Re: OT: verboten WAS: Insider #59: IDS Express
Off-topic discussion started by Art Kagel's remark that English is an unexpressive language. Ian Wilson countered with English literary greats and noted the Oxford dictionary lists 'verboten' as English. Art said Yiddish words like Oi! have more expressive power; Neil Truby offered Australian slang examples. try_and_err thanked Ian for the link. No Informix content.
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Art S. Kagel wrote: > English is such an unexpressive language. I just found verboten to be stronger than the > appropriate English word which I guess would have been 'restricted' and > 'forbidden' has a different connotation. Blimey, when I read "English is such an unexpressive language" I felt so gobsmacked, you could have knocked me down with a feather. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton and Churchill must be spinning in their graves! Anyway, The main authority on the English language says "verboten" is a part of it. So, Art, you *are* expressing yourself in English! http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/verboten verboten /verbot'n/ ' adjective forbidden by an authority. ' ORIGIN German.
Ian Wilson wrote: > Art S. Kagel wrote: > >> English is such an unexpressive language. I just found verboten to be >> stronger than the appropriate English word which I guess would have >> been 'restricted' and 'forbidden' has a different connotation. > > > Blimey, when I read "English is such an unexpressive language" I felt so > gobsmacked, you could have knocked me down with a feather. Chaucer, > Shakespeare, Milton and Churchill must be spinning in their graves! No, Shakespeare, etc. were wonderfully expressive writers. The difference is that in an expressive language like Yiddish, Chinese, or Russian anyone can be expressive. Face it there's just no English word with the expressive power of the single Yiddish Oi! or Shlemeil! I could write pages on the connotative content in either of those words if I had to write it in English. Art S. Kagel > Anyway, The main authority on the English language says "verboten" is a > part of it. So, Art, you *are* expressing yourself in English! > > http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/verboten > > verboten > > /verbot'n/ > > ' adjective forbidden by an authority. > > ' ORIGIN German.
"Art S. Kagel" <kagel@bloomberg.net> wrote in message news:42A8A679.4090709@bloomberg.net... > Ian Wilson wrote: >> Art S. Kagel wrote: >> > No, Shakespeare, etc. were wonderfully expressive writers. The difference > is that in an expressive language like Yiddish, Chinese, or Russian anyone > can be expressive. Face it there's just no English word with the > expressive power of the single Yiddish Oi! or Shlemeil! I could write > pages on the connotative content in either of those words if I had to > write it in English. Similarly with Australian English. I've never really been able to define adequately the complexity of the metaphoric (rather than literal!) meaning of the Australian adjective "daggy" (as in "Maria, why are you wearing such daggy shoes with that suit?"). When I lived in Australia the federal (or was it state?) government ran a poster campaign encouraging citizens to report social security cheats to the authorities under the slogan "Dob in a Bludger". No-one can match Australians for irreverence and informailty, even by officialdom!
Peace. Thanks for your link, that's a good explanation (also for possible future question). Regards, try_and_err Ian Wilson schrieb: > Art S. Kagel wrote: > > English is such an unexpressive language. I just found verboten to be stronger than the > > appropriate English word which I guess would have been 'restricted' and > > 'forbidden' has a different connotation. > > Blimey, when I read "English is such an unexpressive language" I felt so > gobsmacked, you could have knocked me down with a feather. Chaucer, > Shakespeare, Milton and Churchill must be spinning in their graves! > > Anyway, The main authority on the English language says "verboten" is a > part of it. So, Art, you *are* expressing yourself in English! > > http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/verboten > > verboten > > /verbot'n/ > > · adjective forbidden by an authority. > > - ORIGIN German.