Dictionaries and the Development of the English language Did you know that the word “nice” originally meant “stupid”? Or that “decimate” used to mean “to kill one in every 10”? The development of the English language keeps evolving , and we don’t even realize it. Anne Curzan, professor of English at the University of Michigan, studies how the English language works and how it has changed over time. In her TED Talk, she explains how various words have developed and what makes a word “real”. People usually think a word is real when it appears in the dictionary. However, most slang words don’t, even though they fill important gaps in the English language. Curzan notes that dictionaries are not timeless since words and languages change all the time. For example, if you wanted to write a business letter, would you use a dictionary from 1910? Probably not. You would use a recent dictionary. And why? Because we usually don’t use the terms any more that have been used 100 years ago, since language is constantly developing. Languages back then Curzan gives interesting examples during her speech. In 1875, Dean Henry Alford said that “desirability” is a terrible word. In 1760, Benjamin Franklin complained about the word “colonize”. However, today, these words appear in every dictionary and no one doubts their validity. Many words develop from other languages as well. In Germany for example, people use a lot of English loan words and sometimes mix both the German and English language to create new ones. These words may sound English, but English native speaker wouldn’t understand them. “Handy” is the...
Richmond’s Chinese and English population Richmond, located south of Vancouver, has grown into a modern and multicultural city. Its population of 213,000 people makes it the fourth largest city in B.C; and with an immigrant population of 60 percent, it has the highest in Canada. Over the years, Richmond has become a dynamic and multi-ethnic community, and 50 percent of its residents are Chinese. After World War II, large numbers of Asian immigrants from China and Hong Kong settled there and today many Chinese and English speakers call Richmond home. Advertisement signs in both languages In Richmond, there is advertising in both Chinese and English. Recently a huge debate has arisen regarding Chinese only advertisement signs, and whether or not they should be banned. This debate was sparked by Budweiser’s January 2016 advertisement of their beer in Chinese, with only a few words appearing in English. The Richmond city council voted against banning signs that are only in Chinese, but advised that at least 50 percent of advertisement signs should be in English. The Translink bus advertisement in Chinese which was not well received either. This debate has led to misunderstandings, since some residents think that Chinese people do not respect the English language community. However, this doesn’t hold water in the above case, since Budweiser is an American company, not a Chinese one. Furthermore, the problem is not as extensive as it seems since, in fact, less than five percent of advertising signs in Richmond are in Chinese only. Most of these businesses do not even realize that they are deterring business from English speakers. Advertisement in Chinese...
Cool Sports For the Olympics Every two years the Olympics come and an assortment of exciting and classic sports are spectated by millions. The most common of which include the well-known sports like Hockey, Soccer, Basketball, Swimming, Track and Field, etc. There are several sports around the globe that go unrecognised at the Olympic Games though, and there are five in particular I think would be awesome to implement in future games to amp the excitement up! Foosball (or Table Soccer, whatever you people call it) When I was a kid foosball was one of the most fun games I had ever played. It got extremely competitive between me and my friends and relatives, and I think it could have a place at the Olympic level. Just picture it like Tennis. There could be men and women’s singles matches, as well as doubles. I think it could do very well and be extremely popular. Dodgeball One of the best games ever invented? I think so! I have unleashed my wrath against my classmates so many times in dodgeball and I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who DOESN’T enjoy it. Throwing a ball as hard as you can at other people in order to win, how can you beat that!? Paintball A simulation to prepare soldiers for battle, this game is extremely tactical, strategic, and requires a huge amount of precision, skill and athleticism. Combining several exciting elements into one crazy sport, Paintball would be a great addition to the Olympic Games and would provide a very fast paced and exciting sport for spectators to watch. Sepak...
