Jamba Posted March 21, 2008 Posted March 21, 2008 Has anyone come across an instance where the english language just can't really express the meaning of something properly? Several times I have found myself going "Oh we need new words for this!" For instance: Love - I think that it's in italian that there are several words for love to help distinguish between family love, friends love, love making, love for something like a food. But we just get 1 word which is frequently misunderstood! Friends of the opposite sex - why isn't there a word for this huh? I have lots of friends who are girls and I get tired of having to say "my friend who's a girl" or "my female friend". Tis stupad! Other european languages can do it, why cant we!
MoogleViper Posted March 21, 2008 Posted March 21, 2008 Love - I think that it's in italian that there are several words for love to help distinguish between family love, friends love, love making, love for something like a food. But we just get 1 word which is frequently misunderstood! I don't know about italian but there are many words in greek. Friends of the opposite sex - why isn't there a word for this huh? I have lots of friends who are girls and I get tired of having to say "my friend who's a girl" or "my female friend". Tis stupad! Other european languages can do it, why cant we! Well you could also say that we don't have a word for friends of the same sex. It's just that people usually assume it's a same sex friend.
Fierce_LiNk Posted March 21, 2008 Posted March 21, 2008 The love thing gets on my nerves as well. How many times a day do you hear somebody say "I love that show!" or "bluddy love it!". Yet when you come to use it properly, it doesn't sound entirely like you feel it...if that makes sense. The word isn't good enough. I can't think of any other words right now, but I will no doubt be editing this post later with more.
Ashley Posted March 21, 2008 Posted March 21, 2008 That time of the night around 2-5am. Its not night, its not morning. Aparently theres a Spanish word for it but English, nah. Likewise do you refer to it as Friday or Saturday (if it were tonight or whatever)? Theres a linguistic theory (or theorum) that states synonymns like this (such as Innuits having lots of words for snow) is dependant upon the society, thus it could be suggested the English don't have much love :p
chairdriver Posted March 21, 2008 Posted March 21, 2008 I think there should be a gender-unspecific pronoun (aside from they/their). Take "They forgot their bag" as an example. In this instance the person in question isn't a group of people, so why do we use the plural pronoun? Also, you couldn't really say "He forgot his bag" because that would imply you knew it was a male that forgot the bag.
Jamba Posted March 21, 2008 Author Posted March 21, 2008 I think there should be a gender-unspecific pronoun (aside from they/their). Take "They forgot their bag" as an example. In this instance the person in question isn't a group of people, so why do we use the plural pronoun? Also, you couldn't really say "He forgot his bag" because that would imply you knew it was a male that forgot the bag. It forgot it's bag? :p
RoadKill Posted March 21, 2008 Posted March 21, 2008 I don't see what's wrong with just calling whoever it is a "friend", what does their gender matter, if you're introducing someone or whatever, what's wrong with "she's my friend" or some such? It doesn't suggest anything unusual or sexual..
Ramar Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 "bluddy love it!". Yet when you come to use it properly, it doesn't sound entirely like you feel it...if that makes sense. You've just ruined Kevin Keegan's life. He'd love it if they beat United!!
somme Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 That time of the night around 2-5am. 4AM + is morning, everything else is night. The tonation you use with the word love defines its meaning.
dwarf Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 In essays I always end up using the word 'That' umpteen times. The problem is THAT there is hardly any way of avoiding it. Ok I could've just said the last sentence without it but it sounds wrong.
Guest bluey Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 Love - I think that it's in italian that there are several words for love to help distinguish between family love, friends love, love making, love for something like a food. But we just get 1 word which is frequently misunderstood! j-j-j-jamba! i have the solution to all of your problems (and mine~)!! move to japan! here, we have like, 3 different ways of saying "i love you" as a lover, as a family member, as a friend... although my japanese isn't much better yet, maybe there are more...
nightwolf Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 I think japan has the right frame of mind haha. There should be another word for somebody who is of opposite sex yet a friend or family. I have to agree with the love comments as well, love is such an overrated one in the english language that it just doesn't mean anything to me personally anymore.
Kirkatronics Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 Has anyone come across an instance where the english language just can't really express the meaning of something properly? Several times I have found myself going "Oh we need new words for this!" For instance: Love - I think that it's in italian that there are several words for love to help distinguish between family love, friends love, love making, love for something like a food. But we just get 1 word which is frequently misunderstood! Friends of the opposite sex - why isn't there a word for this huh? I have lots of friends who are girls and I get tired of having to say "my friend who's a girl" or "my female friend". Tis stupad! Other european languages can do it, why cant we! I say friend no matter what their gender, if i call a male friend a friend then why should i not call a female friend the same?
Jamba Posted March 22, 2008 Author Posted March 22, 2008 I don't see what's wrong with just calling whoever it is a "friend", what does their gender matter, if you're introducing someone or whatever, what's wrong with "she's my friend" or some such? It doesn't suggest anything unusual or sexual.. I say friend no matter what their gender, if i call a male friend a friend then why should i not call a female friend the same? So you're telling me that you've never had a conversation where you are talking about a friend who's female, this being a vital to the point that you're putting across, and you talk about them doing something girly. Then every person you're with talks thinks that your friend is either gay or a tranny because they assumed that they're a guy? Not to mention if you're having a conversation about going for dinner with your friend, whether that friend is male or female has different inferences. @Ashley - You're right. That bit of the day does need clearing up. Would need to be a something very interesting sounding though otherwise it just wouldn't fit.
Dannyboy-the-Dane Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 In Danish, we have two terms for a friend of male and female gender, "ven" and "veninde", respectively. It's common in the northern European countries to add a suffix to words to imply that the person is female. Other examples are "sygeplejer" (male nurse) and "sygeplejerske" (female nurse). The suffixes "-inde" and "-ske" are very common in Danish, and the "-in-" part of the suffix are seen in other northern European languages, too, German being a good example ("Freund" and "Freundin", friend of male and female gender, respectively). Ironically, in German, "Freundin" often means "girlfriend", just like in English.
Kirkatronics Posted March 23, 2008 Posted March 23, 2008 So you're telling me that you've never had a conversation where you are talking about a friend who's female, this being a vital to the point that you're putting across, and you talk about them doing something girly. Then every person you're with talks thinks that your friend is either gay or a tranny because they assumed that they're a guy? Not to mention if you're having a conversation about going for dinner with your friend, whether that friend is male or female has different inferences. @Ashley - You're right. That bit of the day does need clearing up. Would need to be a something very interesting sounding though otherwise it just wouldn't fit. I always say my friend unless they ask.Like if i was gonna watch a cartoon movie which guys dont usually do often, theyd have to ask before id say a girl/female friend. Mostly because i seem to get questioned if im doing something with a girl..
EEVILMURRAY Posted March 24, 2008 Posted March 24, 2008 Friends of the opposite sex - why isn't there a word for this huh? I have lots of friends who are girls and I get tired of having to say "my friend who's a girl" or "my female friend". Tis stupad! Other european languages can do it, why cant we! I feel this to a degree. If one lets slip that one is a friend who, is female [male for the lasses] and you say "girlfriend" even though she hasn't been before [not neglecting future prospects] and it becomes a mighty confusion thereafter.
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