Stop guys - you all misunderstand Sandy. His post shows that he is a remarkable philosopher like Theodor Adorno, or Ludwig Wittgenstein, or Charles Bukowski...
Confidence in foreign language skills
- Thread starter harman/kardon
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Stop guys - you all misunderstand Sandy. His post shows that he is a remarkable philosopher like Theodor Adorno, or Ludwig Wittgenstein, or Charles Bukowski...
"Macht schnell!" - it's a plural but apart from that exactly :yes: like "Make it snappy!" as I learned today.
Sandy G
Retired Member
My granddad was born in Dayton, but his parents were from Stuttgart & spoke nothing but German in the home. I think his mother finally learnt enuff English to where she could understand most of what was said to her, but she NEVER spoke it. Grandaddy Fritz, however, would ONLY speak German if my sister & I teased him, & then only a word or 2. Those old Germans, when they left the Fatherland behind, they REALLY left it behind...
I do not want to get the thread a serious one, but I assume that there was a jewish background and so they actually wanted to leave the Fatherland behind. Completely.
Hey Chris!
I could not believe you spoke very little English! You do so well with your writing. I confess that I know very little German, mostly colors from model kit instructions.
Years ago I worked with a young man who was Vietnamese and he worked at learning American slang. One day he called a male coworker "honey" by mistake! That was funny but that guy replied "You don't make enough money to call me honey!" We'll we laughed until we cried. The point is we appreciate your efforts very much and I enjoy your positive attitude and interesting posts. So hang in there mein Freund.
I could not believe you spoke very little English! You do so well with your writing. I confess that I know very little German, mostly colors from model kit instructions.
Years ago I worked with a young man who was Vietnamese and he worked at learning American slang. One day he called a male coworker "honey" by mistake! That was funny but that guy replied "You don't make enough money to call me honey!" We'll we laughed until we cried. The point is we appreciate your efforts very much and I enjoy your positive attitude and interesting posts. So hang in there mein Freund.
I put a lot of pressure on myself Master of Sarge. I would like to be really good. But my efforts are restricted as long as I cannot actually talk to people in English regularly to get routine in the use of the vocabularay.
But anyway I try my best here. Apart from one severe dramatic misunderstanding that occured some two weeks ago which almost broke the neck of a friendship to a very famous AK member everything went well and goes well.
But anyway I try my best here. Apart from one severe dramatic misunderstanding that occured some two weeks ago which almost broke the neck of a friendship to a very famous AK member everything went well and goes well.
Sandy G
Retired Member
Nope. Lutherans, IIRC. But Fritz's father left under a cloud-He was apprenticed to be a winemaker, but he wanted to be a butcher...He told his family that he'd leave & come to America & do what he wanted-And did.BIG mistake. A brother came over later & told him that he was DEAD to the family in Germany, they had a mock funeral, the whole 9 yards.. Interestingly enuff, he was a butcher, but had a small vineyard as a hobby, too..
Hello Folks!
May I use this thread now from time to time for asking questions concerning the American English and the English language?
I got problems with the use of the term "funny". Two examples:
This joke is funny.
"Jazz smells funny" (FZ).
I am confused. My latest sentence I used the term was (YGTLW): "Sayings should be wise and funny"! I had one of the both meanings in mind and only that one! So how do you know which meaning I have in mind when you read the sentence: "Sayings should be wise and funny". Unfortunately the English language is not as precise as the German. How could I use the term without causing misunderstandings?
Help please... :sigh:
May I use this thread now from time to time for asking questions concerning the American English and the English language?
I got problems with the use of the term "funny". Two examples:
This joke is funny.
"Jazz smells funny" (FZ).
I am confused. My latest sentence I used the term was (YGTLW): "Sayings should be wise and funny"! I had one of the both meanings in mind and only that one! So how do you know which meaning I have in mind when you read the sentence: "Sayings should be wise and funny". Unfortunately the English language is not as precise as the German. How could I use the term without causing misunderstandings?
Help please... :sigh:
Countryford
Well-Known Member
In your "Sayings should be wise and funny" I read it as a saying should not only be wise, but also have some humor to it(funny).
"This joke is funny" could also be "This joke has humor" This joke is humorous
"Jazz smells funny" could also be "Jazz smells odd"
The English language has words that mean more than on thing, and many words that mean one thing.
I hope I was able to assist or help.
"This joke is funny" could also be "This joke has humor" This joke is humorous
"Jazz smells funny" could also be "Jazz smells odd"
The English language has words that mean more than on thing, and many words that mean one thing.
I hope I was able to assist or help.
sheltie dave
Addicted Member
FRank loved to use contradictory language, like jazz smells funny. First, jazz does not "smell." But creative people love to use all their senses to fully color a palate, and Frank was not an exception - he actually painted the boundaries that he wanted to push.
