Comments on Magpie Musing: Foreign Phrases

Can't remember much of my high school Latin. Howe...

2009-11-08T20:19:19.917-05:00

Can't remember much of my high school Latin. However, I do remember that someone had written in the front of my Latin book (in English, of course):
Latin is a dead language
Buried in the dust.
First it killed the Romans,
Now it's killing us.

On va a la plage? That may not be the right spell...

2009-11-07T22:20:24.539-05:00

On va a la plage? That may not be the right spelling, but it's "Are we going to the beach?" in French. I've also still got "Il pleut" (It's raining) and "Il neige" (It's snowing). I think that's it. From 2 years of French. Nice.

I can swear like a sailor in Hungarian. My husban...

2009-11-07T06:57:57.984-05:00

I can swear like a sailor in Hungarian. My husband taught me.

I know crazy sentences from my Cambridge Latin Cou...

2009-11-05T21:20:46.569-05:00

I know crazy sentences from my Cambridge Latin Course:

novaculum habeo (I have a knife)

multus sanguis fluebat (much blood was flowing)

ancilla caecilium delectat (the slave girl pleased Caecilius)

I can say 'pillow' and 'egg' in five languages (En...

2009-11-04T17:25:36.594-05:00

I can say 'pillow' and 'egg' in five languages (English, French, German, Polish and Finnish). It doesn't really help with anything. I learned a bit of Berber in Morocco, but I've forgotten it (traumatic amnesia, probably).

Forgot to say....it's Finnish. T.

2009-11-04T14:33:30.839-05:00

Forgot to say....it's Finnish.

T.

I can say in Lithuanian, "Work is not a penis. It ...

2009-11-04T14:25:13.926-05:00

I can say in Lithuanian, "Work is not a penis. It waits."

Does semper ubi sub ubi count?

2009-11-04T13:58:36.685-05:00

Does semper ubi sub ubi count?

"Dui Niu Tan Qin." (literally means 'playing piano...

2009-11-04T12:02:48.253-05:00

"Dui Niu Tan Qin." (literally means 'playing piano to a cow') Which is used when you are talking to someone who has no feelings or whatsoever to whatever that you are saying. Or better phrased as 'talking to a dead person.'

"Tahton mansikkaa ja jaatelo." [I want strawberr...

2009-11-04T11:32:44.015-05:00

"Tahton mansikkaa ja jaatelo." [I want strawberries and ice cream.]

Found this very useful every time I went there.

T.

"Mazel-dic a kishkah" Yiddish for: You are lucky y...

2009-11-04T11:20:19.239-05:00

"Mazel-dic a kishkah" Yiddish for: You are lucky you made it home in time for dinner, you yutz. Now sit down & eat while I inspect how well you chew.

I recently went to Japan and OMG language shock......

2009-11-04T11:10:06.358-05:00

I recently went to Japan and OMG language shock....my husband had learned a few phrases...but still...OMG...I SO feel her pain.

I am french-canadian so I can offer a few French expressions!

"Vous êtes trops sympa!" - You are too kind

"On se lance au vin?" - Wanna get smashed drinking wine?

"Ou est la toilette?" - Where is

I know how to say "The eggplant is angry in Japane...

2009-11-04T09:52:15.461-05:00

I know how to say "The eggplant is angry in Japanese."

Do not ask why.

I love this, Magpie! I could write a whole respons...

2009-11-04T09:46:13.685-05:00

I love this, Magpie! I could write a whole response post. Except that I'm supposed to be working. So I'll give you the abbreviated version.

I know quite an array of useless phrases in other languages, though I have no idea how to write most of them. I can say:
"Maybe I love you" in Polish
"You are a dickhead" in Italian
"I speak a little

I know a bit of run of the mill Spanish, but that ...

2009-11-04T09:14:07.221-05:00

I know a bit of run of the mill Spanish, but that is all!

When we moved to Belgium I knew only one thing in ...

2009-11-04T07:11:47.679-05:00

When we moved to Belgium I knew only one thing in Dutch and I taught it to the kids: Gouden Gids. That's Dutch for Yellow Pages - very useful.

Pogue Mahone - spelled wrong. Essentially, Kiss My...

2009-11-04T05:09:13.096-05:00

Pogue Mahone - spelled wrong. Essentially, Kiss My Ass in Gaelic

I used to know how to say "prostitute" in several ...

2009-11-03T23:49:30.705-05:00

I used to know how to say "prostitute" in several languages.

Pourqoui la cravate et elle dans the poche de Jean...

2009-11-03T23:29:23.619-05:00

Pourqoui la cravate et elle dans the poche de Jean-Paul?

(Parse que, la cravate est l'idee de la mere de Jean-Paul, et la mere de Jean-Paul ne'est pas ici.)

All the spanish I currently know I learned from Do...

2009-11-03T23:01:52.804-05:00

All the spanish I currently know I learned from Dora (all the spanish I learned in college, I've forgotten). And I barely remember a syllable of the french I took in high school! I do know some of the French national anthem, though...

"oont" means camel in Hindi

2009-11-03T22:17:44.976-05:00

"oont" means camel in Hindi

"Have you anything cheaper?" in Swedish.

2009-11-03T21:45:43.338-05:00

"Have you anything cheaper?" in Swedish.

este queijo tem muito molde! which is Portuguese ...

2009-11-03T21:39:12.672-05:00

este queijo tem muito molde!

which is Portuguese for "This cheese has a lot of mold!"

And (again) I still remember the trousers and unde...

2009-11-03T19:17:43.587-05:00

And (again) I still remember the trousers and underpants line. Truth be told, it might have helped things along with the immigration police...

And I'm pretty sure I taught him the Ferrari line....

2009-11-03T19:16:05.833-05:00

And I'm pretty sure I taught him the Ferrari line. I learned it in Italian 101.