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Scandinavian spat o' the day

Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Norway and Sweden are in the middle of a bit of a falling out:

"A retired Norwegian linguistics professor has described Swedes as "stupid" for not being able to understand Norwegian. Norwegians have no problem with Swedish, the professor points out. Finn-Erik Vinje has caused an escalation in what is promising to become an all out language war, by publishing a post on his blog last week asking, "Why are Swedes so stupid?"....The basis of Vinje's assertion is that Swedish viewers of Himmelbå, a Norwegian television series based on the British production "Two Thousand Acres of Sky", have complained that the language is too difficult to understand and would prefer to see a series in Swedish, with Swedish actors, in a Swedish setting".

The comments thread at the tale's original home (local.se) is in English and is quite lively. I had always been under the impression that Norwegians and Swedes were - armed with functioning brains and a bit of good will - at the very least mutually intelligible. I've got a handful of words and phrases in both, derived either from songs or a pal at university who specialised in the Scandinavian languages, but don't suppose knowing the Norwegian for 'hedgehog' or the Swedish for 'milk' would be much use if I was dying of exposure half way up a mountain.


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posted by Croydonian

The most soul-crushing phrases in the English language

Sunday, February 15, 2009
The worst four words - "As seen on TV"

As to the worst seven, it is a toss up between the following:

"We need to talk about our relationship" and "A replacement bus service is in operation".

Nominations for other candidates are most welcome.

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posted by Croydonian

What the French call each other

Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Only highlights thus far, as the full data has not been put up by TNS-Sofres, but enough to go to work on.

Suppose a pollster asks you what manner of terms of endearment you use for your significant other. I would refuse to say a mumbling word, as some things really are best kept in the private domain. However, waving a clipboard at French folk seems to make them 'fess up to all sorts of things. Hey and indeed ho.

Anyway, 82% of Gauls call each other by a first name (Radical, I know. However, the Chiracs are famous for using 'vous' rather than 'tu' to each other).

59% use pet names of some description, with "chéri(e)" the favourite at 26%, followed by mon coeur" or "mon petit coeur" (9%), and "bébé" / "mon petit bébé" (*creepy*) at 8%. "Mon amour" or "amour" is not hugely favoured at 6%, nor is "puce" also at 6%. Puce variously means flea, the colour, a type of integrated circuit and a form of orthography. Strange bunch, aren't they? Animal names like "biche" (*doe*....), "poussin" and "canard" also feature with 4% admitting to using them.

And chaps are the sloppier ones, with 64% using pet names compared to 55% of women.

So, should any readers find themselves making serious headway with a Gaul, I trust this usage guide will prove helpful.

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posted by Croydonian

Has she considered a name change?

Friday, September 19, 2008
Step forward Spiegel Middle East correspondent Ulrike Putz.

I do not suppose Yiddish speakers would find it easy keeping a straight face if she seeks an interview.

For those not versed in the language of Sholem Aleichem, inter alia, a definition of 'putz' can be found here.

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posted by Croydonian

Wednesday, August 13, 2008
How much further can the Hello-ization of the mass media go? Not much further, judging from this line in a report on a campaign for some Cuban detainees:

"To coincide with the anniversary of their arrests in Miami on 12 September 1998, UK personalities, including several trade union general secretaries are adding their name to an appeal for justice for the five and their families".

I look forward to paparazzi dogging the every move of our syndicalists, and weekly reports in OK, Hello, Closer and for all I know, both Good Morrow and Nice Weather for the Time of Year.

Tony Woodley will be appearing in Celebrity Hamster Swap in the autumn....

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posted by Croydonian

'Like a dog walking on his hinder legs'

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Norwegian pols have been roundly criticised for speaking poor English:

"Some top Norwegian politicians speak such poor English that they risk losing influence as they stumble through prepared speeches or try to express themselves to foreigners, claims a professor at the University of Oslo. He thinks it's downright embarrassing. Bernt Hagtvedt, a professor of political science at the University of Oslo, is tired of listening to Norwegian politicians speak broken English when addressing foreign audiences".

