It is a wonderful thing to immerse oneself in another language. Other cultures don't just have different words for all the same ideas; in some ways, they really think differently. I learned this when I became proficient enough to read, write, think, dream, and enjoy the humor, in a second language.
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Originally posted by NoEarthlyReasonMijn luchtkussenvoertuig zit vol met palingen.
So, if you want help with your English or help with learning a language not your own, please drop us a line in here. Especially useful might be language fundamentals such as subject-verb-object order and common verbs, as well as idioms, proverbs, colloquialisms and slang and quotes from literature, for those who are more advanced.
Every so often I come across a brilliant, witty construction -- often American -- that I'd like to start hearing in conversation.
I wonder if words like this are spoken mainly by older people due to what I dimly and remotely perceive as the Californiacation/homogenisation of American culture?
absquatulate
\ab-SKWOCH-uh-leyt\
verb
1. Slang. to flee; abscond: The old prospector absquatulated with our picks and shovel.
Quotes
He [Mark Twain] has vamosed, cut stick, absquatulated; and among the pine forests of the Sierras, or amid the purlieus of the city of earthquakes, he will tarry awhile…
-- , "An Exile," Gold Hill Evening News, May 30, 1864
Origin
Absquatulate is thought to be a humorous formation intended to sound Latin in origin. It is chiefly used in the US with earliest recorded use dated from the 1830s.
Originally posted by Ponderable"I assume that whoever speaks English, understands German."
Ich gehe davon aus, dass wer Englisch spricht, auch Deutsch versteht 😉
"Ich gehe davon aus" according to Google translate literally means, "I go thereof out". I'd love to understand how that becomes "I assume". German is a truly interesting, and confusing, language for me.
Originally posted by NoEarthlyReasonIt is a philosophical concept: My thinking process starts at an assumption, so my starting point, the point from where I metaphorically go, is the assumption.
"I assume that whoever speaks English, understands German."
"Ich gehe davon aus" according to Google translate literally means, "I go thereof out". I'd love to understand how that becomes "I assume". German is a truly interesting, and confusing, language for me.
I hope that is not too confusing 😉
Originally posted by PonderableI think I need time to let that sink in, preferably while studying German more closely. I think you explained it well but in my mind it's clear as mud.
It is a philosophical concept: My thinking process starts at an assumption, so my starting point, the point from where I metaphorically go, is the assumption.
I hope that is not too confusing 😉