A mixed media painting can be a good example. You have the different color paints, you have complimentary, competing, and background lines. You have lines that converge and direct one's sight.
There are different textures and materials present.
Sometimes there are completely different technical brush strokes employed....pointalism, realism, cubist, realist, surrealistic, watercolor, oil, acrylic, a whole collideascope available to the artist.
A great painting can employ emotion, and also render a three dimensional perspective on a two dimension media.
I love nautical paintings - they "sing" to me. I can see the waves crashing against a wood ship running a windward tack, smell the tang of the salt air, judge the time of day by the light, hear the canvas sails luffing or snapping in the wind. These all are gained by senses that don't even exist in reality, standing in front of art, but like FZ, the painting becomes more real the more you involve yourself in life.
A mixed media painting can be a good example. You have the different color paints, you have complimentary, competing, and background lines. You have lines that converge and direct one's sight.
There are different textures and materials present.
Sometimes there are completely different technical brush strokes employed....pointalism, realism, cubist, realist, surrealistic, watercolor, oil, acrylic, a whole collideascope available to the artist.
A great painting can employ emotion, and also render a three dimensional perspective on a two dimension media.
I love nautical paintings - they "sing" to me. I can see the waves crashing against a wood ship running a windward tack, smell the tang of the salt air, judge the time of day by the light, hear the canvas sails luffing or snapping in the wind. These all are gained by senses that don't even exist in reality, standing in front of art, but like FZ, the painting becomes more real the more you involve yourself in life.
Thanks Sheltie, thanks Countryford.
So if a word has different meanings one has to realize by intuition which of those meanings is "active".
Exactly!:thmbsp: That is what makes facial expression/body language so important.:yes: We compensate with the "Smiley"icons on the forum.
Hi Chris! Let me see if I can help.
"Funny" means both "humorous", and also "odd" or "not normal". So, yes, a good joke should be funny.
If a piece of meat is starting to spoil, it is perfectly correct to say it "smells funny", or, in other words, it smells bad or it smells abnormal. You could say that someone or something "looks funny", perhaps because they are dressed in an unusual manner, or a car "looks funny" because one of the car's springs is broken and it's leaning to one side. In those two usages it does not mean "humorous".
You wouldn't say that jazz smells funny, because jazz has no odor. That construction would never be used. However, you could certainly say that jazz "sounds funny", because to many people it's difficult to follow the melody. Assuming it actually has a melody, of course!
I just found this thread, so I missed the first few posts, particularly the one where there was discussion about "hemmschwelle". I'm not certain I understand this word, but it appears that a good translation might be "comfort zone". In other words, if you are in a situation and you feel inhibited, or not comfortable, or not sure what to do, or not confident that you know what to do, or you can't force yourself to cross a mental or psychological threshold and make yourself take a risk, or do something, you are said to be "outside of your comfort zone". Does that make sense?
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This is the greatest compliment I have ever heard. OH MY GOD! It is like...oh my...I just say thanks!
Fine remark John James, yes - smilies are useful and sometimes even necessary :yes: to avoid misunderstandings.
Fisherdude let my try to express "Hemmschwelle" in my words. "Hemmschwelle überwinden (overcome)" in it's psychological sense means that you require a very high motivation to overcome your phlegm (I mean extreme inactivity) in order to do an action. Hemmschwelle is a combination of hemmen (to hamper, to hinder ) and Schwelle (threshold). The word "Hemmschwelle" is almost always combined with "überwinden" (overcome).
How close is my definition to your definition? :scratch2:
Frank Zappa, my GODFATHER for decades and the English teacher with the most influence on my skills until I entered AudioKarma three years ago used the tool language in many different manners - for example provocation, agitation etc. - not only for conversation. He used it like any artist uses his means - in a very freethinking manner. "Jazz is not dead, it just smell's funny!" is an example for that.
Randy, oh my, thanks again so much! :thmbsp:
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Sandy G
Retired Member
Well, I have a question about German....Several years back, Volkswagen had a pretty successful advertising campaign here in the States built around the word, "Fahrvergnugen", or something similar-I'm SURE I misspelled it. Anyhow, its REAL meaning was never made clear-The ads always simply referred to the Joy of Driving a Volkswagen. The Germans I asked about all kinda got sheepish & evasive, like it was sort of a NAUGHTY word, or had less-than-wholesome meanings. Or was it just a word dreamed up by VW's marketing dept, & really meant NOTHING ?!?
Judas Priest
Super Member
I would translate Fahrvergnügen to driving pleasure, driving fun or joy of driving. Nothing dirty about the word.
GuyK
Addicted Member
I don't think it's neccessarily intuition so much as contextual. As one gains familiarity with the language recognizing context becomes easier, eventually becoming intuitive.