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Poll: Do you know of any words in English that have been borrowed from your (working) language(s)? Inițiatorul discuției: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you know of any words in English that have been borrowed from your (working) language(s)?".
This poll was originally submitted by John Cutler
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, s... See more This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you know of any words in English that have been borrowed from your (working) language(s)?".
This poll was originally submitted by John Cutler
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629
[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2009-07-01 12:43 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| Spanish as the etymology of many words in American English | Jul 1, 2009 |
There are many words in American English that come via Spanish (Mexico) for obvious historical reasons. Among these words is the word "sombrero" which, unlike Spanish where it simply means "hat", it actually means a large brimmed stereotypical Mexican hat. Another word that has had semantic shift is "barrio" which in Spanish simply means "neighborhood" without any connotations as to the wealth of the individuals, whereas in American English a "barrio" connotes a poor, Hispanic neighborhood.
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Gerard de Noord 
Franţa
Local time: 21:42
Membru (2003)
din engleză în olandeză
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Amy Duncan (X)
Brazilia
Local time: 16:42
din portugheză în engleză
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Milan Djukić
Serbia
Local time: 21:42
din engleză în sârbă
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| Vampire from Serbian | Jul 1, 2009 |
It is almost taken for granted that only word from Serbian existing in many other languages worldwide is vampire (vampir or вампир).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire
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Yasutomo Kanazawa
Japonia
Local time: 04:42
Membru (2005)
din engleză în japoneză
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Theo Bernards (X)
Franţa
Local time: 21:42
din engleză în olandeză
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| Odd one: wisdom tooth | Jul 1, 2009 |
Here was I, thinking that only we Dutch import words from other languages . To stray a little off-topic: a peculiar word in the English language is 'wisdom tooth'. It is a mistranslation from 'verstandskies': in the original Dutch meaning 'verstand' is how we Dutch name something standing very far away, but we also name the inner workings of our brain 'verstand', which can be translated as 'wisdom' which is imho not the best translation. The correct translation for 'verstandskies' is something in the line of 'far-standing tooth' (please don't quote me on that, because I am sure there is a more accurate translation, but for the purpose of my contribution to this poll this is sufficient ). Funnily enough the mistranslation happens in at least one other language (French has 'dent de sagesse') and I suspect there are more languages which have copied the mistranslation of 'verstandskies'. Could it be because dental sciences were developed in The Netherlands or maybe Flanders? I don't know. Anyway, I am always on the lookout for such oddities in the field of languages, so if anybody knows one, please let me know, together with a brief explanation. I might even be able to compile a list of such words, with a little background information for each term.[Edited at 2009-07-01 13:14 GMT]
[Edited at 2009-07-01 13:15 GMT]
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Egil Presttun
Norvegia
Local time: 21:42
din engleză în norvegiană
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Zamira B.
Regatul Unit
Local time: 20:42
Membru (2006)
din engleză în rusă
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| Russian and Turkic/Arabic | Jul 1, 2009 |
I recently discovered 'bolshie' (from 'bolshevik') meaning 'stubborn'. I was quite amazed when I saw 'a bolshie teenager' in a British newspaper.
and 'kismet' for 'fate' and 'balaclava' from Turkic languages.
This is all I can think of at the moment (apart from well known 'balalaika' and 'perestroika' things).
[Edited at 2009-07-01 19:15 GMT]
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Particularly prevalent:
Angst
Schadenfreude
and for a while the unbeatable "four-spring duck technique" = "Vorsprung durch technik"(!!)
Regards,
Katio
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Dmitrie Highduke
Ucraina
Local time: 22:42
Membru (2008)
din engleză în ucraineană
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| Ukrainian origin | Jul 1, 2009 |
* Borscht (Ukrainian borshch), beet soup, also the expression "cheap like borscht"
* Cossack (Ukrainian Kozak), a freedom-loving horseman of the steppes
* Hetman, a Cossack military leader
* Kasha, porridge
* Kubasa, kolbassa (Canadian English, from Ukrainian kovbasa), garlic sausage. Also kubie, kubie burger
* Paska (Canadian English), a decorated Easter bread, also paskha or pashka, a rich dessert with curd cheese and dried fruit
* Pe... See more * Borscht (Ukrainian borshch), beet soup, also the expression "cheap like borscht"
* Cossack (Ukrainian Kozak), a freedom-loving horseman of the steppes
* Hetman, a Cossack military leader
* Kasha, porridge
* Kubasa, kolbassa (Canadian English, from Ukrainian kovbasa), garlic sausage. Also kubie, kubie burger
* Paska (Canadian English), a decorated Easter bread, also paskha or pashka, a rich dessert with curd cheese and dried fruit
* Perogy, plural perogies (North American, Ukrainian singular pyrih, plural pyrohy), stuffed dumplings or pastry. This comes from western Ukraine, where it is a synonym for varenyky
* Pysanka, a decorated Easter egg
* Steppe, a flat, treeless plain
etc.
The list shows that the Ukrainians are hearty eaters...
[Edited at 2009-07-01 13:29 GMT]
[Edited at 2009-07-01 13:29 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I can think of some:
Spanish:
- piñata
- salsa (both the sauce and the music)
- macho (means simply "male" in Spanish)
- mosquito
- siesta
French:
- bureau
- questionnaire
- rendez-vous
- endeavour
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