monitor.

Sorry, I didn't know. It's maybe because I copied the text from an outside source. You may be able to read it after you have marked the whole text.

ETA: try again.   ADDED BY STAFF:  ... and please let us know whether that helps or not.

[Carol the Dabbler]

20 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

I thought advise and advice is just a difference in American and British spelling! 

I certainly can't blame you for that one!  We do have a lot of spelling differences between countries, and some words even have more than one recognized spelling within a single country.  There are some fairly common words that I'm not sure how to spell, even though I'm a native speaker/writer..

I had somehow missed this post:

On 9/26/2025 at 2:38 AM, Van Buren Supernova said:

... the people who were responsible for this project decided a high curb would be an ideal divider [between lanes], WITHOUT making sure it would be visible at night. [....]  It was a complete darkness except the light from my motorcycle. Besides roadkill risk and the possibility of bats and bugs hitting you, there were unpredictable obstacles on the road, for example, THE NEW CURB.

Except in cities and suburbs, complete darkness (at night) is generally par for the course around here, even on limited-access highways.  BUT the people who design the roads know better than to turn them into obstacle courses!   

 

[Van Buren Supernova]

On 10/1/2025 at 6:58 PM, J.P. said:

Sorry, I didn't know. It's maybe because I copied the text from an outside source. You may be able to read it after you have marked the whole text.

ETA: try again.   ADDED BY STAFF:  ... and please let us know whether that helps or not.

It looks the same, but thank you for the help!

Yes highlighting it! And I declare myself as a fan of Sherlock!

What is the term again? Clot!

On 9/26/2025 at 6:23 PM, J.P. said:

Google says: "Beware of bumping into each other", but the pictogram suggests something a bit different:
Crotch might refer to the top part of a door or ceiling, and "mind" reminds me of the famous "mind the gap". So maybe "beware of low ceiling"?

A truly Sherlockian case!

Thank you! Couldn't crack that one myself. However, I'd be reluctant to enter a place where there is a warning about genital!

[Van Buren Supernova]

 

This revolution could be shorter than Anglo-Zanzibar War

[Carol the Dabbler]

Do you have any idea what that "revolution" sign is specifically talking about?    

 

[Caya]

Probably renovation plus Autocorrect.  

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hadn't thought of autocorrect, but you're right, that sign wasn't hand-written, it was printed on a computer -- apparently by someone who doesn't proofread the results and/or isn't fluent in English.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

On 8/25/2013 at 12:03 AM, Julia Mae said:

We exchange our movies and television, it's a wonder we have so many differences in language.

That was posted a while back, as you can see.

Lately I've been noticing British people saying things that I thought were Americanisms (e.g., "pants" in the sense of trousers) and vice versa (e.g., I think "gone missing" or "went missing" is originally British, but it's a very succinct way of expressing a specific concept).

This has been going on for hundreds of years, of course.  A few hundred years ago, if a character in a British play was supposed to be an American (quite probably played by a British actor, since the accents hadn't had time to diverge much), the first words out of his/her mouth would be "I guess" in the sense of "I suppose" -- but I'm pretty sure that expression started being used over there a long time ago.

 

[Caya]

It’s similar here, only the influence is much more one-sided. Started with TV and hasn’t stopped since. Some Austrian terms I remember from my childhood have all but died out by now and been replaced with German ones (like Paradeiser/Tomaten for tomatoes). But at leas we all understand each other better now.  

[Carol the Dabbler]

23 hours ago, Caya said:

Austrian terms I remember from my childhood have all but died out by now and been replaced with German ones (like Paradeiser/Tomaten for tomatoes).

If I get a vote, I prefer Tomaten, simply because I'd have no idea what Paradeiser are if you hadn't clued me in.  By the way, tomatoes are native to Central America, where the indigenous word, tomatl was adopted into Spanish as tomate, which in English became tomato.  So that's another point in favor of Tomaten.

That same sort of replacement of localisms takes place within the US (since this country is about the same size as all of Europe).  I'm sitting here in Indiana wearing a pair of what I call tennis shoes, but hubby Alex (who is from upstate New York, 500 miles or 800 kilometers away) calls sneakers.  That latter term is kinda taking over hereabouts too, probably due to television.

 

[Van Buren Supernova]

On 8/8/2026 at 12:14 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

Lately I've been noticing British people saying things that I thought were Americanisms (e.g., "pants" in the sense of trousers) and vice versa (e.g., I think "gone missing" or "went missing" is originally British, but it's a very succinct way of expressing a specific concept).

