| French military abbreviations |
[07 Jan 2010|10:39am] |
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Good $TIME_PERIOD, linguaphiles, a few questions for a translation I'm working on (French to English).
1) Is anyone aware of a location where "official" English names for the various departments of the French military might be found? In particular, I'm wondering if there's an official English name for SCAM (Service central des achats de la maintenance)? Obviously I know what the words mean, but I'm wondering if there's an official name for it in English, or if I should just go with the best I can figure out?
2) On a purchase order, what does the phrase "ETS comptables" mean, when it's directly opposed to "Lieu de livraisons" - is this the billing address?
3) Under "Destination for ordered goods", the top line says this, exactly:
FOURNISSEUR
- dont 1 ex Acc rect
I can see that this has something to do with acknowledgement of receipt, but I'm not familiar enough with the commercial language to be certain of the exact meaning. Any suggestions?
4) The translation has to do with rifle scopes. Does anyone have any idea, in that context, what an "option FAB" might be?
ETA: Is it possible that "option FAB" might be "franco à bord", a term of international sales meaning a shift in the place of transfer of goods from seller to buyer (FOB Destination, in English)?
That's all of them. My gratitude for any answers anyone has. Molto спасmergracithanke, as I've been known to say. :)
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| "his legs doubled up and one arm twisted back underneath his body" |
[07 Jan 2010|06:48pm] |
What does "legs doubled up" mean? What happens to the legs 0_0?
Are they tangled together or what?
I tried to google image it but i only found some gymnastic photos.
It's from Roald Dahl's Lamb to the Slaughter.
As always, thank you for your help.
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[07 Jan 2010|11:00am] |
I applied for a job and it seems that I can get it. The only problem is that my employer will be in Egypt while I am in Hungary. It shouldn't be a problem since it is a translation job so it doesn't require traveling. I told my future employer that I was at the beginning of the process of becoming self-employed and that I could not give an invoice. He answered:
"We can bare you and all what we need for invoicing is just a simple word document including your payment methods and amount required"
I have a little trouble making out what it means. What does it mean that "we can bare you" in this sense? [Good start as a translator :) I don't even know how to interpret this... ].
Could you please help me?
Update: Thanks for all the replies!
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| Silly English grammar question |
[07 Jan 2010|12:32am] |
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music |
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Nightwish - Nemo |
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What part of speech is a person's name (like, Janet or Bob)? Is it a pronoun? Thanks^^x;
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| Quick Russian question |
[07 Jan 2010|12:00am] |
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What's the Russian word for 'magpie?'
While this seems to me to be an easily-answered question (I've tried the usual Google/Wiki/etc., only to be hindered by my inability to read Cyrillic letters) I guess I want to be sure I'm covering all my bases: I'm looking for a Russian character to use the word as a nickname for another (English) character who is actually named 'Magpie,' in the sense that he's a general snapper-up of unconsidered trifles as well as enchanted by just about anything shiny. If it matters, this is happening in the late 18th century.
A transliteration would be ideal, if you please, but having almost no knowledge of both Cyrillic and Russian, I'd really appreciate a phonetic spelling as well.
Thank you in advance. :D
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| うつ依存症 |
[06 Jan 2010|11:19pm] |
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Korn - Got The Life |
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I've come across the word うつ依存症 in an e-mail, and while my instinct is to go with "addicted to antidepressants", that really doesn't seem right, and I can't find the specific phrase in any dictionary online. :(
It's apparently used in the Japanese title of Prozac Nation, but I haven't been able to fathom from that what it means. The e-mail points out that 「うつではなく、うつ依存症という状態でした」, so I'm guessing it's not a common word.
I'd be grateful if someone could clarify the meaning of the phrase. Thanks in advance. :)
EDIT: I should probably clarify that (unless someone knows exactly what this means) I'm really looking for native speaker input on this. I appreciate it looks weird, that's why I'm askin'.
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| Pronunciation of the indefinite article in English |
[06 Jan 2010|07:29pm] |
Hello,
I live in the south-east of England, and I often hear people pronounce the indefinite article ("a") /ey/. I know this can happen when one doesn't know what's going to follow, or when one wants to emphasize this particular part of one's speech. That being said, at times, it doesn't sound like this variation serves those purpose (or maybe it's just me!).
