LL-L "Lexicon" 2009.11.12 (03) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 12 November 2009 - Volume 03
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From: Hellinckx Luc <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon"

Beste Sandy,

You wrote:

Well, you can think about historical cause and effect, but it doesn't
mean anything in terms of what would really have happened. It's very
like the statements we keep hearing from sports commentators:

"If Mootoo had been just a little faster they'd have got that goal and
the game would have been won instead of a draw."

No, if Mootoo had been a little faster we've no idea what would have
happened. All the players would have ended up in a different position
and the rest of the game would have been completely different. Maybe
he'd have missed the goal and demoralised the rest of the team so that
they would have lost badly!


Right you are...but...on the other hand, I dare to say I'm pretty confident
that if Germany wouldn't have been so aggressive (twice) during the 20th
century...the Berlin wall would never have been built...and would therefore
never have to be destroyed either...

Of course this statement cannot be proved (in this world, it can not be
repeated in the first place)...something even worse than the Wall might have
been erected...plus: saying: "ìf Germany wouldn't have been so aggressive"
is not only a very bold (and fuzzy) statement...but not even a hypothesis
probably. Still: I think you do get the gist. Uttering these words, I just
want to put things a little in perspective, I'm not making a religious or a
 scientific study. I'm not a robot 24/7.

In short: I'm not too interested in the Wall. It's a
byproduct/consequence of something really obnoxious...and nòt a standalone
monument.

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx, Halle, Belgium

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From: Kevin & Cheryl Caldwell <kevin.caldwell1963 at verizon.net>
 Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2009.11.12 (02) [EN]

KINDERSPIEL

I’m with Sandy on this.  I’m still not clear on the intended meaning of
“fordo.”



Maybe instead of “overloaded” it could just be “loaded down” or “burdened.”



“Unwithstood” might also work for the last one as a synonym for
“unchallenged/unopposed/uncontested.”



Kevin Caldwell

Laurel, MD



From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at fleimin.demon.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2009.11.12 (01) [EN]

So you're saying to use:

"fordo" instead of "do beforehand" (or something, I still don't get it)
"onbeloaded" instead of "overloaded "unbefought" instead of "unfought"?

So, why? Or should I say, wherefore?  :)
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From: Andrys Onsman <Andrys.Onsman at calt.monash.edu.au>
 Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2009.11.12 (02) [EN]

To: David Cowley
From: Andrys Onsman
Subject: Lexicon

Like Sandy, I had to guess at what fordo, onbeload and unbefought. might be
and like him, I remain unconvinced. As well as the unfought/unbefought
question, there is (now) a wonderfully fluent nuance to uncontested that
unbefought seems to lack. Languages have to grow to accommodate new
conceptual understandings: fighting an election in the eleventh century,
were that even a possibility, would most likely involve bloodshed rather
than irritating ads on the telly. It wasn't only French words that crossed
the channel: new ideas and understandings came as well. I can't think of
another English word for schadenfreude.

There is a contemporary parallel. Soft political power depends greatly on
the capacity to communicate. Assuming that English retains its current
status as the most commonly used international language and doesn't get
replaced by Chinese, Arabic or Spanish, won't globalisation have a much
greater impact on the future development of the language; especially as
non-native speakers continue to challenge any one version's proprietary
ownership and authority? I can't see a Chinese English speaker working out
what unbeload means, and I wonder why she should have to.

Andrys

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