Notes on English – Page 3 – The Paris Savannah Connection

Is “thank you!” enough?

No. Probably not. Not just by itself. So let me add the essentials:

For your hospitality in the myriad meanings of the word:

Thank you, Murem, Tom and Eric! Thank you Sandra! Thank you Ann & Enoch! Thank you Leonard & Suzanne. Thank you Ronnie and Ann. Thank you Sherry, Brian, Stephanie & Lem and Macayla. Thank you, Charlie Teeple! And Thank you Raymond! Thank you Catherine & your wonderful friends! Thank you Gordon. Thank you Denis! Thank you Eric!! Thank you Sheldon! Thank you Gayle, Martin, Armide, and Constance !!! Thank you Chase. Thank you, Ted. Thank you Betsy. Thank you Lisa. Thank you Roger! Thank you J’maih! Thank you Arlinda! Thank you Howard!

Thank you Mom! Thank you Dad! Thank you Kay!

Thank you Tybee … Thank you Savannah.

“Thank you” … and “I’m sorry” : Putting it into words. So … please forgive me if I didn’t mention YOUR name … C’est un simple oubli! Just human forgetfulness. Forget and forgive.

By the way … if you just change the vowel “a” in thank to an “i,” … you come close to the origin of the word: think.

The English word “thank” comes from “think” which, in turn comes from … thought.

If you think about it for a minute … “Thank you” is simply … thoughtful.

definition of “delay”

Unlike the French terms “délai” and “délais” which refer to an expected or planned time frame, the English words delay and delayed mean being late.

Here’s an illustration of a ‘less than an hour” delay:

Once announced, it was, in fact, not only on time but … ahead of the ETA!

Savannah, as you can see, was appropriately named:

There are rivers winding in and out and around.

So it’s probably wonderful to have a boat down here. If you manage to find the time to use it … And if you don’t have a boat, it’s still nice to have a dock on the marshes.

And if you don’t happen to have your own private dock … you’re probably not getting mosquito bites either … but that won’t prevent you from using the one at Lazaretto Creek or at Tybee.

where you can go fishin’ … or crabbin’ … or just make friends and keep an eye open for dolphins …

All you really need is time. So don’t … delay.

round numbers and generalties

What do round numbers and generalties have in common?

They’re always false!

And while I’m tempted to say that ‘down’ here in Savannah everyone’s so nice … it’s probably because we just haven’t encountered the other kind! But kind they are. And while that may be just the generality we want to avoid … the folk I’ve been meeting are hard-working, upstanding friendly souls … the kind Woody Guthrie could have sung about.

Yesterday, I met Lem for the first time. He comes from Darlington, South Carolina. A fine man, finer you’d probably not find: Stephanie said she didn’t take the first one that came along, and not the second or third either…. She waited for the best. And they make a mighty fine couple.

Lem says there are about 6500 people in Darlington and that they’re good folk.

France, too, has lots and lots of real good folk. Just got to get to know ’em.

Sit down to table. Share a few dozen oysters with a Muscadet or a “pot au feu” and a simple red wine and you’ll … start to get to know each other. Not just the appearances but what you’ve got in common … rather than what separates you.

And that involves one of the best qualites we can have: knowin’ how to listen … and knowin’ when to talk.

And that ain’t no generality. Just the plain simple truth.

“We’re not out of the woods yet”

One of my students came across this great expression listening to an interview with the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Interview by by Calvin Sims.

(There are a number of remarkable interviews in the “Interviews” section of the Video Library at the NYT.)

the woods: you can imagine being in the midst of a forest.

not out of the woods = still lost in the midst of that forest.

not out of the woods yet > while we’re still in the woods, we will eventually get out to a clearing.

“On n’est pas sorti de l’auberge!”

If you’re interested in useful expressions and pronunciation … subscribe to the Paris Savannah Connection.

Le Livre de l’Hospitalité

Je me suis aperçu, ensuite, que dans sa vulnérabilité, l’étranger ne pouvait tabler que sur l’hospitalité dont ferait preuve, à son égard, autrui.

Tout comme les mots bénéficient de l’hospitalité de la page blanche et l’oiseau, de celle, inconditionnelle, du ciel.

Et c’est l’objet de ce livre.

Mais qu’est-ce que l’hospitalité?

