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Fri 25 Jun, 2004 05:46 am
The interpreters of Today Translations, based in London, have made a top-10 of most difficult words to translate. Sadly, I only know the first 7, I hope I can find an internetsite with all 10. Here is the top-7:
At 7: 'saudade', Portuegese, can be described as a certain sort of longin.
At 6: 'gezellig', Dutch, enjoyable, pleasant, entertaining, comfortable, cheerful, this all mixed (vague, I know)
At 5: 'altahmam', Arabic, as our newspaper explains it 'the sort of deep distress our eastern neighbors [the Germans, they were eliminated in the EC contest] are seized in these days'.
At 4: 'naa', Japanese, a sort of sound the Japanese produce to emphasize something or to express their approval of something.
At 3: 'radioukacz', Russian, the name for someone in the former Soviet controlled Europe who worked as a telegrapher for the resistance.
At 2: 'schlimazl', Yiddish, the name for 'chronical bad luck'.
At 1: 'ilunga', Tshiluba (African language), can be translated as 'someone who is prepared to forgive an insult the first time, who will tolerate a second insult but who will never forgive nor tolerate a third insult'.
Hehe I like "schlimazl"...guess you need to know German for that one to understand :-D
Yiddish is basically a Jewish dialect of German, with it's own peculiarities, of course.
It's not 'just' a German dialect though. It has imported many words from other languages, especially from Russian and Polish. There are also different dialects in Yiddish itself. Besides that, nowadays there is also something called 'Ameridish', Yiddish in the US, which has unique features too.
True Rick. I grew up with Yiddish speakers, but never really learned it myself. My brother is far more qualified to comment on this, being a linguist and all.
I do think Yiddish is a real funny language, with all their "mishpoches" (I probably don't write it correctly), "tugusses" and "nuchschleps"
Aside alert...
Rick, why does yr avtaar remind me of a syringe with a condom
(sorry, bad joke - I know)
Ehhh...
This avatar comes from a TV campaign here in the Netherlands; symbols warn you for the content of certain programmes. This one is I-don't-know, for drugabuse I guess (not that I am a drugabuser, or at least, that's what I think); you also have warnings for "sex", "discrimination", "swearing" etc.
I'd love to get the one warning abt sex - I will print it on a shirt and wear it all the time
There is a tongue twister when spoken in a certain Arabic dialect, or Coptic maybe, or hell maybe it's Tagalog, whatever, when the tongue twister is spoken in that language it is supposedly the most difficult sequence of words to utter coherently.
The tongue twister is...
The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick.
I'm sorry I forgot the language.
That is my contribution to this thread.
Carry on.
You would know from sheiks and sick sheep gus. I do remember that tongue twister though. It's best spoken under heavy sedation.
Gautum, look at my avatar.
This Rick guy is one sick puppy.
Rick, be careful - gus has got the hots for you
Well, the missionary position depicted by yr avtaar is not only boring - it is very difficult for a gay man
Try again....
How the hell did I get caught in this crossfire?
gustavratzenhofer wrote:This Rick guy is one sick puppy.
I did not have a sexual relationship with that woman, miss.... Oh wait.
I mean: sick puppy? I was doing Gautum only a favor, he's the sick puppy here (no offense Gautum)
Gautum wrote:Rick, be careful - gus has got the hots for you
Sorry Gautum, I do not think I can find an avatar 1,2,3 which is satisfying for you.
We're about to embark on a thread that crosses some very dangerous waters.
I fear for my life.
Don't worry gus - you can charm all the sharks - I hear that you have a way with animals....
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