Shireroth

All you fans of the German language, I'm trying to start a minor revolution. Which is strange, since I'm certainly not a fan of German. English has always had a neat habit of adopting, well, neat foreign words, and we have German words like "ersatz", "uber", "rucksack", "angst", and a couple more.

Trying to find a neat and unambiguous synonym for the spatial variant of "aside", I came up pretty much empty-handed, and this made me quite cross. German has a wonderful little word - that doesn't even look overly German, simply because it is rather similar to the already adopted "abseilen" - which, I frankly find sounds wonderful when used in that context: "abseits".

So, instead of saying, "Buildings aside from the main road", which sounds utterly bizarre if not downright wrong and/or convoluted, and without having to get as condensed as "Outlying buildings", I'm henceforth using, "Buildings abseits of the main road".

Join me-e-e-e!

So... um... this would mean "buildings *not* by the main road"... or buildings close to the main road but not by it... or? I'm confused

Ari Rahikkala wrote:So... um... this would mean "buildings *not* by the main road"... or buildings close to the main road but not by it... or? I'm confused

Egads, and this is why I think this word's desperately needed. It's a very specific spatial relation - nearby, but not nearby enough to be counted as belonging to something. E.g. the buildings in an alley branching off from a main road would be "abseits" of that main road.

I'm not really sure that particular word is likely to gain much of a following. It still seems too "foreign" to these English-accustomed ears. But perhaps you would know of another word which is missing in English. The set-up: One can say "raise" or "lower," but there doesn't seem to be a word that means to move rightward or leftward (I already know one can advance or retreat--going forward or backward). The closest seems to be "sidle," but that leaves the direction ambiguous, and seems to describe someone moving like a crab. Does German (or any other language you know of) have such a word? And would it be pronounceable to most English-speakers?

I'm with you on this one.
As someone learning Yiddish I can certainly say that the language has so many words which simply don't have direct translations in English. After all, where would we be without the glories of words such as tzaddick, klutz, and chutzpah?

hypatias mom wrote:Does German (or any other language you know of) have such a word? And would it be pronounceable to most English-speakers?

Well, German pretty much has every word that's somehow conceivable (at least, this is my bet), but very few of them are pretty in the way you're hoping for. As in, you noticed yourself that you could say "sidle left" or "sidle right" - German would just point-blank say (the German equivalent of) "leftsidle" and "rightsidle", that's the creativity of the German language for you. Actual proper words that aren't a glaringly obvious combination of others I can't offer off-hand, and I suppose they don't exist; but I wouldn't know how to look for them, either.

Maksym Hadjimehmetov wrote:I'm with you on this one.
As someone learning Yiddish I can certainly say that the language has so many words which simply don't have direct translations in English. After all, where would we be without the glories of words such as tzaddick, klutz, and chutzpah?

Ooh. *pokes* What do they mean? *excitement*

I don't know the first one, but klutz refers to someone who is tremendously clumsy, seemingly falling over his own feet or unable to move smoothly through normal motions. Chutzpah is closest to the English word gall--an overwhelming pride or self-importance to the extent that no one else's interests, life, position or thoughts could possibly be as important as that person's--think Satan when he said he would ascend above God.

hypatias mom wrote:I don't know the first one, but klutz refers to someone who is tremendously clumsy, seemingly falling over his own feet or unable to move smoothly through normal motions.

I knew klutz, actually. But the chutzpah one is new to me. Very cool. Thank you for explaining it! <3

A tzaddick is a learned old gentleman, usually a very scholarly and respected figure in society- though it's probably one of the less common Yiddish loan-words. Generally, I think Yiddish loan words are probably more common in U.S English due to the larger number of Ashkenazi Jewish emigrees there during the 19th century and early 20th century.
Chutzpah can mean 'gall', but it also has the sense of the expression 'he's got guts', as in, someone can have 'chutzpah' if they undertake a risky task, but then again they may be doing so to show off (as the 'gall' aspect of the word would show).

Well, German pretty much has every word that's somehow conceivable

That's the thing I love about German- the fact that so many words are just run together and literally are just words added together does make it incredibly versatile, I suppose. Then again, it doesn't have the glory of words like toska in Russian- quite simply, untranslatable unless you can be bothered to go to Russia and understand the Russian psyche

Thanks for explaining those! Really interesting words. *decides to make use of them at next opportunity*

Maksym Hadjimehmetov wrote:Then again, it doesn't have the glory of words like toska in Russian- quite simply, untranslatable unless you can be bothered to go to Russia and understand the Russian psyche

...ooh, you tease! *shakes fist at* Untranslatable? *roars!* *sulks in a corner* >.>

Ich verstehe auch nicht was 'Toska' bedeutet. Wahrscheinlich etwas ganz traurig und dramatisch- echt Russisch!

Oh, good, then at least we can suffer together.

So someone here knows Yiddish, or understands some common words...what does schmutzing your schmegegie mean?

umm... the building Next to the road? The buildings near to the road, the building in proximity to the road? Tangent is always a fun word.. with nice geometric aspects... the building off the road...

...what does schmutzing your schmegegie mean?

Something obscene, by the sounds of it...
Nah, I don't speak Yiddish fluently. I can read it when written in the adapted Hebrew Script but I'm only learning it.