Re: A new translation exercise (was: lexicons)
| From: | Adam Walker <dreamertwo@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Saturday, April 3, 1999, 2:00 |
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>From: Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
>Irina Rempt wrote:
>> > Ohoe.
>> > not-like-and-decide-for-other-thing
>>
>> Very succinct. Is there any other language that expresses this with
>> a single word?
>
>Well, polyagglutinative languages probably do. :-) But I suppose you
>mean "a single morpheme", yes? I can't think of any, but I wouldn't be
>surprised. There are words in some languages that require dozens of
>words in another to explain.
>
My own personal favorite, which the _Guiness Book of World Records_
lists as "the succinct word," is _mamihlapinatapei_ which it defines as
"looking at each other hoping that either will offer to do something
which both parties desire but are unwilling to do." Or as the old song
says, "I was looking back to see if you were looking back to see if I
was looking back to see if you were looking back at me."
Adam Walker
>--
>"It's bad manners to talk about ropes in the house of a man whose
father
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