The Language (and travel) Thread

[Doe]

There are many many names Kan but it's not alone. For example Hakan, Türkan, Volkan, Gürkan, Serkan, Erkan, İlkan, Tarkan but most improntantly name is Kaan because the name is old Turk kings crown name. Like cesar. Kaan looks like Khan.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Apparently most sources believe the word "baklava" is originally Turkish, and "hummus" may be as well.

 

If you think you don't know any words in a given language, just think of their cuisine!

[Arcadia]

Ah, yummy hummus. Somehow I think of it as Greek, though. Although when I look up hummus, all I see is that it's Arabic for chickpeas! And yet the first time I ever encountered chickpeas was in Mexican cuisine. Versatile little legume, isn't it? :)

[Doe]

Yes humus and baklava are Anatolia foods.

 

I was in Greece, I asked "What is your favor food?" He said, "Musakki" (Turkish is Musakka."

 

-ok mr. I see. What is your favor drink?

 

-Caciki (Turkish is Cacık.)

 

I smiled.

 

-ok again mr. What is your favor sweet?

 

- Baklava (Turkish is baklava)

 

:))))))

 

Turkish, Greek and Iran foods almost same.

 

- Could you please give me yogurt? (I take one's chance.) (Turkish is yoğurt.)

 

- ok. It's coming.

 

:))))

[Arcadia]

Ah, musakka! That's another one I know! My mom used to make it, it was like her favorite dish. (But not mine.... :()

[T.o.b.y]

I love, love, love Turkish food. There was a fantastic Turkish restaurant where I went to university. Every time there was anything to celebrate, my parents and I would go there.

 

Where I live now, there's a little grocery shop owned and run by a family from Turkey and they have a little deli corner that is great as well.

 

What's your favorite food, Doe?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Aw gee, now you guys are making me hungry!

 

[Doe]

I love, love, love Turkish food. There was a fantastic Turkish restaurant where I went to university. Every time there was anything to celebrate, my parents and I would go there.

 

Where I live now, there's a little grocery shop owned and run by a family from Turkey and they have a little deli corner that is great as well.

 

What's your favorite food, Doe?

Celery in oil with orange, I guess.

 

But yours?

 

Thank you. Did you live in Turkey? Which city?

[Doe]

Ah, musakka! That's another one I know! My mom used to make it, it was like her favorite dish. (But not mine.... :()

I agree with you.

[Doe]

Aw gee, now you guys are making me hungry!

Absolutely :D

[T.o.b.y]

 

I love, love, love Turkish food. There was a fantastic Turkish restaurant where I went to university. Every time there was anything to celebrate, my parents and I would go there.

 

Where I live now, there's a little grocery shop owned and run by a family from Turkey and they have a little deli corner that is great as well.

 

What's your favorite food, Doe?

Celery in oil with orange, I guess.

 

But yours?

 

Thank you. Did you live in Turkey? Which city?

No, this is all in Germany. Lots of people immigrated here from Turkey though and I am very grateful that they brought their culinary traditions with them because traditional German food is... Um... Not really my thing.

 

I don't think I have a favorite food but that deli makes a bulgur salad that is fantastic.

[Carol the Dabbler]

On 9/6/2016 at 10:56 PM, SherlockedCAMPer said:

My backpack works kind of like a purse day-to-day if I'm bringing my computer with.

 

OK, that's where I've heard people say "with" but nothing after it -- Minnesota!

[Arcadia]

I've heard it in other places too ... I assume around here in Virginia somewhere, since I don't go anywhere else. Or maybe on TV? At any rate, I've heard it often enough that I've started using it myself a few times. "Hey, we're going to the museum, wanna go with?"

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Many Minnesotans seem to end sentences with prepositions depending on what we’re saying despite hearing from whoever that sentences aren’t supposed to end in them.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, I think just about all Americans will use prepositions to end a sentence with.   What sounds odd to me is specifically omitting the pronoun from phrases such as "with me" or "with you."  People around here might say the whole thing: "Do you want to go with me?" or "I'm going to take it with me" -- or alternatively they might just say "Do you want to go?" or "I'm going to take it."  But we'd never say "Do you want to go with?" or "I'm going to take it with."  There's no logical reason that I can think of -- the sentences are perfectly clear in any of the three forms.  It's just what one is used to, I suppose.

It reminds me of a usage that I've heard in the UK, in answer to a question such as "Are you going to take that class?"  Where we would say either "I might do that" or just "I might," they sometimes say "I might do," which sounds really strange to my ears.

 

[Van Buren Supernova]

I think it's common and quite a normal way of saying it?

But hearing 'I love you to death' sounds more like serial killer planning your demise to me XD.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

8 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

I think it's common and quite a normal way of saying it?

Yes -- if you're from the UK (or Minnesota, etc.), just not if you're from Indiana (among other places).  I suppose that's one thing that makes it hard for a person from elsewhere to learn English as an adult -- the question is, which English?  And I don't mean just British vs American -- there are dozens of dialects in each of those countries, to say nothing of Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, etc.; plus there are countries such as India where English has been an official second language for so long that they've also developed their own dialects.  And they're ALL correct!

[T.o.b.y]

17 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Yes -- if you're from the UK (or Minnesota, etc.), just not if you're from Indiana (among other places).  I suppose that's one thing that makes it hard for a person from elsewhere to learn English as an adult -- the question is, which English?  And I don't mean just British vs American -- there are dozens of dialects in each of those countries, to say nothing of Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, etc.; plus there are countries such as India where English has been an official second language for so long that they've also developed their own dialects.  And they're ALL correct!