Hold up, so when John asked Sherlock if he wore pants in Buckingham Palace, did he refer to underwear or trousers? In my fuzzy memory I remember you guys collectively agree that it was underwear?

I don’t remember my opinion actually. I hardly argue about male's southern region fashion choice in a public forum. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

On 9/18/2026 at 8:34 AM, Van Buren Supernova said:

when John asked Sherlock if he wore pants in Buckingham Palace, did he refer to underwear or trousers? In my fuzzy memory I remember you guys collectively agree that it was underwear?

Yes, I believe we did -- or rather, I had just read that "pants" meant "underpants" in British English, and passed along that info as regards that scene.  But that was in "Scandal," wasn't it, which aired on New Year's Day in 2012, so was presumably filmed about 15 years ago (and of course written before that).  And I don't recall encountering any British use of "pants" as "trousers" that long ago.

English seems to change more rapidly than most languages (though maybe it merely seems that way because I'm seeing it from the inside).

Footnote:  Last I heard, the Japanese word pan-tsu (borrowed from British English some time ago) still means underpants -- which really confuses Americans!

 

[Van Buren Supernova]

3 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Footnote:  Last I heard, the Japanese word pan-tsu (borrowed from British English some time ago) still means underpants -- which really confuses Americans!

I remember pan-tsu because if my memory is correct, Goku/his friend wished for pan-tsu when he obtained dragon ball.

[Carol the Dabbler]

19 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

Goku/his friend wished for pan-tsu when he obtained dragon ball.

  You lost me there.

 

[Van Buren Supernova]

5 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

  You lost me there.

Dragonball is a classic anime series. I didn’t watch it myself, but as far as I know, characters collect the balls and then wish for something. This is probably a over simplification. Anyway, the villain is on the verge of getting it done and about to wish something bad, something along the line of taking over the world, and one of the protagonists has to interrupt it by wishing something else. His quick thinking is ‘underwear.’ Yes, he wishes for underwear after all the efforts of uniting the balls. It saves the world.

So, this is my tale about how I know that pantsu means underwear. I don't think I have a cooler tale to tell. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

21 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

this is my tale about how I know that pantsu means underwear.

And they say that anime isn't educational!  (At least I assume that "they" say that.  "They" say it about pretty much all the fun stuff, don't they?)

I learned it from a blog (by an American living in Japan), myself -- though I don't offhand recall when/how I found out *why* it means only underwear (namely, because the Japanese got the word from the British, who for reasons still unknown to me, were using it that way at that time).  I went just now to check the "Scandal" thread (where I revealed my then-newly-acquired knowledge), but the only explanation I gave there was "I have recently been informed."  Big help!!!

 

[Van Buren Supernova]

I watched a lot of true crime. There was more than one case when murders were solved because the killers were using the wrong tenses to describe the victim. For example, they were using the past tense when the victims were still considered ‘missing.’

I am wondering, ‘What about us who botch the language often and use the wrong tense in interrogation? Is the suspect a loner, obsessed with a murderous show, has a research history of questionable murder methods, and, GASP, USES THE WRONG TENSES?

[Fantasy Lover]

On 9/22/2026 at 8:59 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

And they say that anime isn't educational!  (At least I assume that "they" say that.  "They" say it about pretty much all the fun stuff, don't they?)

I learned it from a blog (by an American living in Japan), myself -- though I don't offhand recall when/how I found out *why* it means only underwear (namely, because the Japanese got the word from the British, who for reasons still unknown to me, were using it that way at that time).  I went just now to check the "Scandal" thread (where I revealed my then-newly-acquired knowledge), but the only explanation I gave there was "I have recently been informed."  Big help!!!

 

Living abroad in Japan? An ex friend of mine is a fan

[Carol the Dabbler]

10 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

I watched a lot of true crime. There was more than one case when murders were solved because the killers were using the wrong tenses to describe the victim. For example, they were using the past tense when the victims were still considered ‘missing.’

I am wondering, ‘What about us who botch the language often ... ?

I recommend that you hire Perry Mason or Ben Matlock.

Seriously, though, I suspect that was merely the clue that made them investigate that particular suspect more thoroughly -- which lead them to find the missing person's corpse in their attic or whatever.  If you can find better hiding places for any corpses in your possession, you should be perfectly safe.

 

[Van Buren Supernova]

On 9/28/2026 at 4:15 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

recommend that you hire Perry Mason or Ben Matlock.

Tbh, I have no idea who they are.

On 9/28/2026 at 4:15 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

If you can find better hiding places for any corpses in your possession, you should be perfectly safe.

The things we talk about with a straight face here!