Edmund Jabès.

Le Livre de l’Hospitalité éditions Gallimard, 1991

I later realized that, in his vulnerability, the foreigner could only rely on the hospitality that others would care to show him.

Like words that profit from the hospitality of the blank page, and the bird, from the unconditional (hospitality) of the sky.

And that is the reason for this book.

But what is hospitality?

(translation Mark Levinson)

Eats shoots and leaves

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.’Why?’ asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

‘Well, I’m a panda,’ he says, at the door. ‘Look it up.’

The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the dictionary and, sure enough, finds an explanation. ‘Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots, and leaves.’

By Lynne Truss. Masterpiece. The best there is on punctuation.

This is the cover of the Illustrated Edition

Order your copy now right here!

Amazon – Abe – Momox or buy one at your favorite bookseller’s!!

A word on “translation” and “interpretation”

When you’re not involved in these worlds of multilingual communication, these words seem to be synonomous because they have something important in common: rendering meanings from one language to another.

What’s the difference then?

Interpreters speak. Translators write.

And that’s where it begins!

Choosing a translator or an interpreter is not as simple as opening up your ibrowser. Here are just a few of the vital basics:

The original: Provide a quality original. Many translations appear to be poor translations … only because the original is not up to standard.

Language pairs: The translator or interpreter goes from a foreign language to his/her native language. He is writing or speaking to others who understand his native language.

Competence: He/She must know the subject matter in depth. Don’t expect a generalist to translate or interpret a legal contract or a manual on using agricultural machinery.

Experience: It takes many years to provide quality at an acceptable speed. A professional translator translates about 10 full pages/day in his speciality.

Think ahead: Most reputable professionals are in high demand…and are under high pressure. Don’t expect them to be available at the last minute. Reserve their time in advance.

Proofreading: Nobody’s perfect. It’s best to plan on your own proofreader who can work with the translator.

Proofreading 2: How many people will read what’s printed? That should be a determining factor in how many proofreads are necessary. Your audience will spot ANY errors. If your document is important enough to be shared, try to get it … right! If it’s going to be distributed to 50 people, you have 50 potential error-spotting critics … How much more if you have 500, 5 000 or 50 000 potential readers??

Costs: You get what you pay for!

In this field, remember the golden rule: No guessing.

Temperatures: Centigrade and Fahrenheit

It’s easy to translate temperatures between Celsius and Fahrenheit. You just need to know the formula.

Remember these key figures: 0° C = 32°F and 100°C=212°F

Here it is!

Remember these figures: 0° C = 32°F and 100°C=212°F

Remember these: 0° C = 32°F and 100°C=212°F

Remember: 0° C = 32°F and 100°C=212°F

American English / British English : Of Loos and Language, by Roger Cohen

George Bernard Shaw, the playwright who wrote Pygmalion – the basis for “My Fair Lady” – made this often quoted statement:

England and America are two countries separated by a common language.

While the traditional grammars are very similar and pronunciations very different, there are lots of everyday vocabulary differences between the two. For the foreigner learning “English,” this can be … amusing.

Because the car is omnipresent, automobile and the vocabulary of transportation is one of the themes where differences show up every day.

Americans say trunk … the British say … boot

In North America, the windshield; in the UK, the windscreeen

Trucks use the highways and interstates … across the states … while lorries travel motorways …

For more, here’s a link you ought to appreciate:

Of Loos and Language. By Roger Cohen.

Necessity is the mother of invention

There’s a proverb that says: “Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it!”

So it’s raining. That’s nourishing the earth.

Burt as the French say: “Après la pluie, le beau temps.”

So be it! The sun and fair weather will make our gardens grow!

Another proverb that came up today was one of my mother’s favorites. Sorry … From now on, I’m going to write it this way: Favoritz. Well it was this one:

“Necessity is the mother of invention.”

Mothers like to talk about their children. In the same way that when a woman sits in the passenger seat of a car, she checks the quality of the mirror when the visor is pulled down. Just checking…on the children in the back seat?

Necessity gives birth to invention. When you need something … you find a way to get it, to do it, to solve the problem. We burst with creative power. Inventiveness.

After reading today’s news, good news! We have a very creative and inventive future just ahead of us.

And for a major boost of inventiveness …