Is English a bastardised German?

Guest   Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:52 pm GMT
<<"ok so you can get a life now and get over that">>

Genetd, Dude, you're my new best Friend! I LOVE you!

You're a cool French dude. You make *me* wanna start talkin' French (but your kind of French).

For the above, I would have simply said: " ok, so now get a life and get over it" <OR> "so get over it and get a life"


fyi
greg just comes here to hide from reality. reality however, is slowly creeping in on him here too. sad actually :(
but we still claim him :)
Guest   Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:54 pm GMT
<<Perhaps you could enlighten us by translating some of Greg's posts from "booked up" French to "real life" French? >>

so Genetd, how about it?
I would love to see some of it too
Guest   Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:17 pm GMT
<<donc pour se faire comprendre de lui le mieux est de tourner les phrases de la façon la plus claire qui soit. >>

Even better would be to respond in English :)
Guest   Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:11 pm GMT
>>What "grammar" for God's sakes? Modern English HAS PRACTICALLY NO GRAMMAR!<<

I am agreeing the English has not grammar, only you do must put the words with right order, it then not is possible making any mistake!!!
guest   Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:26 pm GMT
<<only you do must put the words with right order>>

uh, that *IS* grammar.

I cannot believe speakers of other tongues when they say that because English doesn't inflect for everything under the sun, that it has no grammar. unsinth (nonsense).
Guest   Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:34 pm GMT
<<uh, that *IS* grammar.

I cannot believe speakers of other tongues when they say that because English doesn't inflect for everything under the sun, that it has no grammar. unsinth (nonsense).>>

Well, every other language on earth also has this level of "grammar", you dork. That is why English grammar is the silliest of all, along with ultra-analytic language like Chinese.
Herman Toothrot   Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:07 am GMT
"unsinth (nonsense)"

compare German: "Unsinn" - nonsense
It seems some people want English to be like German so badly.
guest   Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:08 pm GMT
<<Well, every other language on earth also has this level of "grammar", you dork. That is why English grammar is the silliest of all, along with ultra-analytic language like Chinese. >>

Yeah, but we DO--along with sentence structure--have inflections. About as many as Scandinavian roards (languages)--do they also have no "grammar" (inflections)?

grammar = rules for writing/speaking, like:

a - an distinction
-s/-es on third person indicative verbs
-'s/-s' for possession
-s/-es for plural
-ed for past tense
-ing for progressive
etc

where's the No Grammar? So now 'reduced inflections' = 'no grammar'. brilliant.
guest   Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:10 pm GMT
also

my - mine distinction
that/which/who distinction
rules wolding (governing) complex verbal tenses

GRAMMAR.

it doesn't always have to be inflections.
Guest   Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:14 pm GMT
<<compare German: "Unsinn" - nonsense
It seems some people want English to be like German so badly. >>

unsinth may appear like German Unsinn, but it is English (Old English un- + sinnan - to feel, sense, care for + -th)
Guest   Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:16 am GMT
<<unsinth may appear like German Unsinn, but it is English>>

No, it's *not* English. It's just made up!
guest   Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:36 pm GMT
<<No, it's *not* English. It's just made up! >>

OH, like "TELEPHONE"?

or perhaps like "UNIT"?

it's English. it's called "A NEOLOGISM" hmMM??
Guest   Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:49 pm GMT
<<
The thing with English's core vocabulary, really, is that it is near equivalent in size to the total vocabulary for most, if not all, other languages--approximately the same size as the entire French or Spanish lexicon.

Therefore, English core vocabulary is in fact a Complete Language Vocabulary in its own right. Anything above and beyond it, like Latinate words, is not real Cake. It's just icing :)>>


Then lets STOP using latinate words altogether, and replace them with anglo-saxon equivalents. If the anglo-saxon component of our vocabulary is really that extensive, it shouldn't be that difficult.

too much icing makes bad cake.
Guest   Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:05 am GMT
I propose that we do not cease using Latinate words. Even if persons like you decide to act in such a manner, there will eternally be persons like myself who will never cease to use Latinate linguistic units, so your efforts will be in vain. In any case, it is persons of my calibre who dictate the development of a language in its purest academic form. I have 14 publications to my name, and I have composed several tomes, so I do consider my linguistic habits will be quite influential, and I always use Latinates.
Guest   Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:22 am GMT
<<In any case, it is persons of my calibre who dictate the development of a language in its purest academic form.>>


I hate most 'academic' writing because of people like you. Its all full of flowery vauge language (80% french origin words), but no substance whatsoever.

Why even bother writing in english?? You should all just go ahead and write in french, and save yourself the trouble.