For Yourself's Reading Pleasure

[TheEarl]

Mong, though, I thought was a bastardized spelling of Hmong, of which there are many in Chicago.

Main Entry: Hmong
Pronunciation: 'm&[ng]
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural Hmong
Etymology: Hmong hmo[ng] (with high level tone), a self-designation
1 : a member of a mountain-dwelling people inhabiting southeastern China and the northern parts of Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand
2 : the language of the Hmong people

Mong comes from mongoloid, which is an offensive term for someone with Down's syndrome.

The Earl

 

[Norajane]

Or perhaps the person in question knew that those things weren't fit to be called "bread", and so used "bread items" to avoid being accused of lying to the customer?

Like I've heard that in the US, you can't claim to sell "coffee" out of the automatic vending machines; you have to call it "dark brew with whiteish stuff in it", or you'll get sued for false marketing.

I've never heard flight attendants offer bread items, but it's actually an apt term. I've been offered baskets that can include rolls, croissants, bread sticks, crackers, etc.

 

[SeaCat]

here now, and I always thought WOG came from Worthy hOnorable Gentlmen.

Cat

 

[shereads]

I am only aware of certain sets of words in British English, Strine, French, Andalusian Spanish, German, Catalan and Moroccan Arabic. I am acquiring a few words in Tigrayan to add to the collection. I can't spell most of those that are not English, Strine or French but I can SAY them with emphasis.

Oh, give us one or two good ones. Phonetic spelling will do nicely.

 

[shereads]

Or perhaps the person in question knew that those things weren't fit to be called "bread", and so used "bread items" to avoid being accused of lying to the customer?

Like I've heard that in the US, you can't claim to sell "coffee" out of the automatic vending machines; you have to call it "dark brew with whiteish stuff in it", or you'll get sued for false marketing.

We have Processsed Cheese Food. Best eaten with a bread item.

 

[TheEarl]

Re: the English tendency to lead foreigners astray

Oh, give us one or two good ones. Phonetic spelling will do nicely.

Why am I worried that "You flaming galaah!" will come out when he gives a Strine example?

The Earl

 

[Aurora Black]

PS. For other languages I have to consult my daughters. I know one is fluently obscene in Brazilian...

Otherwise known as Portuguese?

 

[oggbashan]

Otherwise known as Portuguese?

I know that Portuguese is spoken in Brazil. I am not sure that the invective she knows would be recognised or acknowledged by Portuguese speakers as part of their language.

She spent some months working as a trainee doctor in the slums of Rio. The language of Rio's slums does not SOUND like Portuguese... I wrote 'Brazilian' as a euphemism for the street slang.

Og

 

[Aurora Black]

I know that Portuguese is spoken in Brazil. I am not sure that the invective she knows would be recognised or acknowledged by Portuguese speakers as part of their language.

She spent some months working as a trainee doctor in the slums of Rio. The language of Rio's slums does not SOUND like Portuguese... I wrote 'Brazilian' as a euphemism for the street slang.

Og

Okay, I see.

Hmm, the slums of Rio. Damn, Og. Just from explaining that, you made me want to rent out "Wild Orchid" and watch some exotic sex! You are dangerous.

 

[oggbashan]

Okay, I see.

Hmm, the slums of Rio. Damn, Og. Just from explaining that, you made me want to rent out "Wild Orchid" and watch some exotic sex! You are dangerous.

Imagine what I felt as a father when she announced what she was going to do. She is our youngest daughter.

My elder brother had a similar experience. His elder daughter went to Colombia to teach Mathematics to the children of the Drug Barons.

Both women had to work surrounded by armed guards. My daughter had to change guards when moving from one slum to another. The changeover was the most dangerous part of her day as the guards were enemies at the boundary of their turf.

I should have known that my daughter could look after herself. She went on safari to Africa making her own way to meet up with the tour in a remote part of Zimbabwe. A young lion approached too close to her group. My daughter hit it on the head with her telephoto lens until it walked away in disgust. The lens was part of a Russian camera kit I had lent her because everything worked mechanically without batteries. The lens barrel is dented but the lens still works. What the lion thought? I don't know.

Og

 

[Aurora Black]

Imagine what I felt as a father when she announced what she was going to do. She is our youngest daughter.

