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Post by hwinpp on Jun 23, 2009 9:31:59 GMT
The NYT art critic might have been using the French pronunciation, Bixa...
Here I've noticed everybody using 'dude'. Not just Americans but English and Aussies as well. I thought that was something from the 70s until I came here.
The French have a percentage law, right? They haven't gone that far in Germany yet. I don't think they'd do it anyway.
And there are worse things than anglicisms in the German language.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2009 16:16:46 GMT
You are a kind person, HW, but I doubt that's the explanation. She writes in a folksy, dumbed-down style that is either condescending or is that way because gee whiz, it's all new to her, too. I suspect the latter, just as I suspect she must have the job because of nepotism or something. No wonder the NYTimes is in financial trouble.
Ha ha ~~ I wonder if "dude" is coming back into common usage because of the tv show Lost. One of the main characters was able to imbue that word with a variety of meanings.
What's a percentage law?
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Post by spindrift on Jun 23, 2009 16:30:40 GMT
Bless Wicked Sat (I was sat near him) Minga (ugly)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2009 19:05:18 GMT
"chill" and all of its permutations when used in the sense of "relax"'
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2009 19:20:51 GMT
heat index
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Post by spindrift on Jun 23, 2009 21:30:24 GMT
darl (darling)
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 24, 2009 1:51:39 GMT
What's a percentage law? I think there's a law in France that requires TV and radio stations to play a certain percentage of francophone programmes.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2009 4:41:00 GMT
Francophone content on the radio has to be at least 40%. For TV, I'm not sure what the percentage of French-origin programs is supposed to be.
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Post by spindrift on Jun 24, 2009 7:07:57 GMT
Shedloads
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Post by Don Cuevas on Jun 24, 2009 9:31:33 GMT
I'd like to know when "to die for" entered universal English. I think it used to be specific to urban NE United States, and now it's everywhere (except on my lips). "To die for" really is the pits. Another: "I'm Soooo (totally) over that." A grammatical ineptitude that has driven me nuts for many years is the word "goes" used in place of "says" and other, more acceptable synonyms. Example, "We were out last night, and she goes, 'That? I'm so totally over that.'" It's especially irritating when used in repeated succession. "I go, blah blah, and then he goes, yadda yadda...", ad nauseam.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Jun 24, 2009 9:34:56 GMT
Bixa goes, like; "chill" and all of its permutations when used in the sense of "relax"' Yeah. I just can't grok chilling on some tropical beach, I mean, like, it just doesn't work for me, dude. I think it's part of the Generation Gap.
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 24, 2009 9:46:07 GMT
Good one, Don!
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Post by Don Cuevas on Jun 24, 2009 13:25:56 GMT
<Don basks in a warm glow> ;D
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Post by Don Cuevas on Jun 24, 2009 13:27:06 GMT
"appies" - used in the same way as 'veggies" but for appetizers "Restos" for "restaurant".
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Post by Don Cuevas on Jun 24, 2009 13:30:33 GMT
Racist: a perfectly good, but unfortunately necessary word.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Jun 24, 2009 13:58:41 GMT
" über-", followed by a noun. Need I say any more?
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Post by spindrift on Jun 24, 2009 15:38:17 GMT
Yes...I HATE 'yada yada and blah blah'.
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Post by lagatta on Jun 24, 2009 19:45:59 GMT
Resto is perfectly normal in French as a short form for restaurant. Why shouldn't English borrow it?
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Post by imec on Jun 24, 2009 20:14:25 GMT
Racist: a perfectly good, but unfortunately necessary word. Yes, but too often used to describe simply boorish, insensitive or even genuinely innocent but ignorant behavior. Real racism is truly evil - and the misuse/overuse of the term simply diminishes its ability to adequately describe the horrors it represents.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Jun 25, 2009 0:16:20 GMT
Racist: a perfectly good, but unfortunately necessary word. Yes, but too often used to describe simply boorish, insensitive or even genuinely innocent but ignorant behavior. Real racism is truly evil - and the misuse/overuse of the term simply diminishes its ability to adequately describe the horrors it represents. Point well taken.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2009 1:48:51 GMT
closure
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2009 11:46:23 GMT
glad others concur (this one was one of the first listed,see P. 1) I read an interview with Phillip Roth years ago and he said that while he was teaching a writing course at Yale one summer, he automatically failed anyone using this word,rather pompous,but, I agreed wholeheartedly).
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Post by bazfaz on Jun 26, 2009 8:42:51 GMT
Eventually most of those expressions become stale and pass out of use.
Decades ago I worked in advertising and meetings used to be punctuated with remarks like: That's the way the cookie crumbles. That morphed into: Cookie-wise it crumbles like this. And remember: Let's run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes...
Mrs Faz says "user-friendly" a touch too often for my liking.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2009 11:02:25 GMT
plein air (suddenly ,everyone under the sun is painting plein air!)My new business card shall read "plein air gardening,artisanal plantings,environmentally friendly,cruelty free"
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 26, 2009 15:25:52 GMT
Eventually most of those expressions become stale and pass out of use. A much-needed ray of hope! I remember when I lived in California in the late 60s, everything was "heavy". This is simply not descriptive enough to cover an entire movie, book, personal experience, etc. Does anyone remember @15 or 20 years ago when no one was simply saying "no"? It was always, no-no-no-no-no and intensely irritating.
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Post by cigalechanta on Jun 26, 2009 20:42:47 GMT
cute and awesome. restos is common in France. I use it, the signs in Provence use it
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2009 20:54:05 GMT
plein air (suddenly ,everyone under the sun is painting plein air!)My new business card shall read "plein air gardening,artisanal plantings,environmentally friendly,cruelty free" That is dreadful... except in French, of course But on this side of the ocean we have to put up with new terms like 'fooding' (don't ask).
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Post by bazfaz on Jun 26, 2009 21:00:10 GMT
Cigale is soooooooooo right on. Awesome is awful.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2009 1:17:10 GMT
Ma'am
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 27, 2009 1:19:13 GMT
Ma'am ~~~ ??
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