Main      Site Guide    
Message Forum
Re: Hard-to-understand languages (was: Reader Poll #478: Dance)
Posted By: commie_bat, on host 207.35.236.194
Date: Wednesday, November 10, 2004, at 10:38:12
In Reply To: Re: Reader Poll #478: Dance posted by Howard on Wednesday, November 10, 2004, at 10:28:39:

> >
> > I have no idea. "Faux Pas" is French.
> >
>
> So you are saying that French and Latin are different? They are both Greek to me.
> Howard

Of course they're different. French Canadians speak French and Latin Americans speak Latin. The geographical average of the two languages is English, of course, but that doesn't make them any easier to understand.

And the reason Greek is so hard to understand is because the Greeks sold half their alphabet to the Russians a few millennia ago. Because of the intricacies of the sale/license agreement, both alphabets are notoriously incomplete, making the language nearly impossible to learn in adulthood.

Incidentally, Portuguese is hard to understand for a related reason. If you pay attention, you'll see that continental Portuguese people only pronounce consonants, whereas Brazilians only pronounce vowels. It's a real time-saver if you already know the language, but if you want a good laugh you should take a Portuguese class with a native Spanish speaker.

^v^:)^v^
F"if you're getting any enjoyment out of these crackpot theories, I'm going to have to start charging you"B

Post a Reply

RinkChat Username:
Password:
Email: (optional)
Subject:
Message:
Link URL: (optional)
Link Title: (optional)

Make sure you read our message forum policy before posting.