LL-L "Lexicon" 2011.07.10 (02) [EN]

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 L O W L A N D S - L - 10 July 2011 - Volume 02
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 From: Ingmar Roerdinkholder <roerd096 at PLANET.NL>
 Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2011.07.09 (04) [DE-EN-NDS]

I’ve never heard an expression like “kicked the bucked” in Dutch, so
Afrikaans can’t have it from Dutch. It looks typically like an
English/American to me, even the form of it in Afrikaans seems a literal
translation directly out of English, wouldn’t real Afrikaans be “hy het teen
die emmer geskop” (he kicked against the bucket) or “hy het die emmer om
geskop” (he kicked the bucked to the ground) ? At least in Dutch “hij heeft
de emmer geschopt”  would be grammatically wrong, without “tegen”, “om” or
“omver”.  And I suppose that 70 years ago English spoken movies were already
popular in South Africa too, so maybe the expression is from an American
Western or a Maffia film?

Btw check this link, saying it’s a Shakespearian expression:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/218800.html
Ingmar

From: "dealangeam" <atdelange at iburst.co.za>
 Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" [EN-AF]

Beste Laaglanders,

I phoned a very old friend of mine. He said that he knows the expression "hy
het die emmer geskop" since boyhood. That is about 70 years ago. In those
years there was so much lingual enmity between Afrikaans and English
speaking people (remember the Anglo-Boer war) that loan words and sayings
from English was almost impossible. If the English saying is older than 115
years, I will accept
that it may be a loan from English.

OK, I will accept that it is an "interlingual" saying. But
(1) where and when did it originated and
(2) for what reason

Some sources write that the saying orginates from the notion that people
hanged themselves by standing on a bucket with the noose around their neck
and then kicking the bucket away.

Other sources write that it originates from a Catholic custom that after
death the body had been laid out, a bucket of holy water was put beside the
body so that visitors paying tribute could sprinkle the body with some holy
water.

One source writes that it comes from a childish game in which the player who
kick the bucket loses the game. But it does not write what the name of the
game is and what the rules of it are. This may very much apply to the game
of life! Stay away from that bucket.

None of these sources give a place and date of origin. They may be
speculations, theories or urban legends without any facts backing them up.

Here is another “mooi” saying in Afrikaans which I find almost impossible to
translate into English: "Hy het lepel in die dak gesteek" (Literally - He
stuck spoon in the roof). What do you fellows think?

Mooi loop
At de Lange

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From: Paul Anisman <panisman at gmail.com>
 Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2011.07.09 (04) [DE-EN-NDS]

Hi, all - Since no one has mentioned anything about Yiddish words for
"to die", I'll throw in a few bits.   Yiddish has two different verbs
for "to die".....one for humans, and one for animals.  The "human"
variant is "shtarb'n"....obviously of Germanic origin.  The "animal"
variant is "peyger'n"....of Hebrew origin.  However, there's a bit of
flexibility in these variants.  If the speaker harbors strong,
negative feelings towards an individual who has "folded the napkin" or
"stretched out his leg" (Spanish....sorry, I couldn't resist), then
the choice can be made to employ the "animal" variant in referring to
said human.  Whether or not the opposite is true....for example, to
refer to a beloved pet with the "human" variant....I can't say for
sure.  I've personally never heard it used in that context.  However,
what I can say for sure is that the "animal" variant can be used for
people....and when it does occur, it's frequently uttered with strong,
primary stress....reflecting anger at the very thought of this
individual.

Sad to say, I'm at a loss to come up with any significant number of
Yiddish euphemisms for the verb "to die".  "Er iz shin/shoyn af yener
velt" = "He's in the next world" comes to mind, but that's about all
that occurs to me.  Maybe someone else in the gang can provide some
further information on that score.

Paul Anisman
Kensington MD


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