Expanding the English Lexicon

Dioltach · Jul 3, 2014

Instead of joining the discussion, I'll do what the OP asked and put forward a suggestion: sobra dje. This is a phrase in Papiementu which means something like "not only, but also". For example: "Sobra dje you're already broke, now you want to buy a new phone too?"

Samloyal23 · Jul 4, 2014

Dioltach said:
Instead of joining the discussion, I'll do what the OP asked and put forward a suggestion: sobra dje. This is a phrase in Papiementu which means something like "not only, but also". For example: "Sobra dje you're already broke, now you want to buy a new phone too?"

Interesting. How do you pronounce the dj combination? Is it like Jar, Jour, or Madge? Well, one word and counting...

Samloyal23 · Jul 13, 2014

Come on now, you are a creative, educated lot, there has to be a few more good ideas in the room...

Dioltach · Jul 14, 2014

Samloyal23 said:
Interesting. How do you pronounce the dj combination? Is it like Jar, Jour, or Madge? Well, one word and counting...

Like Madge.

Janx · Jul 15, 2014

Samloyal23 said:
Come on now, you are a creative, educated lot, there has to be a few more good ideas in the room...

this sounds like a lot of academitry and work.

I prefer to simply use words or phrases as I intend their meaning and people adopt them.

XbOne : short for X-Box One. I'm not the only one to coin it, but it has gotten some traction.

Ding-Free Parking Space : that isolated parking spot where nobody can park next to you

Sleepitrons : the invisible particles a sleeping dog emits that makes you sleepy as well (Jim Butcher's latest work introduced Sleepeons as the same meaning, but my usage predates his book by many years).

There's been a few more I've gotten at least local people to adopt, but my brain is tired and can't remember.

Mishihari Lord · Jul 15, 2014

From Tagalog: "daw," pronounced "Dow" as in "Dow Jones." It just indicates that you're repeating something someone else said. "Darating siya sandali, daw" = "He said he'll be here in just a minute. I was a missionary in the Philippines from 1990 to 1992, and this one is so useful that I still accidentally use it once in a while 20+ years later. I mostly just get funny looks from Americans, though. I know there were a few others, I'll see if I can remember ...

Edit:

Got another one, "kita", phonetically kee-tah, meaning both I subjective and you objective. "Mahal kita" means "I love you". This is another one I used to use accidentally in English.

Samloyal23 · Sep 8, 2014

This is getting interesting. I like "daw", that is a good one. How do you turn that into "that's what she daid"? Hmm...

Fast Learner · Sep 9, 2014

There are a few great words in other languages that we don't have in English. From articles I've seen around the web, here are some I'd love to have as part of common parlance:

Forelsket (Norwegian): The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.

Meraki (pronounced may-rah-kee; Greek): Doing something with soul, creativity, or love. It’s when you put something of yourself into what you’re doing.

Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego): This word captures that special look shared between two people, when both are wishing that the other would do something that they both want, but neither want to do.

Zeg (Georgian): It means “the day after tomorrow.” OK, we do have "overmorrow" in English, but when was the last time someone used that?

Rabulias · Sep 10, 2014

Samloyal23 said:
This is getting interesting. I like "daw", that is a good one. How do you turn that into "that's what she daid"? Hmm...

Some friends and I have taken to saying "Twiss!" as a shorthand for "That's what she said."

Dannyalcatraz · Sep 10, 2014

Personally, I prefer neologisms, puns and clever turns of phrases over loan words...unless they're REALLY good.

Like...if you render someone speechless or verbally incoherent, you've "hit them in the gliblets."

In our group, we refer to someone who has a gift for cleverly insulting others as a Master of Tongue-Fu. If you're really good at doing so turning someone's words against them, you know Chewdo. And if you have mastered the art of witty & devastating repartee of multiple kinds, you have a Black Belt in Jeet Kune D'oh.