Is there any other situation when this change in pronunciation can occur?
What does such a variation say about the speaker (social class, region, intent) (assuming it says something at all)?
Does this happen in other parts of England and in other English-speaking coutries?
Thanks a bunch in advance ! :-)
PS : please feel free to correct my English!!
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| I need help! |
[06 Jan 2010|11:17pm] |
I regret not paying attention in grammar lessons when I was little.
That aside, I need someone to tell me if the verbs and nouns of the following sentences agree with each other. I hope I made myself clear because I don't exactly know how to phrase my question :/
1. The anthrax attacks are one such example of bioterrorism.
2. Self-deprecation, guilt and fear is the most common thought pattern.
Thank you very much!
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| English vs. other Germanic past/perfect |
[06 Jan 2010|12:15pm] |
Could anyone point me towards a source that discusses the use of English tense and aspect compared to other Germanic languages, preferably Dutch or German? I seem to remember something about the different use of simple past vs. present perfect, but I'm not sure what and I'm not being specific enough for Google's liking. I'm talking about situations where you'd have to use a simple past in English but a present perfect in the other language, or the other way around.
Note that I'm not asking you to explain to me how this works, but to point me to a publication I can use as a reference :)
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| Greece (Crete) |
[06 Jan 2010|10:05am] |
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I'm really sorry that this isn't really related to languages, but it's the only community I can find about Greece, without a ton of anime-related stuff.
It does have some language-related stuff.
My parents retired out to Crete a few years ago, but their Greek is very bad (they're both very old, so memory is an issue, and they find remembering words very difficult, and learning a new language very difficult).
They're having problems with their Landlord. Now a greater understanding of the languages involved for both parties would probably help (My parents speak English, the Landlord is native Cretan).
I'm more after some kind of tenant rights though. In the UK, we have the Citizen's Advice Beureau (I think I spelt that totally wrong - I've not slept, it's 10am, I'm tired and dyspraxic!).
They advise on small legal issues like this.
The landlord has been demanding money for fuel for the heating system, and then not been putting the heating on at all. (And by money, I mean a lot of money!)
My Dad is 75, has severe heart failure, emphesema, other major medical conditions. He could quite literally die without being warm enough.
Is there somewhere they could go to get some free legal advice by someone who would speak enough English to help them out?
Do they even have rights over there?
We don't really know the laws very well, mostly they've just got on with things, and they've not had any problems until this new landlord this winter. Before this, everyone has been really nice and accomodating, and they made really good friends with all of their neighbours.
Again, I'm really sorry that this isn't directly linguistically related, but there's bound to be someone here who knows where I could go to ask at least, or would know if there's no chance of them getting any support, or whatever, I just feel so useless not being able to help and in a different country, when I know my Dad's so ill.
Fortunately they're looking to move somewhere a bit bigger asap anyway, and they'll be vetting the landlord/landlady a bit more this time (as much as is possible with their limited Greek).
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| Singlish |
[06 Jan 2010|12:17am] |
You all like languages, and I don't see this come up here much, so I thought someone may find this interesting. Singlish is basically English spoken in Singapore laced with words modified and borrowed from Malay, Hokkien, and Chinese. They even re-purpose words from English.
An Australian living in Singapore wrote a nice entry about it here, and there's a video too. Go check it out, lah!
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| Old/Middle English? |
[05 Jan 2010|07:04pm] |
What sources would y'all recommend for learning these? I'd like to learn both and I'm aware that they are more or less separate languages - if Anglo-Saxon is distinct enough from Old English, I'd like a recommendation for that too.
I have no stake in which dialects I study, other than it being preferable to study the dialects with the most learning materials.
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| Quick French question... |
[05 Jan 2010|09:20pm] |
I'm writing out a postcard to a friend, and I want her to tell me everything about her vacation in Paris. She speaks *very* little French, so I'm trying to keep it simple. I also don't want to make any mistakes that she, as a learner, may copy.
"Il faut que tu me racontes tout!"
"Il faut que tu me raconte tout!"
...Which of these is right? I asked a native French speaker, but even he couldn't remember whether the "s" is present in this case or not.
