LL-L "Semantics" 2004.06.15 (02) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 15.JUN.2004 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Semantics" 2004.06.15 (01) [E]

Mark mentioned various euphemisms... so what do you call the opposite of a
euphemism? There are former four-letter or taboo words which nowadays have
come to mean something completely harmless. For example, in German, "geil"
used to mean "randy, horny", and now, within two short generations, it has
come to also (and even predominantly) mean " really great, cool, phat". When
my teenage daughter's friend wanted to pay me a compliment recently, she
called me "affengeil", and I was truly flattered - much more so than my
mother would have been if one of my friends had called her "horny as a
monkey"! That would have been absolutely unthinkable!!!

Looks like most areas where euphemisms are applied either lie below the
belt, or they have to do with the last big taboo in most western cultures -
passing away, buying the farm, going west, kicking the bucket, departing,
expiring, pushing up the daisies, being no longer among us!

Wait, there are more issues among politicians, of course... hundreds of
euphemisms for telling lies and, lately, even for torture... er, I mean,
specialized gentle persuasion!

Gabriele Kahn

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From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at scotstext.org>
Subject: "Semantics" [E]

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Semantics
>
> [1] LS _douv_ (<doof>) 'deaf' > 'stupid' > German _doof_ 'stupid' vs
native
> _taub_ 'deaf'

This is interesting - in current Scots usage we have the noun "duif" [dIf]
meaning "a stupid person", and "dowf" [dauf] meaning "listless,
unresponsive", as well as "deif" [dif] meaning "deaf".
I'm assuming "duif" is the correct spelling - I've only given the
pronunciations in my own dialect, but seem to remember concluding from
reading some Scotstext text that this is the "ui" diaphoneme as in "guid"
&c.

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Semantics

Sandy (above):

> This is interesting - in current Scots usage we have the noun "duif" [dIf]
> meaning "a stupid person", and "dowf" [dauf] meaning "listless,
> unresponsive", as well as "deif" [dif] meaning "deaf".

Interesting indeed!  I wonder if _duif_ is a loanword.  Given the
construction of the Scots form, the most obvious source seems to be
Scandinavian: Danish _døv_ [døw], Dano-Norwegian (Bokmål) Norwegian _døv_
[døv], Neo-Norwegian (Nynorsk) _dauv_ [daʉv] ~ _døv_ [døv], Icelandic
_dauf-_ [daʉf...] ~ [daʉv...], Old Norse _dauf-_.  I am not so sure about
the modern languages, but Old Norse _dauf-_ can mean 'numb' or
'unresponsive' besides 'deaf', as can Lowlands Saxon (Low German) _douv_
(<doof>), German _taub_ and Yiddish _toyb_ טױב.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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