Could you please tell German school teachers that? All too many still believe that Oxford English is THE ONE AND ONLY and everything else is WRONG. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I'll do that if you'll tell Indiana school teachers that the way their students naturally speak is not wrong -- it's a dialect.  Some teachers are willing to believe that kids from other ethic backgrounds have dialects that should be respected, but even those teachers think that their downhome Hoosier students are just plain wrong!

Admittedly, the schools need to teach standard American English (except in classes that specifically teach dialects or foreign languages). because if they don't their students will be at a disadvantage in their adult life.  But teachers should describe the standard as such, not as right vs wrong.

[Aimon]

Me and my friends are planning to go to Spain this month. We would love to see some nice beaches with clear water and some stunning scenery. We were thinking Majorca,Ibiza and Canary Island, we are up to some adventures and experience a great nightlife in our travel. I came across this great article too here in https://www.canaryislandsinfo.co.uk/la-palma/places/barlovento/ but i wanted to hear your thoughts first. Hopefully there will be less hassle once we go because none of us can speak or understand Spanish. Can anyone suggest any ideas or tips? Any help is kindly appreciated  

[J.P.]

How common is the line "not on my watch" actually?
Watching Zygon Inversion and it jumped at me even in the German translation.

[Hikari]

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 7:52 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

 

OK, that's where I've heard people say "with" but nothing after it -- Minnesota!

Also standard speech in the Chicagoland area, if all the Illini I know are anything to go by.

As an English teacher, it makes me cringe a bit inside . . .but after I hang out with my Illinois friends for long enough, I start saying it too!

Just like I've started saying 'Go to the grocery' like the natives around here . . .on the other side of my state where I'm from, we tend to either say "I'm going to the store ('grocery' understood) . . or we will use the store's name . .I'm going to Walmart/Giant Eagle.

Down south of me in Cincinnati, they say 'Please . .?' for "Excuse me?' if they haven't understood what you've said.  My sister's former roommate from Cinci would say that and it rattled me a little bit until I got used to it.  I didn't know if she was pleading for help or getting snippy with me.  She was just saying 'Please repeat that.'

[Carol the Dabbler]

1 hour ago, Hikari said:

I've started saying 'Go to the grocery' like the natives around here . . .on the other side of my state where I'm from, we tend to either say "I'm going to the store ('grocery' understood) . . or we will use the store's name . .I'm going to Walmart/Giant Eagle.

Down south of me in Cincinnati, they say 'Please . .?' for "Excuse me?' if they haven't understood what you've said.  My sister's former roommate from Cinci would say that and it rattled me a little bit until I got used to it.  I didn't know if she was pleading for help or getting snippy with me.  She was just saying 'Please repeat that.'

Ouch -- they say "please?" like that in SE Massachusetts (what you might call greater Rhode Island) also, and for some reason, it would infuriate me a bit.  I don't mind "huh?" even though it's probably a bit abrupt -- but "please?" used to really get my goat.  I think maybe it sounded stupid to me (just now I nearly called it "the idiot 'please?'").

Hmm, so what do we say around here?  I think we generally specify the store, as in "I'm going to Kroger's" (even though technically it's just "Kroger."  Of course, the generic "going to the store" is becoming more and more accurate, what with Walmart, Target, and Meijer's all having full-scale grocery sections (and Kroger now venturing into the big-box-store market) -- one-stop shopping indeed!

[Hikari]

9 minutes ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Ouch -- they say "please?" like that in SE Massachusetts (what you might call greater Rhode Island) also, and for some reason, it would infuriate me a bit.  I don't mind "huh?" even though it's probably a bit abrupt -- but "please?" used to really get my goat.  I think maybe it sounded stupid to me (just now I nearly called it "the idiot 'please?'").

Hmm, so what do we say around here?  I think we generally specify the store, as in "I'm going to Kroger's" (even though technically it's just "Kroger."  Of course, the generic "going to the store" is becoming more and more accurate, what with Walmart, Target, and Meijer's all having full-scale grocery sections (and Kroger now venturing into the big-box-store market) -- one-stop shopping indeed!

"the Idiot Please" sounds more like "the Snotty Please" to me.  It feels like the people who are reflecting that back to me are annoyed with me for having to ask me to repeat myself.  Could just be the individuals I've run into, but it almost sounds hostile.  "Please?(I imagine it like "Please??!" like "What?! Why are you wasting my time?"

[Hikari]

On a related note--here's a new Millennial trend . . .

All the under 25s seem to be calling everyone 'Hon' these days, particularly in a customer service setting, and very often to people who are very significantly senior to them. 

Our college-aged page (21) admitted that she does this.  She works at Old Navy too and calls all her customers 'Hon' . .and not teens and preteens younger than herself, but parents, grandparents, et. al.  I have been accustomed all my life to getting called 'Hon' from people a lot older than me, both men and women . .and sometimes this still happens, despite my advancing age.  I tell myself it's because I look younger than I am.  But I'm old enough to be this girl's mom . . . I know her, we work together, so if she calls me 'Hon' I wouldn't be offended--but surely *I* should be calling her Hon if anyone is?  If some chippy of an 18 year old clerk calls me honey or sweetie pie, I might feel a little salty about it.  They don't intend any disrespect--they think it sounds friendly.  It does--from your grandma, or some little old ladies at church who've known you since you were in training pants.  Less friendly, more creepy from potential lecherous men.

I just think it's funny that young women who are just barely out of high school or still in it are using terms of endearment that their grandparents use on them.