LL-L "Idiomatica" 2011.05.19 (01) [EN]

Thu May 19 18:54:25 UTC 2011

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L O W L A N D S - L - 19 May 2011 - Volume 01
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From: Isaac M. Davis isaacmacdonalddavis at gmail.com
Subject: LL-L "Idiomatica" 2011.05.18 (04) [EN]

Piet Bult wrote:
>
> Dear Lowlanders,
> If you meet someone for the first time or also a good friend, you can say
> something like (as I learned at school): Hi, how are you, or something like
> that. Usually you get an answer like: I'm fine, thank you. If you really
> feel fine or not, is not the issue. You always say something positive: fine,
> nice, very well, etc. I call this a positive approach.
> In our Westlauwers Frysk, people many, many times - almost standard - give
> the answer: "It koe minder" (it could be worse). This is somekind of a
> negative approach, in my opinion.
>
> I'm just wondering...
> Q: Are there (more) such negative answers possible in English..?
>

Not just possible, I've seen it done! It's not uncommon to hear '(I) can't
complain,' as a response to 'how are you?' When I'm in the mood to say this
sort of thing, I tend to say, 'I can't complain. Well, I could complain, but
no one would listen.'

Best,

Isaac M. Davis

-- 

"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master."
—Abraham Lincoln

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From: Mike Morgan mwmbombay at gmail.com
Subject: LL-L "Idiomatica" 2011.05.18 (04) [EN]

Dear Piet (& all)

 In our Westlauwers Frysk, people many, many times - almost standard - give
> the answer: "It koe minder" (it could be worse). I'm just wondering...
>
> Q: Are there (more) such negative answers possible in English..?
>

MOST definitely... though the likelihood of a such a double negative answer
goes up with the closeness of the relationship.

And there are tremendous variation within this
In fact exactly parallel to your Frisian, we (or is it they??) also say
"Could be worse" in American English.

"Not bad." (which of course does NOT mean, everything we have been taught
about negatives cancelling each other out aside, "good"!) is a standard (and
is not uncommon even with people you have just met).

Of course, outside of the English-espeaking realm, there are plenty a
culture where you "must" (if you follow social norms at all) give a positive
answer; East Africa is such a place (Kiswahili: "Habari ya leo?" - "Nzuri
sana." "News of the day?" -- "Very good" ... even if your cow just died and
your mother-in-law moved in with you ;-)

(Ethiopia, possibly also part of the East Africa region, also works that
way: Is it peaceful?  It is peaceful... even if I just heard you havign a
knock-down drag out with your husband!)

mwm || U C > || mike || мика  || माईक || マイク || மாய்க் (aka Dr Michael W
Morgan)

Senior Consultant
BA in Applied Sign Language Studies (BAASLS)
*इन्दिरा* गांधी राष्ट्रीय मुक्त विश्वविद्यालय | Indira Gandhi National Open
University, New Delhi, India

"Too often we honor swagger and bluster and wielders of force; too often we
excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered
dreams of others. ... [T]here is another kind of violence, slower but just
as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the
violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay." (Bobby
Kennedy, 5 April 1968)
----------

From: Paul Finlow-Bates wolf_thunder51 at yahoo.co.uk
Subject: LL-L "Idiomatica" 2011.05.18 (04) [EN]

"I can't complain" is quite common (Afrikaans has the identical "Ek kannie
klaar nie!" - sometimes followed by "..of ek kan, maar niemand sal luister
nie!")

"Mustn't grumble" is another.  An outright "terrrible" might be used as a
joke.

Paul
Derby
England

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From: Brooks, Mark mark.brooks at twc.state.tx.us
Subject: LL-L "Idiomatica" 2011.05.18 (04) [EN]

Piet asked: Q: Are there (more) such negative answers possible in English..?

Yes, there are. I don’t know if it’s because I work for the government, but
I frequently hear things like “it could be worse.” I’ve also said, “I’ve
felt better,” when I’m not feeling very well.

I don’t like to answer “fine” because someone once told me that stands for
“f*cked up, insecure, neurotic, and edgy.” J So, I’ll often say something
like “okay” or “pretty good.” Either one of those is sort of like saying “so
so.” They mean you’re okay, but just middling. At least, that’s how I use
them.

Mark Brooks

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From: Sandy Fleming fleemin at live.co.uk
Subject: LL-L "Idiomatica" 2011.05.18 (04) [EN]

> From: "Stellingwerfs Eigen" <info at stellingwerfs-eigen.nl>
> Subject: LL-L
> Dear Lowlanders,
> If you meet someone for the first time or also a good friend, you can say
something like (as I learned at school): Hi, how are you, or something like
that. Usually you get an answer like: I'm fine, thank you. If you really
feel fine or not, is not the issue. You always say something positive: fine,
nice, very well, etc. I call this a positive approach.
In our Westlauwers Frysk, people many, many times - almost standard - give
the answer: "It koe minder" (it could be worse). This is somekind of a
negative approach, in my opinion.

> I'm just wondering...
> Q: Are there (more) such negative answers possible in English..?

A very typical negative answer in English is "Oh, don't ask!", meaning
you've had enough of everything for now.

It's not unusual to hear things like:

"Not bad."  (quite good)
"Not too bad." (could be worse)
"Could be worse." (a fairly miserable answer, which might raise some slight
concern)
"I've had it up to here, since you ask!" (pretty bad).

Sandy Fleming
http://scotstext.org/

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From: Hannelore Hinz <hannehinz at t-online.de> <hannehinz at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Idiomatica" 2011.05.18 (04) [EN]

Leiw' Lowlanners,

                Piet Bult schreew: it could be worse (es könnte schlimmer
sein).

Dat künn' leeger sien.

Bedüden: (weder noch).  Egentlich is all'ns normål. Liekers bi normålen
Taustand hard dat leeger sien künnt.

Also nich Hüh noch Hott.

Hartlich Hanne

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