My elder brother had a similar experience. His elder daughter went to Colombia to teach Mathematics to the children of the Drug Barons.

Both women had to work surrounded by armed guards. My daughter had to change guards when moving from one slum to another. The changeover was the most dangerous part of her day as the guards were enemies at the boundary of their turf.

I should have known that my daughter could look after herself. She went on safari to Africa making her own way to meet up with the tour in a remote part of Zimbabwe. A young lion approached too close to her group. My daughter hit it on the head with her telephoto lens until it walked away in disgust. The lens was part of a Russian camera kit I had lent her because everything worked mechanically without batteries. The lens barrel is dented but the lens still works. What the lion thought? I don't know.

Og

You and your family like to live dangerously, don't you? Wow!

 

[oggbashan]

You and your family like to live dangerously, don't you? Wow!

None of my extended family have been renowned for taking the easy way. One of my uncles, on a walking tour of the Black Forest in late 1930s Germany, was rude to a group of Nazi Blackshirts by singing an obscene version of the Horst Wessell song. He had to run for his life, still clutching his guitar...

A US equivalent would have been mocking a Klu Klux Klan rally...

Og

 

[Aurora Black]

None of my extended family have been renowned for taking the easy way. One of my uncles, on a walking tour of the Black Forest in late 1930s Germany, was rude to a group of Nazi Blackshirts by singing an obscene version of the Horst Wessell song. He had to run for his life, still clutching his guitar...

A US equivalent would have been mocking a Klu Klux Klan rally...

Og

You all should get together and write a series of books about your experiences. Instant bestsellers, all of them!

 

[Guest]

You all should get together and write a series of books about your experiences. Instant bestsellers, all of them!

I have several times suggested strongly to Ogg that he write a family memoir. There is already a very interesting collection on this site via his posts. Not only are the stories interesting but he manages to include the human element, humor, wit, color, and all that stuff that makes for good writing.

Perdita

 

[MichelleLovesTo]

Just "seconding" the point that, in America, "beverage" is widely used in most places where liquids which quench your thirst are served.

I work with middleclass businessmen/women for a living, and the hell they DON'T want to be treated like royalty/Bill Gates. Most of them want serious bowing and scraping, cannot fathom why they ever have to accept a center seat on a plane when they -- of course -- should be immediately upgraded to first class. They don't know why they can't get the fanciest car on the rent-a-car lot, and why they can't have the most expensive hotel room in any given town. And I have, indeed, heard some rather fancy pronounciations of some pretty straightforward names.

 

[Guest]

Michelle, I look at your location and think it must make a difference. I live and work in a rather sophisticated city (San Francisco) and never hear anyone say beverage, vs. drink, glass of ___. I think it'd be laughed at and recognized for pretence.

Perdita

 

[MichelleLovesTo]

Michelle, I look at your location and think it must make a difference. I live and work in a rather sophisticated city (San Francisco) and never hear anyone say beverage, vs. drink, glass of ___. I think it'd be laughed at and recognized for pretence.

Perdita

I believe it might not be used in San Francisco, but I spent the majority of my life in the Detroit area. Okay, live in the sticks (quite happily) now, but didn't always. Beyond that, the Twin Cities are actually highly cultured -- I just happen to live in a small town with a ridiculous amount of bars per capita. And as to pretension, it's almost impossible to get a drink more complicated than a beer or whiskey in these parts.

Hmmm, thinking back, didn't you also spend a lot of time in the Detroit area, or am I confusing you with someone else? In verbal communication, it does tend to be drink/soda/pop, but most menus head the appropriate section of the menu with the "B" word.

As a silly aside, I do say "beverage" to my husband, but it's more as a joke. "Since you're going to the kitchen, might you bring back a beverage? My thirst needs quenching."

 

[Guest]

I believe it might not be used in San Francisco, but I spent the majority of my life in the Detroit area. Okay, live in the sticks (quite happily) now, but didn't always.

Hmmm, thinking back, didn't you also spend a lot of time in the Detroit area, or am I confusing you with someone else? In verbal communication, it does tend to be drink/soda/pop, but most menus head the appropriate section of the menu with the "B" word.

As a silly aside, I do say "beverage" to my husband, but it's more as a joke. "Since you're going to the kitchen, might you bring back a beverage? My thirst needs quenching."

