River Cruising Water Cooler

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, Daisi said:

As for Quebecois, there is so much "slang" that is considered everyday ( oui being pronounced more like "way" than "we" , bonjour as "onn jour" instead of "bon joour") French, as well as the new words the Gov't. brought in because you can't use English words ("chein chaud" for "hot dog") that you basically can't call the two languages the same. Quebecois has stayed "old" while Parisienne French has evolved with time.

It does sound quite different to me, although I am not too familiar with French variations. Several years ago I roamed around our digital television stations and found a French one. Over a few days I tried to watch and understand but got little of what they were saying. Could not understand why until I realized that the station is in Canada. Until then I had never heard a Canadian speak French.

 

As you know, in Germany we have so many dialects and in them numerous variations. People in Cologne and Bonn have a similar way of speaking, but I prefer the "Bönnsch" which to me sounds softer. I may be biased because my father's father spoke Bönnsch. In linguistics there are typical sentences to show variations in dialect. One example. The sentence in English is: "In winter, the dry leaves are flying around in the air." In High (standard) German this is: "Im Winter fliegen die trockenen Blätter in der Luft herum." In Bönnsch this is: "Em Winte fleeje de drüjje Blaade en de Luff eröm." I cannot speak a dialect properly but my German is heavily coloured by my upbringing and I sound very "Rhenish" when I speak. Place me in Hamburg or Berlin or Munich and people can quickly tell that I come from somewhere between Speyer and Düsseldorf. And if they are familiar with my area they will place me within 50 km of where I was raised - or closer.

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, Daisi said:

the new words the Gov't. brought in because you can't use English words ("chein chaud" for "hot dog") that you basically can't call the two languages the same. Quebecois has stayed "old" while Parisienne French has evolved with time.

We were surprised that the stop signs in France say "stop."  Only in Quebec do they say "arrêt."  [I'm with the crazy poet lady in the Gamache mysteries who refused to pay at the bookstore because the sign said it was a Library...]

[RDVIK2016]

On 8/14/2023 at 3:35 PM, notamermaid said:

Austrian German has its own dictionary. The differences to standard German in Germany are sometimes big sometimes small. Anyway, the country has its own standardized dictionary. There is also a dictionary, and a bit more light-hearted it is, that helps you translate Germany German into Austria German. I got by in Vienna without it...

 

@RDVIK2016 We have talked about Heimat in the Rhine thread. I thought Edgar Reitz had retired from filming but I saw in the news last night that he has finished another project which is now being cut (edited). Edgar Reitz is 90 years old! Should you get to the Hunsrück on a land trip you could check out the museum opened last year in Simmern.

 

notamermaid

 

Hello Notameraid,  Thank you for this information, I am getting caught up tonight on my Cruise Critic reading and responding. You may see my response from and hour ago regarding the bombs found near Bingen where I mention a scene for the first Heimat series. 

 

On the other subject of the above comment:  I first learned German where Niederbayern borders the Oberpfalz, partially by a beginners correspondence course, but mostly directly from the local population. Prior to my time in Germany I had a year of intense instruction in Czech, so the combination of my American/Czech/Bavarian accent when speaking standard German used to make tough to guess where I am from, although it has been so long since I regularly spoke Czech and German that I my American accent is surely quite noticeable now.  The sentence I like to use to compare standard German with Boarisch is "Heute scheint die Sonne schon schön." vs. "Heit scheint d'Sun scho schee."

[Canal archive]

Sometimes it’s more the differences in tone and emphasis that causes the challenges in understanding my dad was renowned for pinpointing an area of Portsmouth someone was from by their intonation. Portsmouth is a small well populated island so if that has so many potential dialects think of the rest of the world - wow!

[CPT Trips]

On 8/16/2023 at 1:28 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

We were surprised that the stop signs in France say "stop."  Only in Quebec do they say "arrêt."  [I'm with the crazy poet lady in the Gamache mysteries who refused to pay at the bookstore because the sign said it was a Library...]

