h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have to take pride in the fact that a forriner praises me for my spelling, pal,. My own spoken dialect/language is a long way from Standard English - research the Scottish dialect of 'Doric' to see how I normally speak & think. See
http://www.aboutaberdeen.com/doric.php for example. It's not pretty, but it's a dialect that I'm proud of none-the-less. I love getting on a train home in Leeds & the staff speak Doric, as much as I love the sign 'You are now entering Scotland'. It always gives me a buzz.

Love, if you love your language - stay away from the "Outlander" saga.

An American trying to write dialogues in Scottish (ken you, I don´t speak it either)...it´s ultrbrutal. First time in my lifa that I prefer the German translation over the original version.

What's the Outlander Saga??

And I love my language - when I hear it from somebody else, there's inevitably an instant bond. Mainly because we are 'forriners' in England, but not Glaswegian or Edinburghers , which makes us stand out. Mostly that is good in my job, sometimes it's not- makes me to easy to identify if I mess up, but that hasn't been a problem so far (touch wood). I essentially love my job as much as I love my first language/dialect. And I will continue to not disguise myself in relation to my job.

I had a very self-deprecating sentence to add here, but it would only have come across as being the opposite, therefore, it's been omitted.

anne

"Outlander" and six more books, by Diana Gabaldon. And two things as to language:

One of my favourite LPs is by one Archie Fisher - I don´t understand one ing word, but when he sings Charlie oh Charlie I reach for uisge and claymore.

My home languages would be Lippisch Platt from dad´s side and Sileasian from Mami - but no one speaks it anymore.

Why the ? that indicates that you're not proud of it, I don't believe that. I think you are intensely proud of your heritage (as you should be), whatever that entails. As everyone else should be, but not everyone is. .

anne

sileasia was the german part of bohemia which later became checoslovakia and was hitlers excuse for annexing the country

as the fall out of that after the war all the sileasian germans were expelled back to germany

imagine clearing all the scots out of england and thats the sort of thing that happend, sileasia ceassed to exists and the czechs took over

oopps for butting in, thought this was the yikes thread

>>imagine clearing all the scots out of england and thats the sort of thing that happend, sileasia ceassed to exists and the czechs took over>>

I'm sorry, I can't imagine that, must have been awful for those involved, & the demise of the local language. As for clearing all the Scots out of England - they'ed have a bloody hard time - we tend to get everywhere, whether by choice or by force

No problems Taff, it's. You obviously know a lot more than I do, so it's good to have that input

last time i was in germany we stayed with a family and the husband told me his grand father had been expelled in the clearance, yet he was optomistic as the family had owned land and were looking forward to the czeq republic joining the EU so they might be able to reclaim the land in the european court!!!!

<

Do you know how it actually worked out? Or was it just a pipe-dream?

Well, the Prince of Lippe got some of his family estates back - including wineyards where they produce very drinkable and wonderfully underpriced .

And Anne - I wasn´t trying to "downsize" myself. I´m very proud of my heritage (that includes telling Americans that my old grammar school is older than their oldest university), I just meant to say that I´m very sad about local accents/dialects/languages becoming extinct. I´m a language fan. I don´t speak Lippsken Platt anymore - and when my generation is gone there will be nobody left who understands it.

>>very drinkable and wonderfully underpriced <<

My favourite kind.

Pit, I said that I believed you *were* very proud of your heritage, as you should be. It looks like I misunderstood the smiley,. My brain tends to lose the plot in the middle of the night, especially when I'm trying to divert blood to the blocks of ice that are my feet. Apologies & of your choice.

anne

No offence taken, dear. Especially as, me being German, being proud of my heritage is very very wrong. PC idiots try to make me feel ashamed and you dont - .

And as to Taff´s geography - his getting it wrong by quite a few miles is due to his being a nice person. He didn´t have the Brit soldier ghetto mentality, he went out and talked with people. The various accents can be a bit confusing.
Silesians are from what nowadays is part of Poland. The people Taff has in mind are the grain of truth behind an old folktale. The pied Piper of Hamlin (Hameln in German) really existed, even name and exact date are on file.

He led a trek of young people that had rallied in Hameln, never to be seen again, that´s true.

Parts of Germany were overpopulated to the brink of starvation at the time, and the queen of Bohemia (IIRC) gave generous land grants to young couples who would start farming her lands.

Some village names over there translate as "Small Hamlin" or "New Hamlin".

i know my geography was off

i got sileasia and the sudetenland mixed up

i was tired

Taff,no prob. Try me on all the tribes and accents in HM´s garden and see me founder.

>>me being German, being proud of my heritage is very very wrong. PC idiots try to make me feel ashamed and you dont <<

>>me being German, being proud of my heritage is very very wrong.<<

Please, never say that, who you are is who you are & something to be proud of - I *know* that you know that. I sincereley hope I make nobody feel ashamed of their heritage. Many could make me feel ashamed of mine if they really felt the need to. If they did feel the need to, a big question would arise as their motivation for it.

>>PC idiots try to make me feel ashamed and you dont<<

Glad to hear it. I went to Uni & shared a flat & many a mental night out with Germans, and their personalities definitely transcended their 'perceived' national stereotypes. It has always amazed me that people can be ironic in a foreign languague(that takes a shedload of intelligence & adaptation), & that seemed to be their preferred mode of communication to us English speakers. Personally, I found them to be most hilarious under the influence of MJ, I always ended up laughing my arse off, but then so did they

...Lass, there may be a problem. Scots and Krauts can recieve as they can give. (And look at claymores that were wielded at Prestonpans. Many a one is Solingen steel, marked "for the upright scots")

Pit, , I personally don't see a problem, although you may do.

I'm sorry if this is the case, But at the minute I'm confused as to >>Lass, there may be a problem...<<

Yes, the Scots, in general give as good as they get, we are programmed thus. But there was absolutely no condemnation of Germans that I have known on a personal level, let alone in a stereotypical way - I would be really sad if you interpreted it as such