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<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">L O W L A N D S - L - 30 September 2007 - Volume 01</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Song Contest: <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/contest/">lowlands-l.net/contest/</a> (- 31 Dec. 2007)</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
========================================================================</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">From: R. F. Hahn <
</span><a style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">sassisch@yahoo.com</a><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
>
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Subject: Idiomatica<br><br>Dear Lowlanders,<br><br>As, no doubt, most of you are aware, there are some considerable idiomatic differences between American English on the one hand and British English and its other children on the other hand. While English speakers elsewhere have come to understand American expressions via the media, Americans are still baffled by non-American expressions, unless they are sufficiently exposed to foreign literature and media.
<br><br>Today I was reminded of an idiomatic expression I soon "lost" after moving to the United States from Australia: "to go potty" in the sense of "to go soft in the head," "to head for dementia," "to go crazy." I remember the raised eyebrows and giggles I cause by saying "OK. I'm going potty." In the United States, "to go potty" is the child language equivalent of the euphemism "to go to the bathroom (= toilet)" (which also directly denotes the activities performed there).
<br><br>Crossing over to "Etymology," let me ask you what the origin of "potty" is in this sense.<br><br>Probably the most appropriate Northern Low Saxon equivalent of "crazy" is <span style="font-style: italic;">
verdrayd</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">verdreiht</span>, from <span style="font-style: italic;">drayen (dreihen</span>) 'to turn', 'to twist'<span style="font-style: italic;"></span>), literally "twisted." Like "crazy," it can be applied to describing a demented person (
e.g. <span style="font-style: italic;">Hey is 'n verdraydten keyrl</span> 'He's a crazy guy') as well as a thing or situation that drives someone crazy (e.g. <span style="font-style: italic;">Dat is eyn verdraydten kraam
</span> 'That/this is crazy stuff/a crazy thing/situation').<br><br>While I don't like to help perpetuate idiomatic material that is based on prejudices, I share with this more learned audience for the sake of erudition that another idiomatic expression for "crazy" in Northern Low Saxon is
<span style="font-style: italic;">katoolsch</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">kathoolsch</span> "(Roman) Catholic"). This is preserved in the expression <span style="font-style: italic;">Daar kanst d' katoolsch by warden
</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">Daar kannst kathoolsch bi warrn</span>, literally "You can turn Catholic with this" = "It makes you turn Catholic") meaning something like "It drives you insane." I'm not totally sure about the original meaning, if it implies that Catholics are crazy or if it means to say that something makes you so confused that missionaries could take advantage of you. At any rate, it wasn't considered a good thing in the old-time Protestant-dominated North.
<br><br>Back to English ... Another idiomatic difference in American and non-American English is that "mad" now means "angry" in the former and mostly still original "insane" in the latter. Obviously, this can lead to between speakers of these varieties misunderstanding each other.
<br><br>Regards,<br>Reinhard/Ron<br></span>
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