LL-L 'Etymology' 2007.01.17 (01) [E/LS]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L - 17 January 2007 - Volume 01

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From: Ed Alexander <edsells at cogeco.ca>
Subject: LL-L 'Etymology' 2007.01.16 (05) [E]

At 04:18 PM 01/16/07 -0800, Sandy wrote:
>   Similarly Chinese names that sound coincidentally rude in English - I
> think there
>has to be a certain bigotry involved with people who laugh at this sort
>of thing, as if the English context was significant in interpreting
>Chinese names.

The worst example of this that I ever encountered was in a large 1940's
neon sign outside a Chinese restaurant in a neighbouring community,
announcing the name of the establishment, Man Kok.  It is gone now, but
must have stood there for 50 or 60 years.

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From: Paul Tatum <ptatum at blueyonder.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L 'Etymology' 2007.01.16 (05) [E]

Hello everyone

Sandy wrote:
> From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at fleimin.demon.co.uk

> Ausfahrt doesn't make me laugh because I know very well that the
> similarity to English words is coincidental and irrelevant. Similarly
> Chinese names that sound coincidentally rude in English - I think there
> has to be a certain bigotry involved with people who laugh at this sort
> of thing, as if the English context was significant in interpreting
> Chinese names.

I don't know if I entirely agree: I do voluntary work in our local Books
for Amnesty International bookshop (second-hand books, donated by public
 for charity), and when I first started working there, there was a copy
of 'De Fuke' by Rink van der Velde, which my co-worker, an "older" lady
(i.e. not a teenager, not a schoolboy), found funny. The similarity _is_
coincidental and irrelevant but it is still a similarity for all that,
and the word(s) have an emotional impact in your native language which I
think initially carries over to the foreign word and so we tend to have
the same emotional reaction to it which tends to manifest as humour
because their is a conflict. I think it's natural to associate exotic
words with words you already know, but the 'humour' side of it gets a
bit stale if you still find it funny the second time around IMO. The
same can happen when products have meaningless names in one language,
but which in other parts of the world have unfortunate meanings such as
the car named the Nova, which didn't sell particularly well in Latin
America, due to the similarity to 'no va' = 'it doesn't go'!

Yours, Paul Tatum

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From: Heinrich Becker <heinrich.becker at gmx.net>
Subject: LL-L 'Etymology' 2007.01.16 (04) [E/LS]

From: "list at marcusbuck.org"
Subject: LL-L 'Lexicon' 2007.01.16 (04) [LS]

Moin leve List,

Wenn een bi uns nich op de richtige Idee kummt oder wat nich markt, denn
warrt
seggt "So dann is he nich".

            Leve Marcus,

            „ So dann is he nich" heft de Bedütung: He is anners as du
meenst!

            In Dänisch un Schwedisch giwt dat en woord "så dan". Dat meent
G: solch einer;

E: such a person like that; LG: (e.g.).so eenen as he  (etc.)

Ick hoop, ick heff Di holpen.

Greutens

Heinrich Becker
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From: jonny <jonny.meibohm at arcor.de>
Subject: LL-L 'Etymology' 2007.01.16 (04) [E/LS]

Marcus, Reinhard,

> "So dann is he nich"

kenn 'ck ouk ne, un mii dücht, as wenn dat _dann_ door mang nix mit dat
Houghdüütsche 'dann', E: 'then' tou douhn hett. Dat kunn eyn avvsünnerlich',
regionaale Oort van G: 'dumm', 'dämlich', E: 'stupid' ween- in Eastern LS:
'dammlich'.

Dit Verschuuven van _m_ tou _n_ givvt dat ouk jo bii LS: 'Böö_m_', avv un an
woll ouk 'Bå_m_' (Kehdingen) vs 'Böö_n_' (Rest der Welt ;-)), G:
'(Dach-)Bode_n_', E: 'loft'. In Old Saxon weyr dat ouk noch 'botho_m_',
verwandt an E: 'botto_m_', Old High German: 'boda_m_'.

Greutens/Regards

Johannes "Jonny" Meibohm

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From: Ronald Veenker <veenker at atmc.net>
Subject: LL-L 'Etymology' 2007.01.15 (01) [E]

Just a silly guess:  Mensch + Kind?

Ron Veenker
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