English

[darknessoftwilight]

Well i got thinking, english is really a loose language i mean we could say somthing like "thats so cool" and cool would mean great or amazing or interesting or you know somthing like that and i was thinking about other languages and how litteral they are, if you say somthing you litterly mean it now of course it has to do mainly with the me not knowing foreign slang and the fact that anyone i know who speaks a diffrent language usually speaks it extreamly proper as well as the fact that people really really like to change up english ...we go through some new language revolution in america every 10 or so years im seeing and every time we butcher the language more and more, its nice.. really

anyway so what do you people think am i crazy or is english quite possibly one of the most ad-libbed languages?

[Digital Masta]

Probably...

"I'm gonna catch a movie" seriously...that would make no sense to someone just learning english.

[darknessoftwilight]

i have a few friends who dont know great english
one from taiwan she always says stuff like "you are very suck" and "i will borrow it to you" at first my friend didnt make sense of it, i kinda did and i mean shes really speaking well for only being here a year but somtimes she has no idea what im trying to say its like whoaaa uber lost in translation

[Duke Luke of Juke]

I have a lot of friends who speak English as a second language, and none of them understand why we sometimes you "fuck" and "fucking" as adjectives (if that is the part of speech in the cases I'm about to present--I'm only an English major, I don't claim perfect English comprehension. Heh), in cases where they're used to represent positive (or satisfactory) statements, such as:

"That's fucking fantastic!"
or
"Yes, fuck yes!"

I have no idea what this has to do with you topic, but it seemed relevant to me. ^_^

[slinky]

While english certainly has it's share of interesting peculiarities... I seriously doubt that english is the only language rife with idiomatic phrases.

Other languages have an equal share of phrases and ideas that don't translate at all to english and vice versa or the literal meaning is ... well... meaningless. And that's not even getting into regional dialects of other languages.

[darknessoftwilight]

I have a lot of friends who speak English as a second language, and none of them understand why we sometimes you "fuck" and "fucking" as adjectives (if that is the part of speech in the cases I'm about to present--I'm only an English major, I don't claim perfect English comprehension. Heh), in cases where they're used to represent positive (or satisfactory) statements, such as:

"That's fucking fantastic!"
or
"Yes, fuck yes!"

I have no idea what this has to do with you topic, but it seemed relevant to me. ^_^


actually no thats kinda what im getting at most people sit there a little stunned as they try to understand what the hell was just said to them, like i have a chinese friend she speaks fine english but once on this quiz it asked her if she ever got super wasted, and she didnt know what it ment by that so kind of the same thing...
also how do we come up with the kinds of curses we do anyway... some are litteral but others i dont really understand what kind of person would just sit there and think of new ways to be uh.... "creative"?

[gyoza]

I voted unsure, because I haven't mastered any other language with which to compare English with. I'm sure every other language will have plenty of slang words and phrases that aren't literal... just watch any subbed foreign movie and see how much gets lost in the translation.

[mugen]

edit: nevermind my post i got the thread all wrong.

[MeneerDijk]

I like speaking English because i feel it's easier to express yourself in it. It does have a lot more double entendre's then my native language (Dutch) wich can be confusing for a novice speaker. But i've grown to love them.

[Jay]

You would. :P

[Destiny]

Id much rather speak English than Japanese on any given day... other than that, even tho Im prejudiced, Ive the feeling that Slavic languages are much more adaptable and still easy to understand even for a non-native speaker. For ex, Ive only studied Russian in primary school and yet Ive trouble only with veeeery specific slang. And one of my senseis in Nagoya speaks Serbian and when I speak in Bulgarian we understand each other very well. In English is only too obvious when ur not native and native speakers seem to have a lot of trouble sometimes explaining themselves simple enough. Just my 2 cents.

[darknessoftwilight]

I voted unsure, because I haven't mastered any other language with which to compare English with. I'm sure every other language will have plenty of slang words and phrases that aren't literal... just watch any subbed foreign movie and see how much gets lost in the translation.

well i speak horrible and very little italian cause im learning it in school, other then that i only ahve all the confused looks of my chinese friends to go on because it seems they dont usually catch on to what i mean

[whispering]

I have a lot of friends who speak English as a second language, and none of them understand why we sometimes you "fuck" and "fucking" as adjectives
I know only people that speak english as their second language, and ive never heard anyone think its weird. Actually we use vittu (means cunt) the same way :P Replace the word Fuck with Cunt and you have some idea how weird it might sound to non native finnish speakers.

[Angelyne]

English is a pretty unique language, because it's a hybrid. It took tons of vocabulary from German, Latin, and Norse (and from other languages to a lesser extent). This is how we end up a bunch of different words that all share the same definition (example: knife, blade, cutter all essentially refer to the same thing).

[Overkongen]

I consider english one of the richest languages I know. I know very little japanese, but as far as I understand it, one word in japanese can have four or five different meanings. I see it in my native language, too. Take the word "gift". It has too very similar meanings, being both "married", and "poison".

Again, danish is my native language, but sometimes, to avoid losing something in the translation from my idea to what I'm saying, I resort to using english, as it can more adequately describe what I mean, compared to danish.

I remember hearing that greenlanders have about 20 different words for "snow". Imagine a greenlander trying to explain snow in a "weaker" language. He'd be like "The kinda snow, you know, that has just fallen, and is still..." Every now and then, I still get into conversations, where an english word will describe exactly what I mean, better that ny own language, where it is a more vague and general term that I would have to use. All hail English.

[Pierrot le Fou]

English is quite adaptable.

If you're interested in it, I suggest Melvin Bragg's "The Adventure of English" or somesuch. Good book about how English turned into what it is now.

However, many other languages have equally odd points in them.

Language is designed to communicate ideas and thoughts, and if it fails to do that, it will either change or die. It's that simple.

[Neon Pink Shoehorn]

I was once asked by a friend that speaks english as a second language how words refering to sex and defecation are dirty.
he actually said "defecation" lol