 

In Quebec you won’t find KFC, but you can find this guy at PFK . . . Poulet Frite Kentucky.
Dunkin’ and Subway, who knows 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[sharkster77]

On 8/16/2023 at 1:28 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

We were surprised that the stop signs in France say "stop."  Only in Quebec do they say "arrêt."  [I'm with the crazy poet lady in the Gamache mysteries who refused to pay at the bookstore because the sign said it was a Library...]

Another Armand Gamache fan.......nice!!!

[franski]

On 8/14/2023 at 6:33 PM, Kristelle said:

 

 

ah yes Australia has a few non standard meaning words too - the one that comes to mind is 'thongs' - meaning the footwear most of you call  flip- flops.

 

Ah...  but then in NZ they are referred to as "jandals"...  (footwear, not underwear!!)

[franski]

On 8/14/2023 at 2:47 PM, CPT Trips said:

Well, we need an American/American dictionary. 
soda - pop

hoagie - sub - grinder

spaghetti sauce - gravy

Never heard of the spaghetti sauce/gravy change - although I am aware of the others.

 

My first job out of college was in the US - and there were many linguistic challenges for me.  Working in health care, there were a lot of different terms, as well as pronunciation differences (moving to Arkansas may have contributed to that...).  My colleagues had quite a few laughs over the differences - especially over my inadvertent offering of an "eraser" during a class - when I used, as Canal Archive mentioned, the English colloquial term instead. 

 

Fran 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, franski said:

spaghetti sauce - gravy

You obviously don't have any (southern) Italian friends – or at any rate, none from The Bronx [the true center of Italian-American culture!]  The question at the dinner table is "do you want more gravy on your macaroni*?"

 

[*which can be any kind of pasta]

[Canal archive]

Ohh yuk!

My mum was a Wren in Portsmouth during WW2 - that’s how she met my dad, that’s another story. She and friends met some American GIs one evening I believe from the New York area, (as you do!) and one taught her this little ditty, a bit difficult to interpret with predictive text but here goes. Der were tirty tre lil brds sitin on a kirb burpin and chirpin and chewin wirms girty sees the lil birds and was grtly perturbed. Why this was shared I really do not know but but Mum taught it to me and all these years later I still remember it. There’s a repeat in there somewhere I know but I’ve never been to New York so who knows.

[CPT Trips]

 

10 hours ago, franski said:

Ah...  but then in NZ they are referred to as "jandals"...  (footwear, not underwear!!)

 

Our final documents for an upcoming trip contains a 2 1/2 page translation guide.
 

[notamermaid]

Interesting words. We sometimes use Bitumen as the word for tar, i.e. on a road or on a roof. The middle of nowhere is "in der Pampa", a place that is somewhere either barren or far off or boring or deserted, often a mix of all those choices. A standard German word would be Einöde for a really deserted place

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

9 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Ohh yuk!

My mum was a Wren in Portsmouth during WW2 - that’s how she met my dad, that’s another story. She and friends met some American GIs one evening I believe from the New York area, (as you do!) and one taught her this little ditty, a bit difficult to interpret with predictive text but here goes. Der were tirty tre lil brds sitin on a kirb burpin and chirpin and chewin wirms girty sees the lil birds and was grtly perturbed. Why this was shared I really do not know but but Mum taught it to me and all these years later I still remember it. There’s a repeat in there somewhere I know but I’ve never been to New York so who knows.

Maybe an attempt to transcribe the Bronx accent?  In Brooklynese it would be "toity boids"

[Canal archive]

Exactly got it in one I’ve never seen it transcribed but I think this is it in English.

There were thirty three little birds sitting on a kerb burping and chirping and chewing worms when along came Dirty Girty from the gasworks see’s the thirty three little birds sitting on the kerb burping and chirping and chewing worms and was greatly perturbed.

 

All course absolute nonsense or is it?

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Canal archive said:

All course absolute nonsense or is it?