Inspirational Message Translation into Italian, French, Japanese, Slovak, Russian and Czech. Dear friends, one of the greatest inhibitors of success is fear. Fear of success is rampant in our society, and it prevents many people from achieving greatness. Only when your desire to be successful outweighs that of your fear of rejection and failure, can you truly achieve success. You will fail over and over before you finally succeed, and it is imperative that you take on the risk of failure with open arms because only by embracing failure can you truly win in life. Today’s inspirational quote is here to help you achieve success. Let’s inspire and support each other. Let’s share this motivating positive message with everybody. We are always happy to send your translations of the positive messages we prepare for you. Inspirational Quote in English: Don’t worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try. – Jack Canfield Inspirational Quote Translation into Italian: Non preoccuparti dei fallimenti, preoccupati invece delle opportunità che perdi quando non ci provi nemmeno. – Jack Canfield Inspirational Quote Translation into French: Ne t’inquiète pas de l’échec, inquiète-toi des chances que tu manques lorsque tu n’essaies même pas. – Jack Canfield Inspirational Quote Translation into Japanese: 失敗を恐れる必要はない。恐れる必要があるのは、やりもしな いで逃がしてしまうチャンスのほうである。－ジャッ ク・キャンフィールド – Jack Canfield Inspirational Quote Translation into Slovak: Netrápte sa nad neúspechom, ale nad šancami uspieť, ktoré ste nevyužili. – Jack Canfield Inspirational Quote Translation into Russian: Не переживайте насчет неудач, переживайте о шансах, которые вы упускаете, потому что даже не пытаетесь достичь успеха. – Jack Canfield Inspirational Quote Translation into Czech: Nebojte se neúspěchu, starejte se o šance, které zmeškáte,...
Italian Food As An Important Trait of the Culture Food is one of the most distinctive traits of a culture. Each cuisine has its own local specific ingredients and flavors to mark its identity. However, in the interpretation of foreign dishes to fit in with the local cuisine, mistranslation happens. Today I would like to give you a quick insight into Italian food lost in translation. Ice-Cream Gelato is the Italian word for ice-cream. Therefore, being Italian myself, I was very confused when coming to Canada as I found out that the two are actually different. Apparently gelato indicates what I knew as such (soft, smooth and creamy) whereas ice-cream has a heavier and richer texture to it like Tim Horton’s ice cream. Prosciutto The same goes for ham and prosciutto (the Italian word for ham). Ham refers to the cooked ham known in Italy as prosciutto cotto. Prosciutto, on the other hand, refers to the dry-cured uncooked ham, called prosciutto crudo. Doing some research you will be able to find some more detailed and scientific descriptions of the differences. However, I learned at the expenses of my taste buds that the English-named product is, more often than not, the fatter and less refined version of its Italian food-named twin. Peperoni Is No Meat In Italy Totally misleading food-related words are also pepperoni (spelled peperoni). In Italy it has nothing to do with meat. It actually means bell peppers. In the same vein is latte, which translates into Italian simply as “milk” and doesn’t have any coffee in it. So if you go to Italy, ask for a caffè macchiato and...
Inspirational Quote Translation into Italian, French, Japanese, Slovak and Czech. Dear friends, Procrastination and laziness are prominent in society nowadays. Many people assume that if they just wait long enough then a golden opportunity will eventually present itself and then they will be set for life. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always work out that way. Life favors the proactive, and the success seekers. Take it upon yourself to make opportunities for yourself, and to go out of your way to put effort into opening doors of success for yourself, as opposed to waiting for others to do it for you. Let’s inspire and support each other. Let’s share this motivating positive message with everybody. We are always happy to send your translations of the positive messages we prepare for you. Don’t hesitate to contact us and send us more translations. You are amazing! Inspirational Quote in English: If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. – Milton Berle Inspirational Quote Translation into Italian: Se l’opportunità non bussa alla tua porta, costruiscine una. – Milton Berle Inspirational Quote Translation into French: Si l’opportunité ne frappe pas à ta porte, construis-en une. – Milton Berle Inspirational Quote Translation into Japanese: もし機会がノックしないなら、ドアを建てなさい。－ ミルトン・バール Inspirational Quote Translation into Czech: Pokud příležitost nezaklepe, postavte dveře. – Milton Berle Inspirational Quote Translation into Slovak: Ak príležitosť neklope, nastal čas kúpiť si dvere. – Milton...