Yes, I was born in Detroit, lived there til 1970 so our 'times' were very different I daresay. Would you believe me if I told you the Detroit of my youth was a cultural haven for me? only behind Chicago (they had a better art museum) and NYC .

Perdita

 

[Norajane]

Michelle, I look at your location and think it must make a difference. I live and work in a rather sophisticated city (San Francisco) and never hear anyone say beverage, vs. drink, glass of ___. I think it'd be laughed at and recognized for pretence.

Perdita

It may very well be a midwestern thing. I grew up in Chicago and I use the word beverage all the time - it's one of my favorites. Along with tasty. I like tasty, too.

 

[Guest]

Now that I see NoraJ's post, perhaps it's a generational thing. Marketing has certainly "evolved" since my youth (we never shopped on Sunday!). I don't recall the use of beverage in Detroit when I lived there, nor in Chicago (special weekend trips). I think of beverage as something 'the Sopranos' use when trying to appear sophisticated , either among their own or with outsiders.

Perdita

 

[MichelleLovesTo]

Yes, I was born in Detroit, lived there til 1970 so our 'times' were very different I daresay. Would you believe me if I told you the Detroit of my youth was a cultural haven for me? only behind Chicago (they had a better art museum) and NYC .

Perdita

Yes, I would believe you. In truth, I miss the DIA and Greektown.

My grandmother is from the small town I live in now, but she spent decades in the Detroit area. She went there during WWII, and worked in a tank factory. Of course, this was before both of our times, but she often talks about how beautiful Detroit used to be, and all the places she used to visit. I would have loved to see it back then.

 

[Guest]

Yes, I would believe you. In truth, I miss the DIA and Greektown.

My grandmother is from the small town I live in now, but she spent decades in the Detroit area. She went there during WWII, and worked in a tank factory. Of course, this was before both of our times, but she often talks about how beautiful Detroit used to be, and all the places she used to visit. I would have loved to see it back then.

I was born in 1946 so I think I must remember some of what your gran saw. I still blame the big car makers for killing the city by ignoring the influence of foreign compact cars. 'They' got away with murder.

One of my proudest moments was being invited to give a talk at the DIA in 1983 (on ballet of all things!) Yeah, Greektown... and the river... and Belle Isle summers...

Perdita

 

[Svenskaflicka]

None of my extended family have been renowned for taking the easy way. One of my uncles, on a walking tour of the Black Forest in late 1930s Germany, was rude to a group of Nazi Blackshirts by singing an obscene version of the Horst Wessell song. He had to run for his life, still clutching his guitar...

A US equivalent would have been mocking a Klu Klux Klan rally...

Og

*sings to the melody of The Bridge Over the River Kwai*

"Hitler - has only got on ball,
Goering - got two but very small,
Himmler - had got some similar,
but poor Goebbels - had no balls at all..!"

 

[oggbashan]

*sings to the melody of The Bridge Over the River Kwai*

"Hitler - has only got on ball,
Goering - got two but very small,
Himmler - had got some similar,
but poor Goebbels - had no balls at all..!"

You have the right idea, but my uncle made up his own obscene lyrics in German so that the storm troopers couldn't miss any nuance of his meaning.

A virtuoso performance but not exactly diplomatic.

Og

 

[Svenskaflicka]

You have the right idea, but my uncle made up his own obscene lyrics in German so that the storm troopers couldn't miss any nuance of his meaning.

A virtuoso performance but not exactly diplomatic.

Og

Have you heard about the comedian who lived in Germany durin the naxi-time? He was known for verbally pissing on the nazis, and then they took power, and that night, the theatre was full of nazis. The comedian went out on the stage, raised his hand, and the nazis thought "Ha! We GOT him! He has to cave in!" so they all stood up and raised their hands in that salute they do.

But... the comedian didn't take his hand down, he just stood there. The nazis sat down, confused and embarrassed. The comedian stood there, with his arm up, for a loooooooooooooooooooooooong time. Then he said: "this is how high my dog jumped this morning".

He was shot. But, as another comedian said, perhaps it was worth it, to live a life standing up.

I'm not sure I agree, though. My motto is "better to survive, so you can continue to fight the assholes."