#funny language things

[void-galaxy-shenanigans]

So ADHD curiosity happened again & I have no one to tell so I'll share here!

You know how people say you "flip off" someone (middle finger, at least in the USA) when they're being annoying/stupid/rude/etc?

Well I looked up the origins of flipping people off & here's what I dug up!

((Just incase anyone needs it, Trigger Warning/Content Warning for references to male genitals, & p*nis & d*ck uncensored))

"The gesture dates back to ancient Greece and it was also used in ancient Rome. Historically, it represented the phallus."

So what is "phallus" then?

"a penis, especially when erect (typically used with reference to male potency or dominance)" & "typically symbolizing fertility or potency"

So basically,

Flipping someone off is (1) calling them a dick,

(2) asserting dominance,

& (3) basically telling that person you're more fertile/able to have kids than they are.

IDK what to do with this information, so...have it?

~Aiden

[ladylayton23]

One of the funniest things about Spanish is that when someone sneezes, we don’t scream “bless you” nope we scream “salud” at you which means “health”. Sure, the full meaning behind the usage is something like “wishing you good health” but it’s so much funnier in my head to imagine that everyone is yelling at each other “health”.

“Hey Todd, what’s up? Glad to see you’re -”

“ACHOO”

“HEALTH! ... hey forget it maybe you should just stay home for another week.” 

[221b-bitch-st]

i was getting ice cream with my uncle-type person with whom i’m staying while im in france and one of the flavors was “marron” which to me, an english speaker, makes me think of the color maroon. i asked him what marron was in english and he couldnt come up with an answer so i had to try the ice cream to find out and i determined it was chestnut-flavored. then i wanted “réglise” flavored ice cream and asked what it was in english but he didnt know that either, so i tried it and it was molasses-flavored (which is so gross by the way, like drinking straight vanilla extract). point is, its interesting how even when you don’t speak the language, you can understand it through your other senses.

[221b-bitch-st]

so a family friend from france is visiting us, and his english is pretty good but not perfect, so when he doesn't know the word for something he just combines other things until i get the gist. pour example:

- rain with rage = thunderstorm

- fast food music = rap

i will be posting more as they come

[jacquelinep21]

[cafeleningrad]

Scientists probably cringe at every explanation or cool move in action movies for huge inaccuracy but linguists suffer in similar dimensions.

[cafeleningrad]

Meine persönliche Wertung von Anglizismen ist nicht gleichbedeutend mit einem natürlichen Sprachprozess, da Sprachbetrachtung keine Wertung kennt. Meine persönliche Wertung von Anglizismen

[cafeleningrad]

@charleywng Hm... I think I mean voices in English. Or better what happens to voices when speaking English.

So I mean, if I watch movies in English, or am in an English-speaking environment I had the strong impression that voices in English mostly don't have a variety in their nature. Of course some can sound unique (like Elizabeth Daily's husky voice), but very few are regignicable.

Even if Germany can have some obnoxious voice acting in aniated movies, the voice acting industry has been invented and is the most etablished oer there why I am used to a broad diversity of voices - but I don't know if a non-German speaker would notice. In contrary to that, even if some voice actors do a great job by controlling and expanding their voice, I have hard times to say "oh this is specifically voice actor X", or "this is the voice of Owen Wilson" because I have a hard time figuring out the difference.

Another thing I noticed: I had five Korean colleagues, three of the were friends of mine. They didn't speak Korean if other people were around them but if they called their parents or friends in Korea I was impressed how characteristic their voices still were.

My experiences fascinated me therefore I wanted to know if they are only subjective or if there are studies about voices.