My Norwegian stems almost entirely from A-level geography - fjord, saeter and so forth, although a friend at university passed on the unforgettable pinnsvin for hedgehog.

While it would be unrealistic for Norwegian politicians to expect much facility in Norwegian from guests beyond Scandinavia, compare this audio clip of Jens Stoltenberg speaking with any memory that one can dredge up of Prescott mangling our native tongue. Yes, Stoltenberg is a bit hesitant, but his meaning is perfectly clear. Likewise former PM Kare Willoch or Erik Solheim.

Anyway, Prescott:




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posted by Croydonian

'Bøv'

Saturday, December 22, 2007
A useful word I commend to all and sundry, it being a Danish neologism: "'bøv' (an amalgam of the Danish words for children and adult - børn og voksen - to depict someone who hasn't quite grown up)".

Better than kidult, eh?

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posted by Croydonian

Such wit, such repartee

Tuesday, October 09, 2007
An amusing spat on the other side of the Channel:

Deeply self-satisfied French intelo Bernard-Henry Levy called one of Sarko's advisers, Henri Guaino, 'racist' on the radio this morning, leading to this response from Guaino:

"Ce petit con prétentieux ne m'intéresse pas".

One could render 'con' as [little] idiot, but it is sometimes equivalent to an English word beginning with 'C' that is *not* in use in polite society.

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posted by Croydonian

They do things differently in - Thailand

Wednesday, September 05, 2007
A rather curious survey appears in The Nation, covering the use of nicknames for children. Nothing particularly odd about nicknames per se, but nicknames in Trat province in Thailand appear to be bestowed upon children by their parents, and the big news in English language nicknames for Thai small people are, get this, Ice, Fluke and May. I'm not making this up.

Further, "The Trat Cultural Office surveyed 7,244 children from kindergarten to third-graders and found that 53 per cent of them had English nicknames and 44 per cent Thai nicknames. About 1 per cent each had Korean, Japanese, Chinese or Arabic nicknames".

Very, very rum indeed. If any readers East of Suez can add illumination to this sentence - The media played a crucial role in parents choosing to call their kids after famous actors, singers, tools and musical instruments - I would be much obliged. If Ice is anything to do with sundry American rappers using that as part of their stage names, then truly Thailand is doomed.

The tools bit puts me in mind of the tale in one of Freud's books concerning the patient lacking in vulgar vocabulary and would marshal invective thus - 'you plate', 'you table' etc.

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"I am accurate, you are a nitpicker, he is a pedant".

Thursday, July 05, 2007
One of my favourite irregular verbs came to mind when I read Wikipedia's 'lamest edit wars' page.

Click through and revel in the ink spilled on the vexed questions of whether the Death Star has a diameter of 120, 160 or 900km, the release date of 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' and the quite astonishing "Slow, simmering edit war between anons as to whether guinea pigs had no need to jump and climb in the natural environment in which they were created, or in the natural environment in which they evolved".

Well worth the read. Meanwhile, submissions of further irregular verbs would be welcome.

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posted by Croydonian

Bathos exemplified

Monday, July 02, 2007
From a piece on the tourism market in the 'People's Republic' of China:

"In the world's most populous nation, a tourist can find tranquility in the remote mountains of Tibet, visit ancient archaeological sites such as the Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, climb the Great Wall, party in the big cities, relax on a southern island beach and eat several types of Chinese food".

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Thesaurus abuse - no 37 in a series

Tuesday, June 05, 2007
On this occasion, 'modernising'.

Sounds like a good thing, does it not? 'Modern' even?

And what is it being used to mean this time? Re-using, in the context of burial plots. I suppose I could refer to 'modernising' a dirty coffee cup if I refill it rather than using a clean one.

Further suggestions for other potential abuses of 'modernising' would be most welcome.

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posted by Croydonian