Re: CHAT: False friends - echos from the mother tounge

Christophe wrote:

En réponse à Harald Stoiber :
>>So, my question is: What do you think? How do you handle such cases?
>I usually ignore them. (snip) Why should you forbid combinations of sounds
because they make a dirty word in a language those people could *never*
have heard about? Internally speaking, this is nonsense. And anyway, even
with neighbouring languages *here*, such coincidences already happen, so
why bother?

I couldn't agree more.  English speakers have no trouble with "satin" and
"sit-in".  "Siegfrieds Rheinfahrt" may elicit a smirk from schoolkids but so
what?

>Now, in Maggel I do differently. Since humour is a big part in the
construction of the language, such coincidences are *more* than welcome!!

Vive le/la Maggel.  I stole "mojo" for Kash _moco_ 'plant spp. sim. to
Capsicum (peppers)'.  Not yet in the dictionary is _kembrit_ 'small
amphibious animal spp.' <
Kermit.

John Cowan also wrote:
 >Anyhow, the Chevrolet Nova has always sold
very well in Mexico:  Mexicans aren't idiots.

Es verdad.  I owned a Nova from 72-77 and it was an excellent, problem-free
car. Not bad looking either, though perhaps not as butch as a Camaro....GM
just didn't bother advertising them so of course they didn't sell well and
were discontinued. (Just like the Ford Escort, which I now own.)  In 73 or
74, on a drive from Ann Arbor to Madison Wis.-- this was during the first
oil crisis, and the 55mph limit was not only being enforced but observed-- I
got 40+ miles to the gallon.  Even later, at higher speeds, I got 30+ mpg,
unheard of in those days except for VWs and the Japanese. But I guess we
don't have to worry about another oil crisis _now_  :-((