Lars Henrik wrote:
>> Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 06:30:44 -0700
>> From: AcadonBot <acadon@...>
>
>> > From: "Lars Henrik Mathiesen" <thorinn@...>
>> > Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2000 5:06 AM
>>
>> Some are. Some seem "humorous" in English. But this is no longer English.
>> [...]
>> Reader's Digest often presents a kind of pablum, IMO.
>> Full of stereotypes. Unfortunate because widely read.
>
>And did I indicate that I believe anything else now? My point is that
>Kristian's phrases remind me of RD's 'jokes' --- and even if they are
>or have been correct TP, they appear on lists of quaint pidgin phrases
>exactly because they serve to confirm those horrible stereotypes.
-----<snip>-----
>> The word pikinini is standard for child, descendent -- also seed/fruit
>> So Prince Charles really is "pininini bilong kwin." No more humorous
>> than the religious terms cited.
>
>Yes, Prince Charles is the child of the Queen. But is 'pikinini namba
>wan bilong kwin' the only way to talk about him in TP? That was the
>original claim.
No, I did not claim that that was the only way to say it at all.
"Pikanini bilong Queen" is perfectly acceptable. Nor did I say
that the only way to say hair was "grass bilong hed" either. "Grass"
alone is perfectly acceptable too. I was just humouring over
how the other possibilities would look like. Its like saying one
other way of saying Prince Charles was saying "The Queen's first
born" which in TokPisin is indeed "Pikanini namba wan bilong
Queen" and is in my opinion a funny way of saying it. Same with
"hair" which apparently is homophonous with "grass" and which is
also quite funny. Its really really unfortunate that there are
stereotypes that have ruined the humour here.
>> > Why would TP borrow a word for grass before a word for hair?
>>
>> It's both.
>
>That the TP word for hair comes from English grass is only mildly
>interesting. Weirder things can be found in an English dictionary.
>
>What makes this 'hilarious' to some people is the implied claim that
>TP has no word for hair, and has to use the circumlocution gras bilong
>hed every time hair is mentioned.
There's that stereotyping thing again ruining the intended humour.
All stereotyping aside, you have to admit that homophony of grass
and hair in TokPisin is funny.
-kristian- 8)