I’m sure a postmodern deconstructionist philosopher could make a PhD thesis out of it!  🤣

[capriccio]

On 8/19/2023 at 1:38 AM, Host Jazzbeau said:

You obviously don't have any (southern) Italian friends – or at any rate, none from The Bronx [the true center of Italian-American culture!]  The question at the dinner table is "do you want more gravy on your macaroni*?"

 

[*which can be any kind of pasta]

True for those from Brooklyn too!  

[Daisi]

Tirty tre sounds more like a take off of French trying English, even now, I have trouble saying my “h”’s.  This would come out more like “dirty tre”, especially if I’ve had a few beers. 🙂

[Daisi]

Help please... I am trying to get ready to do a "live" review of our up coming cruise and can't seem to figure out how to write it up, and then open the file here. I have Google Docs, but that seems to want me to download the file when I upload it, and I'm sure no-one will wish to do that.  I have an iPad Air5, and will be using the Avalon Go app, but it saves a link to my notes. I'm not the best with 1 finger typing, so will appreciate having a file to upload.

 

Anyone have ideas? I don't want the Office 365, as I purchased a licensed copy of Office just before they started that, so really don't need a 2nd subscription, which I would need to get if I d/l word on my tablet.

 

Thanks. 

[Canal archive]

Be careful we ran into a hiccup when doing the Scenic end of cruise report and our provider BT decided it was spam and closed my account. On our return home we got it sorted evidently BT doesn’t like Apple and I was using my iPad. I thought that kind of thinking Apple v Microsoft went out with the dinosaurs.

[notamermaid]

Commiserations to the Lionesses. Have just read the result.

 

I am sure they sweated more than me but it is hot here, between 28 and 30 Celsius. Still, could be worse. Miss the air-conditioning I have at work, though. I was going to bake a lemon drizzle cake (English recipe) but I will leave the oven off.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[Canal archive]

High humidity levels here which I find more debilitating that straight forward hot 🥵 

[Daisi]

4 hours ago, Daisi said:

Help please... I am trying to get ready to do a "live" review of our up coming cruise and can't seem to figure out how to write it up, and then open the file here. I have Google Docs, but that seems to want me to download the file when I upload it, and I'm sure no-one will wish to do that.  I have an iPad Air5, and will be using the Avalon Go app, but it saves a link to my notes. I'm not the best with 1 finger typing, so will appreciate having a file to upload.

 

Anyone have ideas? I don't want the Office 365, as I purchased a licensed copy of Office just before they started that, so really don't need a 2nd subscription, which I would need to get if I d/l word on my tablet.

 

Thanks. 

 

 

Well, I've played with this all day....finally figured it out!

 

I can write it up in my Docs app, including pictures. Copy the text before the photo, then the photo, then continue with the text.  I hope this works, we'll find out in Sept. 🙂

 

Got the e-tickets & e-docs the other day, my app is up and running...this is finally, after all the re-scheduling and cancellations going to happen!

 

[jpalbny]

4 hours ago, Daisi said:

Help please... I am trying to get ready to do a "live" review of our up coming cruise and can't seem to figure out how to write it up, and then open the file here.

 

Can you just copy the text from your document, and paste it into your post?

 

Oops. I see you've just figured that out!

Edited August 20, 2023 by jpalbny

[Daisi]

7 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

Can you just copy the text from your document, and paste it into your post?

 

Oops. I see you've just figured that out!

 

 

Deleted...missed your last comment. 😉  Thanks. 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Daisi

[franski]

On 8/19/2023 at 1:38 AM, Host Jazzbeau said:

You obviously don't have any (southern) Italian friends – or at any rate, none from The Bronx [the true center of Italian-American culture!]  The question at the dinner table is "do you want more gravy on your macaroni*?"

 

[*which can be any kind of pasta]

Nope!  Do not have that pleasure...  I have many Italian friends, but they are mostly 1st gen Canadians - not sure what part of Italy their parents are from.  

 

Now I know that if I am offered gravy with my macaroni, I will be sure to answer "si"...

 

Fran