Things that sound better in foreign languages
Sep 2, 2013 | 2:22 am
#121
Join Date: Jun 2009
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Speaking of foreign languages, as a Canadian it took me three thrips to ATL to figure out that "y'all", which I had understood to be a contraction of "you all", was actually often used in the singular: as in one person greeting another, "How're y'all doin' this mornin'?" The plural of "y'all" seems to be "all y'all", as in one person greeting several others: "How're all y'all doin' this mornin'?"
Y'all is a term that those who've spent significant amounts of time in the US South seem to pick up and never really let go.
Uff da is both a useful and nice sounding phrase.
Sep 2, 2013 | 8:16 am
#122
Join Date: Apr 2005
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In Alabama, all y'all is typically used when speaking to a larger group of people, though many transplants will use y'all for groups of all sizes. Very rarely have I heard y'all being used when speaking to a single person.
Y'all is a term that those who've spent significant amounts of time in the US South seem to pick up and never really let go.
Y'all is a term that those who've spent significant amounts of time in the US South seem to pick up and never really let go.
Sep 3, 2013 | 2:00 pm
#123
Join Date: Feb 2004
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Well, I shouldn't say Chileans don't use the vosotros at all... in fact, most of them use it several times a day, in two particular Chilean expressions: "Cmo estai? for how are you? and Cachai? for, Get it? Understand? Know what I mean? In fact, among younger people, nearly every sentence in a conversation seems to end with Cachai?
Sep 4, 2013 | 2:39 am
#124
Join Date: Sep 2003
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Well, I shouldn't say Chileans don't use the vosotros at all... in fact, most of them use it several times a day, in two particular Chilean expressions: "Cmo estai? for how are you? and Cachai? for, Get it? Understand? Know what I mean? In fact, among younger people, nearly every sentence in a conversation seems to end with Cachai?
E.g. (in case I'm not expressing myself clearly), the English phrase "What do you want to do?" is translated into Spanish:
when said to a group of friends:
in most of Spain: " [Vosotros] Qu queris hacer?"
vs
in Latin America: "[Ustedes] Qu quieren hacer?"
when said to a single friend:
in Spain: "[T] Qu quieres hacer?"
vs
in voseo countries (Argentina, Costa Rica etc): "[Vos] Qu quers hacer?"
Sep 4, 2013 | 2:43 am
#125
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I well remember being in France once with an elderly relation. I made to pay the entry fees to a museum when the woman behind the desk said very quietly to my companion, "Monsieur a peut-tre plus de soixante ans?"
It occurred to me that if we'd been in an Anglo-Saxon country the woman would probably have screeched at him, in a stentorian voice that everyone around could have heard, "Are you over sixty?" The French way seemed much more gracious somehow.
It occurred to me that if we'd been in an Anglo-Saxon country the woman would probably have screeched at him, in a stentorian voice that everyone around could have heard, "Are you over sixty?" The French way seemed much more gracious somehow.
My favourite, however, is the standard, formal letter sign off. "Yours sincerely?" No, "Please accept, sir, the expression of my most distinguished sentiments."
Sep 7, 2013 | 3:13 pm
#126
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