LL-L "Traditions" 2004.09.16 (05) [E]

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From: Helge Tietz <helgetietz at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Rituals" 2004.09.16 (05) [E]


Moreover, "aye" is the standart for "yes" in the "toon",
(Newcastle-upon-Tyne) and I only wish that the people of cities such as
Hamburg or Bremen would only be half as proud on their local language as the
Geordies, even among young people it is normal to speak Geordie, moreover,
it is seen as prestigious in contrast to a young person speaking Low Saxon.

Helge

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From: Jenny Kool <j.kool at reginacoeli.nl>
Subject: Traditions

Dear all,

To get back to childhood birthday traditions:
I remember we sang a birthday song to any birthday child when I was in
primary school, we used to sing this one after the traditional "Happy
birthday"(lang zal hij leven - long shall he live)).
The words were:

"Jarige Job gaat nooit verloren,
trek hem aan zijn oren, trek hem aan zijn oren,
Jarige Job gaat nooit verloren..."
(The birthday child will never be lost, pull his ears - I know, silly
lyrics:-))

And after singing the last sentence, the whole classroom would chase the
birthday child and try to pull his ears. It was rather painful sometimes,
especially while small kids don't know their strenght, or when something
really hurts.

After all the chasing, the child would treat the rest of the class (and all
of the teachers in the school). Normally it was some candy (chocolat), or
fruits, like ships made out of bananas, or small ice creams.

After school you would invited a couple of your friends/school mates to
celebrate your birthday at home, playing games and eating cakes (blow out
the candles in one go) pancakes and/or French Fries. When we grew older, we
would also go to a swimming pool (with real waves!) or a bowling centre.
Eating was always involved.

Met vriendelijke groeten,

drs Jenny Huijben-Kool
multimediacoördinator

Taleninstituut Regina Coeli bv
Postbus 2055
5260 CB Vught

+31(0)73-6848790

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From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Rituals" 2004.09.16 (05) [E]

Críostóir wrote:
> It's unfair to call _aye_ and _nay_ "funny" and "formal". Their usage
might
> appear archaic to non-English speakers or to those raised outside of
Britain
> and Ireland where _yes_ and _no_ are predominant, but in most variants of
> English (and Scots) _aye_ and _nay_ (or forms of them) are still current.

You got me wrong there. Of course, I am fully aware of this, and love to
hear it whenever I come across it.

But in an elementary school classroom in California, or in a staff meeting
at Intel?? Of course it is funny and formal there, at least to a foreigner
who has never heard about this ritual and everybody suddenly seems to "go
all weird on them". It's one of those things that no-one ever tells you
about living in the USA, and it takes you completely by surprise. It's not
like your average American ever says "aye" or "nay" on any other occasion,
so the fact that these are words used on a regular basis in Europe makes
them even more formal! They might as well have said "ja" and "nein" in
German.

Gabriele Kahn

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From: Kevin Caldwell <kcaldwell31 at comcast.net>
Subject: LL-L "Rituals" 2004.09.16 (05) [E]

> From: Críostóir Ó Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
> Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.09.16 (02) [E]
>
> Gabriele wrote:
> "By the way, this funny, formal little ritual of motions and seconding and
> ayes and nays really took me by surprise when I moved to the States (I
> first encountered it at a first grade parents' meeting). We have nothing
> comparable in Germany. Where does it come from - Britain perhaps?"
>
> It's unfair to call _aye_ and _nay_ "funny" and "formal". Their usage
> might
> appear archaic to non-English speakers or to those raised outside of
> Britain
> and Ireland where _yes_ and _no_ are predominant, but in most variants of
> English (and Scots) _aye_ and _nay_ (or forms of them) are still current.

Interestingly, in the US Congress, when someone calls for a voice vote, they
"ask for the yays and nays", even though the actual voting is either "aye"
or "no".

Kevin Caldwell

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