Thanks a bunch! Any general rules on when to put the "s" at the end of the tu-form would be greatly appreciated as well.
Cheers,
RissaQui
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| Bosnian to English translation request! |
[05 Jan 2010|07:47am] |
Zdravo, friends!
I was wondering if someone could translate this from Bosnian to English for me, and if you were so inclined, to explain which words match approximately with which! I assume it means something like "These photos remind me of your time in Bosnia" or "Thanks for the photos, I hope you can visit Bosnia again" or something along those lines:
Puno pozdrava ,uživala sam gledajući fotografije,nadam se susretu opet u Bosni.
Hvala in advance!
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| "A couple of" |
[05 Jan 2010|04:08pm] |
Does "a couple of" in a couple of days/weeks/years and books always mean "two"?
Or could it mean "one or two"?
Thank you.
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| Intro + Worksheets for native german speaker? |
[04 Jan 2010|10:43pm] |
Guten Abend :)
I'm a bilingual, English/German speaking Austrian raised in the USA (by an Austrian mother/American father).
Since I was never educated in Austria (I make annual, non-educational family visits, but that's it), my German writing skills are poor. I can read well, and speak/listen nearly perfectly, but I'm planning to attend the Universität Salzburg in two years, and poor writing skills won't get me very far there!
Now, for my question.
Does anyone know of any websites or books that have advanced German worksheets, lessons, and/or exercises?
Like supplementary classroom material for actual native-German classrooms?
Thank you very much for the time. :3
Vielen Dank!
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| Spanish Conditional with the Imperfect. |
[04 Jan 2010|07:56pm] |
This question has been bugging me for the past month or so but couldn't post for lack of internet, but I digress.
How correct is the following sentence (sans accents):
Yo iria mucho a la playa cuando estaba joven.
"Iria" being the Conditional and "Estaba" the Imperfect. As if you didn't alredy know.... Anyways, for me, it sounds good but I have a nagging feeling it isn't right. But I remember hearing some people, mainly older ones, using this sentence structure. I know that the correct way would be:
Yo iba mucho a la playa cuando estaba joven.
So am I right with the first sentence or should I just completely forget about every using said sentence structure. And if it is a correct form, is this typical in any other Romance languages? I remember something similar in French to say something like, "If so and so got dressed better, so and so couldn't make fun of him." I believe it was also the Conditional and Imperfect but am not sure.
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| What are the 20 most common consonants? |
[04 Jan 2010|06:24pm] |
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What are the 20 most common consonants in the world's languages? Or where could I find this information? Could I also get a ranking of consonants? I know the most common are (in IPA) [p, t, k, m, n]. But I would like to see a large selection. Thanks.
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| "Take" a decision or "make" a decision? |
[05 Jan 2010|03:24pm] |
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I'd never really noticed the locution "to take a decision" until I started studying British politics. My professor at the time was kind of making fun of Tony Blair for saying it, implying that he was being showy or somehow pretentious by saying "take" instead of "make." Since then, I've noticed it from time to time in my studies, particularly when I am reading British English written by a non-native speaker.
I would never say "take a decision" -- only "make a decision." I'm 38, from California. How about you? If the term is familiar to you, does it have any particular connotations as opposed to "make" a decision?
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| Article from Apple vs Google Part II |
[05 Jan 2010|10:56am] |
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Dear Linguaphiles,
Thanks for your kind replies. I could understand well after reading your comments last night. Here is another question, so that I will be able to understand more than anybody else, the other Japanese readers hehe. It's an old article from Business Week magazine last year.
Here is the passage;
The reasons range from filtering out schlock applications to what some observers say is putting the kibosh on applications that compete with Apple’s own offerings or those of iPhone wireless carrier AT&T. That may have been why Apple blocked Web-calling software Google Voice from the iPhone least month.
I know what happened about this Google Voice, ,the free application from Apple, AT&T and Google August last month. So I roughly understand what it said. But I can’t translate words by words. Because of some difficulties;
1) Construction of sentence; ‘range from ....to...’ Maybe because I don’t understand exactly what those mean by ‘shlock applications’, ‘observers’, ‘kibosh on applications’...
2) What is the web-calling software.
Thank you very much in advance!!
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