[Jean Poitiers]

Like this?

Steve

I have a "Bill the Cat" SRL ... a FTb !!!

[tim60]

My favourite word which must be of German origin is 'stuff'. It is clearly not French, since the only English synonym is the French origin 'materiel'. The other evidence it is of German origin is that it is a single syllable and everyone, even teenagers, know what it means.

Another nice borrowing is 'tea', such a quintessentially English thing, over which they went to war at least once, where the word comes from Hokkien.

[THoog]

Of course, two of our most important words demonstrate the dual nature of English:

BACON: Middle English, from Anglo-French, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German bahho side of bacon, bah back — more at back: Middle English, from Old English bæc; akin to Old High German bah back, Old Norse bak

CHEESE: Middle English chese, from Old English cēse, from Latin caseus cheese

[savoche]

Coincidentally, I read this on the Beeb this morning:

Quote:

The English language has a nerve claiming to be Anglo-Saxon or a pure-breed of any sort. It’s a mishmash of dialects, languages and one-off words that come from several migrating nations—both into the British Isles and from the various nations Britain colonized—dating back to Roman times. And one of the largest influences on the development of modern-day English comes from the Vikings.

They came from Denmark, Sweden and Norway, partly to rob, partly to invade and settle, and the legacy of language they left behind remains indelibly marked in English dictionaries to this day. They even managed to secure two of the days of the week—Thursday – Thor’s Day and Tuesday – Tiw’s Day—although claims that Wednesday—Wodan’s Day—also counts are thought to be wide of the mark, as Wodan/Odin proves to have been a common figure in all Germanic and Norse mythology.

Here are 10 examples of words the Vikings taught us, whether we wanted them to or not:

There are more "gifts" from the old Norse to be found here: Wikipedia

Of course, gift being one of them

[savoche]

I can say it just fine, though it helps knowing what is means.

Most foreigners struggle with the "kj" sound. Actually, an increasing number of young Norwegians do, too. It's quite interesting to witness the ongoing change in the sound system of our language. The last time something like this happened with the Norwegian language was in the 15th century when the "th" sound went out of use. Before that time there was a difference between "tak" (grip, when you take hold of something) and "þak" (roof). In modern Norwegian we just have "tak" for both.

[clackers]

My favourite word which must be of German origin is 'stuff'.

From the Old French 'estoffe', apparently.

[stevebrot]

Most foreigners struggle with the "kj" sound.

Or how about that "false friend", the soft "K"?


Steve

[FantasticMrFox]

Try the German 'ch'.

[FantasticMrFox]

Anyway, German is beautiful language:

You Tube

You Tube

[stevebrot]

Try the German 'ch'.

It ain't like the "ch" in chicken


Steve

[Jean Poitiers]

Stole this one from an American FB friend ... a bit violent, but somewhat how I feel about the subject.

http://files.explosm.net/comics/Rob/selfie-stick2.gif

[THoog]

Selfies are more deadly than sharks.

Selfies Have Killed More People Than Sharks Have in 2015 | Digital Trends

[Parallax]

Selfies are more deadly than sharks.

Selfies Have Killed More People Than Sharks Have in 2015 | Digital Trends

It's interesting that 5 of the 12 were in Russia.
The moral of the story? Selfies are dumb. They're dumber if you're in Russia.

[THoog]

I would also want to see statistics on selfie-inflicted injuries, to see if it's just a matter of better post-selfie medical care.

I refuse to believe Russian selfie takers are dumber than American selfie takers. No one out-dumbs us! USA! USA! USA!

[Rupert]

This was a selfie shot by a squirrel using a self-timer on a Pentax.... he choked to death moments later.
No report on his nationality, but Otis say he did "look Russian"?



Regards!